The Countryman was one thing. But I just got an email from Atlantic British telling me about the Mini Minor?!
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After the larger-scale Countryman and possibly Beachcomber, could MINI be going “city-scale” with a 3-cylinder alternative to the Smart Car?



The new MINI Minor, as rumor has it, would actually have a footprint not unlike the original MINI Cooper, and would use traditional technology (not say, like carbon fiber bodywork).
Talk about line extension! This thing would have one of BMW’s new 3-cylinder engines, which the company is hoping to produce en masse to promote economies of scale, and a city-friendly attitude to attract car buyers away from the Smart Fortwo and Toyota iQ avenue runners.
The MINI Minor, eh? Stay tuned…

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In my opinion, Mini should sell Minis. Not ugly cars with a MINI logo. Degradation of brand appeal at it's best.

 

Sorry, but I really like the 2 door version of the concept. MINI needs this entry to compete with the Fiat 500. This market is certainly far more "MINI appropriate" than the Countryman and Beachcomber.

 

Oh... emm.... eff.... gee... that is completely horrifying. It looks even worse than that Chinese Lifan ripoff of the MINI.

My eyes are burning. Make it stop!

Maybe this is a MINI ploy to make ppl LIKE the Countryman more? Show them something that will make them barf then ask them again if they like the Countryman?

 

Never said I liked those either. To be honest, I can't even stand the Clubman. Sorry Clubbie owners. Mini Should be Mini, not SUV, Stationwagon, or even Geo Metro-Esque. The "looks to be" high center of gravity will be interesting when a Countryman drives past it and flips it over.

 

I agree that they may need--or, at least, could use--such vehicles, I disagree that they should make them so ugly-looking. Ppl still want to take pride in their investments--even at this lowest price-point. Even in today's "sophisticated" market, ppl still don't want to be seen in an ugly car, much less pay their hard-earned (hard-borrowed) money for one. [Recall the failure that was the Edsel, or more recently, the Pontiac Aztec.]

PS: These don't even look like MINIs!

 

Awww, I love the Edsel!

More horrible is the fact that it was named after his nephew. Edsel Ford. Makes a worse name for a kid than a car!

 

Minis should look like Minis, eh?

In the original classic Mini line so beloved by all you had Travelers, (Clubman) Moke, (Beachcomber) Pickup trucks for god's sake, (not yet) and many more, including the square nosed coupes called Clubmans!

How are they straying from their roots by building the current offerings?

I like what they are doing, although someone on another board suggested they name the new city cars "Isetta's", and since they have a similar look to the 50's and 60's cars of that name (also built by BMW) I agree with that. That would be a simple way to distinguish the MINI line from the city car line and give MINI dealers a wider range of competetive products to sell under the same roof without diluting the MINI brand.

 

None of you follow MotoringFile? It's probably where Atlantic British picked up the story.
http://www.motoringfile.com/

Personally, I'm all for MINI coming out with this car.

 

Those are disgusting looking

 

someone delete those photos! my eyes are burning!

 

These are concepts from the late 90s that I think are getting resurected for a new hybrid model.

 

The 3 cylinder motor will be part of the 3rd gen car. word is this much lighter motor will produce more HP and torque, and be more fuel efficient, than the current Prince engine

And for those of you that think MINI should stay in its original, 3-door hatchback coupe form, well you better brush up on your Mini history. I believe that from 1959 to 2000 there were more than 300 variants on the original car.

 

Everyone just say no!

 

You know, those pictures are rather old (like someone said, from the 90s..) so they're probably really outdated looks-wise. I would be curious to see what they'd be doing with this idea. The four-door looks kinda silly, but with some body and appearance changes to the 2 door, it might be pretty cool looking.

 

Good idea about calling it "Issetta", even if it's sold by MINI, as the "MINI Issetta", lets say... I think that would make the car more...palateable as a MINI.

PS: If you had the 4-door one, and could make yourself look just like George Jetson driving it, you'd be all set!!

 

That thing scares me less than the Crossdresser SAV.

 

They're definitely old photos. You can tell just by looking at the photo quality.

Whatever they make, in sure it will look alot cooler than that.

 

There are a LOT of small (tiny) cars in Europe. What might look out of place in the US against SUVs, pick up trucks, and 4 door sedans look commonplace across the pond. The concepts really don't look unusual for a city car.
JMO.

 

http://www.aronline.co.uk/index.htm?r50storyf.htm

Alright everyone scroll about halfway down this page. And don't get your panties in a bunch.

 

With some fancy paint those could pass for 4 wheeled Easter eggs.

 

I couldn't have said it better. Some of you all need to go and read up on the history behind the car you love. MINI is not all about "look at me in my flashy car", it's also about heritage. And with that heritage comes quirky models. You should either accept it or move on.

 

Why is everyone freaking out about these they were original concepts for the r50

 

So you're suggesting that MINI build one and only one model, the Cooper? Sorry, not trying to start a brawl here, but as long as they're introducing new models in addition to the Cooper, nobody's holding a gun to your head to buy them.

BMW is doing exactly what any healthy, smart-thinking company should be doing -- looking to expand its presence in the market. Can't do that by continuing to play to one tiny segment. It's far better to be the first to market with new ideas that will appeal to a broader audience while keeping true to the spirit of the brand -- and that even includes this latest duck egg on wheels -- before somebody else beats them to it.

And by the way, we just picked up a new Clubbie S for the wife, and it's a damn neat little ride in its own right. You don't have to like it, but she's pretty happy they decided to build it.

 

I learned a lot from that article. As long as it was, I found every word of it fascinating. I didn't realize just how global my little global MINI really is!

Let's see, ...it was concieved and partly developed by Rover in England, styled by an American BMW employee, packaged by a British engineer, originally developed to use a small-displacement Japanese (Kei) engine...then a BMW motorcycle engine, finally ending up with a German-developed engine of American origin (Chrysler) which itself was built in Brazil, originally using a British Midlands transmission and Rover-derived steering. At times the development was done entirely by BMW in Germany, then abandoned by them and taken over in England, only to be re-taken over in the end by BMW for final development! The car was first shown in Paris France, sitting on an Italian Fiat Punto chassis. The car is built in Oxford England, and now the second gen version's "Prince" engine is of French Peugot origin.

Did I leave anyone out?

 

Nope. I really just don't see why everyone is getting all uppity about it. Motoringfile probably posted those pictures to just give a representation of how big a super econo box would be in size.