Has the Mini Rocketman concept really burned up like a fuse up there alone? Don't count it as grounded just yet, because while the last we heard BMW had canned the idea of producing the miniest of neo-Minis, it has given the original concept car a new lease on life.

As part of its partnership with the 2012 London Olympics, Mini has retrofitted the smaller-than-a-Cooper concept with a theme that celebratres both the games and the country hosting them. The red, white and blue of the Union Jack replaces the cold gray tones of the original, with the flag motif recreated out of the illuminated braces that support the glass roof. Carbon fiber still abounds, with white panels inside bearing the sites and years of previous Olympic games.

All in all, it's a rather stunning reimagination of the 2011 Geneva Motor Show concept, but only raises more questions in our minds as to whether the decision to axe the Rocketman's production possibilities isn't due for a rethink.

Click through to Autoblog for the original article, photo gallery and press release...

 

Doubt it. I would think that MINI will take design cues from the Rocketman for future models, but production of the actual Rocketman would be too expensive (all the carbon fiber and etc)

 

They are almost obliged to build it or else the MINI name will mean nothing anymore.

 

I agree that the carbon fiber bits are expensive. I do hope that they do build it. I would be interested. Definitely more of a "Mini" than what I've seen of the next model.

 

I actually like it!

 

I like the basic car very much.
What I don't care for this the way MINI has dressed it for the Olympics.
It's only window dressing though.
The car underneath all of that interests me.

Oh, and I do like the shade of blue on the exterior.

 

Got my fingers crossed. Love it!!

 

Is it smaller or do they just have a very tall driver in there? Looks smaller in the picture. Seems they have lost the boot space, which works fine if the rear seats fold down per normal. If so, I wonder if they will add a rear-curtain airbag.

I'm not a fan of the Olympics theme, but I can understand them doing it and am very intrigued that they chose to do it on a Rocketman. They didn't have to, you know.

 

No, they didn't have to go with the Olympic theme on a Rocketman.
It's going to get a lot of exposure in London next month.
I hope this means that the Rocketman concept is still very much alive.
I would love to see MINI produce this car.

 

MINI really needs to build this. Just the general design though, obviously CF is way too expensive for a production car.

Imagine this thing with the supposed 3 cyl 180hp turbo engine? That is a pure MINI right there. I'd own it in a heartbeat. I could only imagine it would be quite a bit lighter as well.

The Rocketman would be the best MINI they ever made since BMW bougth the company.

 

I read on CarBuzz BMW won't produce the car due to the cost to engineer it up to government standards. Believe this is Olympic tie in is to get people talking about MINI and what it can do.

 

But maybe Hyundai will partner with BMW to build it.

 

The carbon fiber would most likely just be an option like you can get now.