http://jalopnik.com/mini-coupe-and-r...rts-1031604145



Once again, the Jalops be hatin'

 

Haters gonna hate...

 

I must confess that I agree with their assessment of the coupe / roadster aesthetics, but even if you don't you have to admit that the sales numbers for both are pretty pathetic. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they didn't get a new incarnation in the next generation. The Clubman, with sales numbers almost as bad, is apparently only coming back in a fairly heavily revised form, with its current place in the lineup being taken over by the (arguably silly, but more practical) four door hatch.

 

MINI has hopes for up to 18 models off its two new architectures within the next five years, but don’t expect the current Coupe and Roadster to be amongst them.

MINI sources insist the slow-selling twins will be replaced by a machine that looks like a stand-alone sports car, even as it shares the next MINI’s front-drive architecture.

To be built in both hard- and soft-top versions, the planned sports car will share virtually no body panels with the rest of the MINI range, even as it retains key styling cues like the round headlights.

MINI initially plans to offer the new sports models, which are said to carry the code names F58 (hard top) and F59 (soft top), in Cooper S and JCW form and they should be on sale by late 2015 or early 2016.

Where the core engine layout for the balance of the MINI range will be downsized to either petrol- or diesel-powered 1.5-litre, turbo-charged, three-cylinder, engines, the F58 and F59 sports cars will use four-cylinder power. Don’t expect that four-cylinder engine to be a carry-over of the current 1.6-litre four, though. Instead, both the Cooper S and the JCW models of all future MINI models will use two different versions of the TwinPower direct-injection, turbo-charged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine.

While BMW and MINI have been tight-lipped on the change, it is almost certain to mean the end of MINI engine production at England’s historic Hams Hall plant in favour of either German production for engines it will share with the BMW 1-, 2- and 3-Series or lower-cost production outside the European Union, possibly in India or Malaysia.

The rest of the new sports car’s layout will be mechanically similar to the upcoming MINI hatch, running on the same chassis architecture and carrying similar suspension layouts, similar steering hardware, similar transmissions, even as it uses a sleeker, lower nose and a more curvaceous profile.

The new model spells the end for the Coupe and Roadster. Pushed hard into production at the insistence of the BMW and MINI design departments (and not product planning), the twins failed to achieve even the moderate targets set for them.

Even though BMW sources say they were happy with the 15-20 percent of the global market each car has achieved in its segment, BMW insisted those segments didn’t grow enough to sell more than 15,000 of the Roadsters and Coupes a year.

“If we are only going to sell 15,000 a year of a certain model, we should make more of an effort to make it stand out, to make it jump off the road as something different but still identifiably a MINI,” a source said.

Besides being a sleeker, sportier shape, the new sports car is said to take some of its futuristic interior materials from last week’s MINI Vision concept car, while it could also benefit from the mass-production carbon-fibre technology introduced with BMW’s i3 electric car.

While excitement about the new sports model is said to be palpable inside MINI’s design department, its production debut will still have to wait in line until more critical models have been rolled out.

That rollout will be lead by the F56 three-door hatchback, which will make its debut at November’s Los Angeles motor show with both three- and four-cylinder turbo engines delivering either diesel or petrol power.

MINI will follow that up with a five-door hatchback, code named F55, at the 2014 Paris motor show (in September), which is expected to become one of the biggest sellers in the range.

The F54 MINI Clubman should follow that in time for the 2015 Geneva motor show, while the F57 Convertible, based off the three-door F56 hatch, has an unveiling planned for later in 2015, possibly at the Frankfurt show.

Like the new sports car, all the upcoming MINI models with code names of F59 or lower are based off BMW’s new small, front-wheel drive architecture that will spawn at least 15 models between the two brands.

Sources insist the MINI model range will also have an F53 model – a MINI sedan – in response to current trends amongst premium makers Audi, Mercedes-Benz and, soon, BMW to fill four-door vacancies beneath their traditional sedan ranges. While production of the F53 MINI sedan will initially be at Oxford, sources insist the car, which will be pushed heavily in traditional sedan markets like North America and China, could also be built in either India or Malaysia.

Sources have yet to put a date on a replacement for the current Countryman and Paceman, though both are likely to see out their planned seven-year life cycles. The Countryman (F60) and Paceman (F61) will sit on different architecture to the rest of the MINI family. A MINI MPV will join the two soft road MINIs, but all three have to wait for the larger version of BMW Group’s new, front-drive architecture to debut in the X1.

Regardless of architecture, though, all new MINIs will be given the option of two-stage adaptive damping, controlled by a Driving Excitement button to address concerns that the ride of the current MINI range is too firm a ride for some road surfaces.

 

That vision concept design looks so much like the new i3 to me... It's clear they are going for a very merged platform.. That's not a bad thing in terms of parts, tuning, upgrades, etc..

That said I'd never get a 4 door Clubman if it had "regular" rear doors.

While I'm sure I'll lust over the new models once I get used to them... I'm glad I got mine before the change.

And while I don't see the value in a coupe or roadster.. They are interesting.. And rare... And a head turner.

 

Maybe the Roadster and Coupe will be styled more like the MINI Speedster introduced at the 2009 Frankfurt IAA Auto Show.

 

Maybe they'll make them rear wheel drive... Like a proper sports car.

I love MINIs for what they are - a really fun, good handling car for when you need at least a minimum of practicality but don't want an appliance. If I'm throwing out the practicality (rear seat, cargo space) I don't want a modified hot hatch.

If they're going to platform share with BMWs, how about sharing some the other direction?

Of course, a proper sports car doesn't really fit in with the MINI lineup. Would be more in line with the rumors of BMW reviving the Triumph marque. I could see myself being all over that.

 

 

... and then again, maybe it will look like an Acura or Toyota.

 

 

Full article should appear on the AutoExpress website next week after the next issue goes on sale in shops.



The latest issue of Auto Express on sale in UK, includes details of MINI's plans for a brand new sportscar.......

Read more: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-new...#ixzz2bK5hkGPY

 

This should be some entertaining reading. Can't wait.

 

Nice!

 

I'm torn with this. I love how rare my car is but I will be mad at how much of a better version mini will put out in the near future. Ugh

Sent from my iPad using NAMotoring

 

+1

This definitely sucks. I've already done most go fast mods to this car. *sigh*

 

Remember the rarer versions of the classic Mini also became the most valuable and sort after classic cars in the longer term......

 

I've never been a fan of the Coupe with its backwards baseball cap look, but I do like the Roadster. I've half expected this though, as sales for both models is pretty abysmal.

There is niche, and then there is just not selling well.

 

After looking at the links associated with that Auto Express cover...



Dear BMW,

This, please.

 

With their relatively short production time and numbers, my belief is that they will become instant classics due to the exclusivity of owning one will have.
That said, however, if I were now on the dividing line of purchasing a last year production model or wait for the "new" sports model I would most likely defer to the newer model with the much improved 2L engine.
Realy does look like they are going after the MX 5 market.
These new little sports cars should realy be something on the race tracks.

 

Well said, TREX.

 

I think that remains to be seen. The Caddilac Alante, Buick reatta, and 2002-2005 Ford Thunderbird had short production times and numbers, and they are anything but classics.

I think "classics" are generally highly desirable vehicles. The sales of the roadster and coupe don't reflect that.

Just MHO.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head, they are never going to be classics because they never were desirable.


Tab

 

The original 1960's Mini Moke was not a sales success or particularly desirable, nor was the 970cc Mini Cooper S with less than 1000 sold, nor was any early Mk1 Mini sold in unpopular Fiesta Yellow with a powder blue interior for a short time in the 1960's. However all these are now some of the most valuable and sought after classic Mini's......

 

An original BMW Isetta




New BMW Isetta?
Back in 2010 BMW announced some news regarding its Megacity Vehicle (aka Isetta) being developed under its project i program. The BMW sub-brand Isetta will produce high efficiency electric vehicles and is expected to come to market by at least 2015. Here is the press release:

Quote:
BMW Group to build progressive electric vehicle in Leipzig with major components from Bavaria. Clear commitment to Germany as the home of production.

22.02.2010 | Press Release
Munich. The BMW Group is developing BMW Plant Leipzig to produce an electric vehicle and making additional investments in a number of facilities in Bavaria. In a joint venture with SGL Carbon, SGL Automotive Fibers GmbH & Co KG, carbon fibre fabrics will be produced in Wackersdorf and processed to CFRP components for the new vehicle at BMW Plant Landshut.
With this decision to produce in Leizpig, Landhsut and Wackersdorf, the BMW Group is preparing for series production of a car known by its project name of Megacity Vehicle. With this new automobile, the BMW Group will be providing an innovative solution for sustainable mobility in urban environments. It is being developed as part of project i and is due to reach the market in the first half of this decade under a sub-brand of BMW.

BMW Isetta image campaign launched by the BMW Museum

 

Do you think the current MINI line will be as desirable in 2060 as the original Mini line? I personally don't see that happening, but we'll have to wait until at least 2040 to see. The Mini achieved iconic status, and that is what makes the rare vehicles valuable. I don't think MINi is an icon or in any way, shape or form defines a generation.

I think the roadster is cool, and if I had a pile of cash and $35K meant nothing to me, I'd get one, but not because I have any delusions that it will be a good investment.