Agreed...

 

I'm so loving my '03....I think I'll go outside and give her a kiss!


Clover

 

Here's a link to some photos:http://www.mini2.com/news/news314.html

 

Um, ew.

I like everything except the front end. I hope the '07 MINI looks nothing like that. Those sloping headlights are gross.

I really doubt the exterior changes are that drastic, so I'm not too concerned.

 

awful! it's cold in the front and boxy in the back.

what i love about MINIs is their "faces" -- they are great to look at. this thing is cold, lifeless. it would never make me smile.

i can't help but smile when i see the current MINIs!

 

I kinda like the front end. If this is truly the new MINI face, I wonder what the aero kit would look like on it.

 

Looking at the front end of the side profile reminds me of the bulbous nose on one of those Asterix cartoon characters. If that front ends up on the '07 hatchbacks, I'll be looking for an '06 to upgrade to. Though it should help our pre '07s attain even more desirability on the secondary market.

I can't see how they could butcher the front of the mini like that with those headlights but, as it's still a concept, lets hope they see the woes of their ways.

 

--I agree xtremepsionic. This design seems to be losing sight of the original design philosophy of the car. Take a car that prides itself on its small size and make it big. Then take a british car and put a french engine into it. Oh hell why don't we just let James Bond drive BMWs in the movies. Oops too late. doh!

--pyratio

 

The 1st thing that worries me is the overall length. In my mind, even though it's a wagon, it's a MINI wagon and needs to be shorter than any other wagon out there.

I did some research and there are some really little wagons already on the market. Now there is no way that these cheapo wagons will ever compare to a MINI wagon, no matter how much BMW butchers it.

Susuki Aero Wagon - 13.875' (Can be had in all-wheel drive!!!)
Chevy Aveo Wagon - 12.725' (This is only 9 inches longer than our
(current MINIs)
Scion XA - 12.833' (not a thru wagon, but a 5-door and it wins my vote for
the best "counterfit" MINI out there)

Now for the front end! They better do better than that! The MINI has had its "Mustache" shaved off. It needs to grow back its "Mustache".

And the headlights are "laid done" down to much. They need to stand-up as much as the current models even it means having a "shelf" at the bottom of the headlight (like the old Fiats come to mind). This "shelf" may even give it back its "Mustache".

And did someone actually get paid to pick-out them ugly wheels?

OH! One other thing. All of us "nay-sayers" reminds me of what my Father used to say when ever I disagreed with him...."You don't know you *** from a hole in the ground"!!!

 

Just to gain a perspective on the Frankfurt Concept, take a look back at some other familiar concepts from yesteryear...

 

Thanks! I was hoping someone had photos from the original concept vehicles for the original MINI.

 

Yes, but did those pictures come out less than a year before the actual car did?

 

Very true that, most of those concept pictures were released quite a while before our MINIs came out.

Anyway, with less than a year before they have to finalize on a design, you can bet that certain design elements on this concept car will definitely make it to the final version of the 07 models.

The new front end not only is a new design direction, but also designed to meet the new EU regulation. Looking at a couple of test mules in the last 6 months, the longer and flatter bonnet will probably make it into production.

 

The front end is growing on me a little bit. I just hope they make it less "concept-like" for production, which I'm sure they will.

The grille is a bit overdone...too industrial for my tastes. Maybe it would look better in the body color vs. chrome.

 

I like the new nose. I don't like the headlights.

It could be worse. It could be this:

 

I LIKE IT! Plain and simple.

Those who say it is not "MINI" must read up on your Mini history.

1. There have been Mini estates in the past: "Traveller", "Clubman Estate" and "Countryman"...so from that point it is definitely MINI.

2. All of those estates had TWO doors and the barn-door back was a signature feature of those cars....again very MINI.

3. The original Mini dash was very simple:....so is this one. I like the fact that it is not a whole bunch of pieces like the current 3 piece or older 5 piece dash. The more pieces you have the more squeeks you will have.

4.The more vertical front grill is likely due to the European pedestrian impact standards...but who cares?. It looks MUCH TOUGHER than the current grill. The original Mini also had a vertical grill...so again, very Mini.

I think the designers did a great job.

"That is all I have to say about that."

 

Just a thought here, does anyone like the new BMW styling? Personally I hate them, the 7 has that trunk thing with all the odd lines going in odd directions, that carries down to a lesser extent to all the models. The looks too much like a Chrysler and in the 2 days I had a loner with i-drive I found it really a pain.

My feeling is that BMW, MB, Audi all have gotten caught up in some silly race to out do the other for features and gadgets and have lost sight of what made German car’s great. They were built by engineers and not artists. Before I got the Mini, I was an Audi, driver, my family has been long time BMW owners. Well my mother opted out of BMW when her 1993 5 hit 150K miles going with a VW SUV. Why, she though the X5 was fugly. Well the VW’s air suspension has failed twice, along with a list of other issues all relating to the advanced technology they bragged about when she bought it, I heard the same thing from owners of the new A6, my brother friend with a new 100K + Bens has tracked it and its been in the shop for almost 1 month out of the first 12 he has owned it.

I worry that German cars are going the way American cars did in the 70’s and 80’s. Being run by styling teams and not engineers.

That said my vote is that this concept car is Fugly but that is what I expect from BMW these days.

Thank you for letting me vent.

 

 

I'm really trying to pretend that I've never seen or heard of the present generation ('02-'06) MINI, and then look at this car and see what I think.

I simply don't find it appealing. It's not just the acute sense that something great is being ruined (I think the styling of the current MINIs is an absolute triumph in aesthetics). The bottom line is, this new front end simply does not appeal to me on any level other than its (relative to other non-MINI cars) small size. Aesthetically, it's lifeless.

I'm still not convinced that this is the new front end. It looks so drastically different from the other spy shots we've seen, which in comparison are beautiful. If this is it, though, I think this is a worse uglification than BMW has managed with any car yet in their lineup.

 

Haha. It looks like a Land Rover and a Toureg had a baby. They should think of a better name though. Like the Mini Cooper Grande. Or the Standard Cooper. Its like our MINIs are just pups and this one is in the akward pre-teen stage with braces. I like the interior. Especially the toggles up top. I already feel like I'm starting up an airplane, sometimes I even give my passengers the "this is your captain speeking" speel as I toggle off the traction control, toggle on the fogs, and toggle down the windows. I love flippin the switches. This would be even more fun, although even more silly.

 

Maybe you should park your car beside a "classic" mini and then ponder the significance of your current car's name. It's not narrow, it's not short (height), and it's most certainly not light.

The idea that current mini owners are aphalled that a larger mini might be made is funny.

 

That's so true. My VW Jetta had the same track width and wheel base as my MINI does, the only dimension that differed in any significant way was the length. As i have said before I would like to see a MINI that was about 10 inches shorter and about 8 inches more narrow (along with a proportional reduction in height). It would basically be an intermediate step between the MINI and the Mini.

 

Now you're talking...something not so drastic, but more like this?

 

Exactly... except the color. Brighter color options please.

Make it a two seater if need be, but something roughly that size and in the 2100 to 2200 lbs range (I could dream about sub 2000 lbs, but in this day and age, it just isn't going to happen).

 

I'd buy one....13 inch wheels max