Coupé/Roadster Offical: MINI Coupe Concept

[Deutsch]

^THAT is the MINI I've been waiting for since I first heard the rumors. Many sleepless nights eased further by the release of the Coupe Concept until next week....

 

[Deleted member 25]

This is actually a modern interpretation of what appears to be not just a MINI but Range Rover hallmark as well (call if a British thing then). Of course I'm speaking of the floating roof. "Floating" because that's the illusion designers wanted to give the eye by blacking out all pillars to create the appearance of a roof detached from the cars body. I'll admit it looks slightly awkward in this presentation but makes sense to me as I understand the history behind the idea.

It's a Saab trademark as well.

 

[Deutsch]

It's a Saab trademark as well.

Not entirely since it's not the whole roof, but I see what you're saying in regards to the blacked out "A" pillars. This is a feature on the R35 GTR as well.

 

[bmwblog]

Darn, can't believe they leaked it We've been holding off for no reason

 

[Deutsch]

 

[m-power]

Looks very cute, yet a bit agressive
This thing will sell like hot cockies

 

[Deutsch]

Up Close With the 2009 Mini Coupe Concept

By Ralf Dennissen, Contributo

The 2009 Mini Coupe Concept is a kind of birthday present, as the Mini brand celebrates 50 years since it began on July 26, 1959. And we'll all get to enjoy this present, because it will be presented in public for the first time at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show.

At a secret location near Munich, Mini's Design Director Gert Hildebrand tells us about his newest creation. "The idea to do a Mini coupe was born in our design center," he says. "New ideas never come from the board offices; they come from the floor of the design studio. BMW does trend analysis a lot and every three months we talk to Mini representatives from all over the world to discuss the needs of our clients. But we were never asked to do a coupe. We're close followers of blogs and so forth, and we just felt that people would like the idea of a car like this."

Hildebrand takes a look at this dramatic creation, a two-seater that looks low and sleek. "It's a pocket Porsche," he says. "Maybe we can bring back the same adventurous customers we had with the BMW Z3 coupe. And, actually, both cars have had the same designer — Marcus Syring."

Fire Up the Blowtorch, Hans!

The 2009 Mini Coupe Concept began with a Mini John Cooper Works and a blowtorch. Just like the regular Mini in Europe, it measures 146.1 inches overall and 66.1 inches wide. But thanks to the new greenhouse, it is just 53.3 inches high, some 1.4 inches lower than before. It's a pure two-seater, and there's only luggage space `behind the front seats.

"It is intended to be really sporty," Hildebrand says. "And because of the absence of rear seats, it weighs between 175 and 200 pounds less. It also has a better Cd in the wind tunnel because the windscreen lies back 16 degrees more than the regular Mini."

To lean back the windshield has had complicated consequences for the structure of the coupe, though. Hildebrand says, "Every new car at BMW has to undergo structural tests, where they put a certain amount of weight on the roof. A leaned-back A-pillar is inherently weaker than a pillar that stands up more."

Beneath the skin, this concept is still a Mini John Cooper Works, so the turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-4 will make 211 horsepower. This will help reinforce the coupe's mission, which is, as Hildebrand says, "to emphasize Mini's masculine side."

Nice Hat

Surprisingly enough, there was no big design competition for the 2009 Mini Coupe Concept within Hildebrand's studio. "We are actually quite a small team, so designer Marcus Syring made six sketches from which I picked one," he says. "They were simple sketches made with a pencil. All of the design work was done on the computer, though — virtual design."

To differentiate all the different forms of the Mini, the designers have focused on the roof, Hildebrand tells us: "Have a look at the different Mini models, like the Cooper, Clubman, and the crossover that is due for next year. They all have different roof shapes."

For the coupe, Hildebrand says his teenage son provided an unexpected inspiration. "The car has a baseball cap on its head, with the front backward, just like my son," he says. And in the same way, Hildebrand sees the coupe as the ideal car for a young couple: "It is simple, logical, but still erotic."

The baseball cap is functional, however, as the design director points out. "The roof spoiler has an opening in it. We need that to deliver air on the back of the car, for downforce. And it also keeps the rear window clean, as we don't have a wiper back there." The C-pillars also feature a little aero piece to minimize turbulence in the car's wake, which reduces drag.

Style Quotient

Designer Annette Baumeister chose this car's color palette, and the selection hasn't been made by coincidence, as in the same year the original Mini was born, the Cooper T51-Climax driven by Australian Jack Brabham won the Formula 1 constructors championship for the Cooper Car Company. "Jack Brabham always wore light-blue Dunlop overalls and a helmet painted gold," Hildebrand says.

There's no crazy stuff for the 2009 Mini Coupe Concept's interior, since the dash design and the seats come straight from the regular Mini. Designing a completely new interior would have been impossible anyway, because of the short period in which the showcar had to be designed and built. The fabrics, however, are new. Hildebrand notes, "The interior is done by Oliver Leghart, and we also worked with Poltrona Frau, an Italian furniture company that works a lot with leather. They also do seats for Alfa Romeo and Ferrari."

The coupe has a big hatch, although it doesn't work on this showcar. There will be a small opening in the wall between the passenger space and the cargo area so you can conveniently grab stuff from the luggage compartment. The cargo space itself measures about 8.8 cubic feet, about the same as a regular Mini three-door. "Eventually maybe we can move the seats down even a bit more, but you must not forget that Mini already is one of the cars with the lowest seating position. Maybe we can develop a special seat together with Sparco, since we already do some stuff with them."

Coupe, Roadster or Both?

Aside from being a birthday present, the 2009 Mini Coupe Concept is a serious design proposal. In fact, it will be shown at Frankfurt in the company of a roadster concept. "This roadster showcar has not been finished yet," Hildebrand tells us. He's about to go on, when one of the BMW executives present warns him against continuing. But someone else in the studio tells us that eventually, they will decide to build either the coupe or the roadster. Or both. Or neither.

As Hildebrand says, "Everything you see is doable for production. It might not be cheap, but it's doable. Hopefully we can get the OK before the end of the year. We will need another two to three years to develop the car. For sure we have to do a thorough aerodynamic study, because we've only done a rough one on the computer."

There's no word yet about what such a production version of the 2009 Mini Coupe Concept car might be called. "This is always something that's done last," the designer says. "It's always one of the more difficult parts of bringing a car to the market. We have thought about lots of names, from Speedwell to Broadspeed, two traditional English tuning companies. Personally I like Downton, a company that made Minis for celebrities in its time."

Portions of this content have appeared in foreign print media and are reproduced with permission.

2009 Mini Coupe Concept on Inside Line

 

[Deutsch]

Looks very cute, yet a bit agressive
This thing will sell like hot cockies

Especially in big cities like Paris, London, L.A. and so fourth. Places where pop culture plays a dominant hand in the shaping of the public sphere through life style choices. You are what you wear as well as what you drive.

 

[NarutoRamen]

Kinda looks a mess, especially the roof.....looks like an ill-fitting toupee. I was expecting a real coupe body, not just a cut down roof job of the regular car. This one going to take some time.

M

I totally agree with this, except for the last sentence. Even though it looks a little odd, it's still a cool looking car. Now I wonder if this is only a concept or an actual upcoming model...I haven't read the press release, just in case that answers the question.

 

[Deutsch]

I totally agree with this, except for the last sentence. Even though it looks a little odd, it's still a cool looking car. Now I wonder if this is only a concept or an actual upcoming model...I haven't read the press release, just in case that answers the question.

The press release alludes to it in some places. But as stated by Gert Hildebrand (lead design guy @ MINI), "it's doable". The platform is there as are the components, it's just a matter of public reaction and figuring out what additional modifications if any would be necessary to justify the case for production.

 

[NarutoRamen]

The press release alludes to it in some places. But as stated by Gert Hildebrand (lead design guy @ MINI), "it's doable". The platform is there as are the components, it's just a matter of public reaction and figuring out what additional modifications if any would be necessary to justify the case for production.

Meaning it could be done but they're not sure.

 

[Deutsch]

Meaning it could be done but they're not sure.

I don't know that it's a matter of not being sure. More along the lines of nothing is finalized just yet.

 

[Deleted member 25]

Are the Mini & Rolls design teams independant from the BMW one with their own headquarters in UK near the factories or are they simply one of the many BMW team in the german & american & singapourian studios ?

 

[Merc1]

Of course this will see production and with very little changes because this "concept" is simply a Mini Convertible/2-door with a cut down roof and windshield. The actual lower body of the car looks to be identical to what is on the road today.

I'm hoping the little crossover looks much better than this, as well it should if the concept version was anything to go by.


M

 

[Deutsch]

I'm hoping the little crossover looks much better than this, as well it should if the concept version was anything to go by.


M

The production Crossover is to showcase the next phase of design at MINI. It will have many design features that will make their way onto forthcoming generation MINI''s with the exception of the the coupe/roadster concept.

 

[Deutsch]

Are the Mini & Rolls design teams independant from the BMW one with their own headquarters in UK near the factories or are they simply one of the many BMW team in the german & american & singapourian studios ?

They are independent but work out of Designworks in their respective locations.

 

[Human]

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


This car wil start a credid crisis on it's own!

 

[EnI]

Some posts from last year:

http://www.germancarforum.com/335139-post59.html

http://www.germancarforum.com/354846-post21.html





Regarding RR / MINI design departments ... The design departments are organizationally separated - with own design bosses & dedicated design teams, yet often they also include other teams (especially from DesignWorks) to compete in the design projects. As far as I know MINI design team is based in Munich, while RR one is still in Goodwood.

Yet all design department bosses report to the BMW Group design chief ( = Adrian van Hooydonk) ... Also the design strategy for each brand, and the final designs of particular models are picked in Munich of course - by the BMW AG Board of Directors ... Yet of course design chief of BMW Group has some call where to steer the designs ..., and has a role to advocate & explain the designs when presented to the BoD (at any stage of process).

But mind the fluctuation between the design departments is constant - designers & bosses moving from BMW to RR, from MINI to BMW, from RR to MINI etc Eg. Mark Michael Markefka (the guy who designed BMW e92 / E93 coupe & cabrio, and 1er coupe & cabrio) is now head of Extriorior design Rolls-Royce brand ...

So, yes they are separated but not really ... Sure BMW, MINI or RR brand design chiefs & designers don't interfere in the other brands design, but BMW Group design director & BoD certainly do ...

Also the Advanced Design Studio BMW Group I guess covers all the brands of the Group ... Since there is no Advance Design Studio for each brand ...

 

[theSwitchback]

I think it's great that the designer of the ACV30, which I always liked, is now head of BMW Group Design. Hopefully he'll have a bit of a guiding hand over MINIs future direction, allow the design team to be a bit more bold, be less restricted, have some fun with the car.

 

[Zafiro]

Cool car and I like it but I agree the roof looks strange but its a good thing. Its a Mini and they should look funky so the roof fits just perfectly. It would be boring if the roof looked like all other cars on the market. Mini need to stand out a little bit from other cars. So I dont completly agree with those here who think the roof doesn't belong on the car.
But I take my roof in black color.