Auto Design

It has been long coming but now it is official: after the Mini Clubman, we are going to be able to invest our money in a new MINI that comes with the stance of a miniature SUV and the convenience of an additional door. At this time it is called Crossover Concept but it will get a proper name when its production derivative reach the dealers’ show-rooms in the second quarter 0f 2010.

Its design is the natural and yet enthusiastic evolution of the series of four “Clubman Concepts” that did open the way for the introduction of the Mini estate at motors shows around the world, from Frankfurt 2005 through Geneva 2006, via Tokyo and Detroit.

Typical of Mini, the Crossover Concept comes with a powerful stream of fresh and refreshing ideas, which are likely to make their way through production, with the co-operation of Magna Steyr, the contract manufacturer that will produce this new Mini in Austria.

Mini say the Crossover Concept aims at tempting new target groups and call their latest Concept Car a design study for the ultimate 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 MINI.

Why? It is simple: it comes with four doors, four driving wheels, four individual seats, and with a four-metre length.  The Crossover Concept combines versatility and style: its main aim is to tempt new target groups into the world of MINI.

The trouble here is that with this car Mini goes beyond the 4 metres barrier (and reaching for 1.6 metres in height) thus challenging its own brand name. Can a four-metres-long car be considered a Mini at a time when the Smart is coming of age (after ten years on the battlefield) and new generations of mini-cars are ready getting for the new car market? We shall see, come 2010.

There can be no doubt that the Mini Crossover has quite a different character, despite the familiar front design (grown up in wrestler style) and the rear deck design in unusual American-Graffiti-nostalgia look. The Crossover comes with quite a higher ground clearance, big wheels and with dark-brown rocker panels and extended wheel-arch fairings that enhance the colorful SUV connotation of the next Mini.

Once again, designers and engineers have worked and had fun at proposing a new, asymmetrical, layout for doors providing access to the cabin. On the driver (left) side, the rear door slides whereas on the opposite side the rear door opening is conventional. Access to the luggage compartment is again different: no more two folding doors but a large gate – with retractable screen –  that rotates sideways to open.

The interior has even more concepts and ideas to show. The four seats are individual, single seats, which can be adjusted forwards and backwards by up to thirteen centimetres in the rear – allowing more legroom to the rear passengers.

The front and rear seats are linked visually by the new MINI Centre Rail – a matt-polished aluminium fastening rail which extends from the dashboard through the middle of the car, to the rear. This fastening system can be used with the Centre Rail to attach cup holders, storage units and entertainment consoles, which can be passed between the front and the rear passengers.

A special collection of dishes and cups has been created by Porzellan Manufaktur, Nymphenburg, specifically for the Crossover Concept’s Centre Rail.
Granted to attract the greatest attention in Paris is the new MINI Centre Globe. A flashy unit which integrates all major entertainment, telecommunication andnavigation functions.

This three dimensional globe can be personalised independently by both the driver and passenger with the display split in two hemispheres and thus allowing, for example, the passenger to surf the net whilst the driver follows the navigation.

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