Auto Design

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Pictures always say a lot more than thousands of words.

However, here some news you might light to read, in addition to what I reported before the Paris Motor Show.

The Mini Crossover Concept is said to be anticipating a significant – and to some extent revolutionary – addition to the range. The Crossover contains the seeds of the new generation “down-sized” SUV that will be anything but a SUV. This explains why it is called “Crossover”.

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Going to an international motor show is like going to the annual market. You meet a lot of friends and people, see many things and you come back home with the head full of information, impressions, news, comments and opinions. So much so that indeed you need a few days to arrange everything in some sort of order so that you get to the essence of the experience. This is all the same and yet all different every time. And I am not just talking of the cars.

As for cars, new cars I mean, I have come home with an incredible load of pictures and information.

I would have to share them all with you the very moment I sat back to my PC last Saturday but this is simply impossible. It takes a lot of time to put a label and classify more than 2000 images.

Now, having done just that I can start sharing with you some of the most significant. Or at least some that I image you want to see as soon as possible.

This is why, at this time I am offering you a series of photo galleries to look at. What you see is a combination of images shot at the Paris “Mondial de l’Automobile” and images provided by the press offices and design studio of the car makers.

I am giving priority to the latter ones, as the most attractive and unique.

Related information and comments will be posted shortly. Click on images below to access their photo gallery.

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.

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STAR AT THE 2007 FRANKFURT SHOW.

  First written for Car Styling, Issue 181 (Tokyo, November 2007).

* Stories and cars from recent past you may like to read and see again.

Eventually the day came for the official unveiling of the new MINI Clubman. It had been announced and previewed for such a long time that we got tired of waiting for it. There was no reason to rush anyway because production could not keep up with the demand of the existing models and already 1.4 million units have been sold in the past 7 years.

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Team Work passionately orchestrated.

Since its introduction in year 2000 Minis have been seen as successful, “trendy and fashionable”, automobiles. The 2004 Mini Cabrio confirmed and consolidated the assumption. Now the Mini Clubman introduces a great deal of functionality and practicality while remaining very much a fashion item. Once again the question whether the Mini design is consequent with the “forms follow function” golden rule of design had to be asked.

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