Feb 24th, 2004
With the introduction of the MINI Cabrio upon us one wonders what MINI has in store next in the MINI line-up. Granted I personally don't believe MINI will be releasing anything new before they bring out the R56 (code name for the next gen MINI) in One, Cooper, and Cooper S form starting around late 2006 and 2007. But let's not allow that stop us from speculating…
Nor does it stop EVO. In their latest edition they revive the four year old MINI Clubman rendering first released to the press before the 2000 Paris Auto Show. They also speculate on the what and when of the stretched MINI:
“The new MINI estate may not be produced by BMW, but that doesn't mean the German firm won't build a load-lugger of its own. These computer-generated images were revealed on the MINI stand at 2000's Paris Motor Show – and as you can see, the car bears a striking resemblance to the Castagna version.
Along with the picture of the estate – dubbed the Clubman – visitors to the event were shown images of a convertible MINI, as well as a pick-up. The Cabrio has already reached the production phase, but it is not yet known whether a flat-bed variant will ever go on sale.”
Of course we've already seen what a independant firm can do in regards to a MINI wagon – it'll be interesting to see whether MINI themselves follow down that same path in terms of design. I would suspect they are thinking pretty hard about adding doors rather than simply stretching the car. Even small, RX8 like doors, would greatly improve the functionality of such a concept.
We've already received strong indications that the car is on the planning boards at MINI however whether the car will sport two or four doors remains to be seen. My money is on four since Dr. Panke, chairman of the BMW Group, mentioned it!
Feb 23rd, 2004
In another one of our in depth features on the new Cabrio here's some further information about the exterior trim of the upcoming addition to the MINI line-up: (This info comes from the latest MINI PR release)
The MINI Convertible is available with a choice of no less than 10 exterior colours, two of which are exclusive to the Convertible – Hot Orange and Cool Blue with a special paintwork effect. Made of top-quality fabric, the roof is available in three different colours providing particular margin for your personal taste. And while the MINI One Convertible comes only with a Black roof, the roof of the MINI Cooper offers the customer a choice of Black, Blue, and Green.
The rear-view mirror housings come in Black on the “basic” model and are finished in body colour on the MINI Cooper Convertible. This allows a particularly wide range of choice and combinations proving once again that this new version is not a regular production model, but rather a special car built for the special customer with his – or her – own individual taste.
The Chrome Line exterior package featuring chrome plating not only on the bumper inserts, grilles and rear lid handle, but also on the rollbars, ensures an extra touch of genuine British style. A further option is to choose the rear-view mirror housings as well as the rear hinges in chrome as an additional highlight.
Most of this info has been known but details such as the chrome line trim additions haven't been confirmed until now. Also not mentioned in this release is the fact that Parking Distance Control (PDC) is standard on the Cabrio.
Feb 21st, 2004
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Let there be LEDs! This comes straight from MINI's most recent PR release regarding the new MINI Cabrio. I would assume we'll see these changes on the new 2005 Cooper as well since it mirrors the design changes found on the Cabrio):
“The white back-up light is integrated into the newly designed LED rear lights with clear glass covers, the rear fog warning light comes in a new position within the bumper between the two chrome trim strips.”
Interestingly this is the first time we've seen LED rear lighting mentioned anywhere for the 2005 MINI. However it would make sense as BMW seems to be moving all of it's cars to LEDs in recent years. They should last much longer and give a brighter, more consistent light.
Feb 21st, 2004
A couple days ago we learned about the new front HID Xenon lights and the Cabrio roof. Now lets take a look the overall design changes that'll we'll see on the new 2005 MINI Cabrio (via MINI Press):
The MINI Convertible is naturally a particularly emotional MINI – a car with unique flair and numerous features reflecting the agility, joy of life and elegance so crucial to the character of this charming four-seater.
Everything under one roof.
continued →
Feb 20th, 2004
Ian Cull over at gbmini.net has come up with a solution to an issue that has annoyed US MINI owners for a couple years now. The problem is that US spec MINIs have had the auto up feature on the windows deactiviated by default. It's remained a puzzle as to why MINI decided to do this. The most obvious thoughtis that it may have been a response to the litigation happy culture of the US. However for years BMW's available in the US have had this feature with seemingly no litigation issues.
Ian decided to create a solution of his own to deal with the issue:
I have been working (and playing) with microcontrollers for 25 years. The MINI seems to inspire its owners to take their car to the max, one way or another.
When I learned that European MINIs have auto-up windows, I wanted the same! Just like rear fog lights.
Having already investigated the design of the toggle switch panel, I was able to design a circuit which easily connected “in line” between the MINI wiring and the switches.
I started with a simple “quick and dirty” design using a high-voltage PIC chip from www.microchip.com; unfortunately this design did not work. But having started down the path, it became necessary to complete the design even though it is now much more complicated than I had originally expected.
In reality, the ability to close the windows without needing to hold the switch is an irrelevance – but the design was fun! I was also able to incorporate circuitry which can control a garage door opener, providing elegant “hidden” control for owners that need it.
You can find out more about this solution at
gbmini.net/MINIcircuit.
Feb 20th, 2004
Due to this site's phenomenal growth over the past 6 months we no longer can devote enough time to keep the marketplace portion of the site up to date. Therefore the Marketplace will be going away in a weeks time. So if you're interested in something on it I'd recommend getting the information of the seller now. For future use I'd recommend the MINI2 or North American Motoring marketplace areas.
Look for other, more positive changes in the coming weeks!
Feb 19th, 2004
In our on going “Cabrio in Detail Series” today we'll touch on the the car's intended market. Many of us with the exsisting fixed roof MINIs have initially looked at the Cabrio with
some skepticism. And while much of this mindset has faded after the initial photos were released there are still many current owners who simply don't understand why MINI has chosen
to release a convertible and what ptoential market their going after.
MINI has responded to these questions in it's latest PR release with a better definition of what market it's hoping to capture with the car:
MINI is clearly appealing to a target group the brand has not
been able to reach so far: So the Convertible now enables MINI to reach customers who regard
open-air motoring as part of their lifestyle they do not wish to forego under any circumstances
whatsoever.
continued →
