Name the New MINI SUV

Sections: R60 (Countryman) Nov 20th, 2007 143 Comments

A year and a half ago we asked you, the MotoringFile reader to name the (then unnamed) MINI Clubman. With almost two hundred comments, to say it was a popular post would be an understatement. Now MINI has a new vehicle to bring to market. The MINI SUV will most likely debut in late 2010 as a 2011 model. Expect the car to be loosely based on the Clubman (as seen in recent spy-photos) and raised with some type of optional AWD system onboard. But one thing it doesn’t have yet (that we know of) is an official name. We know there have been a few bandied about. The prototype has been known as the “Colorado” internally for the past year or so. And some auto publications have taken to calling the new small ‘ute the “Monte Carlo”. However it’s hard to imagine either of those working in the US market due to both being currently used by Chevrolet.

So here’s your chance to give the folks at MINI a few ideas. In the comment section below give us your idea of a perfect name for the new all-wheel drive MINI. Something that will convey a sense of utility and adventure, yet in keeping with the spirit of MINI worldwide.

This post has NO affiliation with MINI. If they should happen to use a name mentioned here I wouldn’t expect to get anything more than self satisfaction and some minor celebrity status in the MINI world.

Written By: Gabe

M. Dillon

The MINI S.U.M.: The MINI Sport Utility MINI
Vanwall

MINI Weeeee!
Tony

MINI 4R4, as a nod to the Metro 6R4 (it would obviously need more power though! ;D
Madoc

Pathfinder (old Riley model name owned by BMW)
bavarian racing green

…MINI Rover…

…i like the sound of that…

…or…

…MINI Scout…

…like the old AMC 4×4…

…or…

…MINI Rallye…
zm

mini pooper
Jon

One things for sure, if they call this bloated creation a Moke, I will compleatly lose my love for the brand. The Moke is a minimalistic vehicle. In historical context is more minimalistic than even the Mini. So don’t quite equate this heavy luxury micro suv anything that has ever worn the name of Moke.
ST

I like the “BMW 116ix” mentioned earlier as by the time this comes out what’s left of MINI anyway??

Something like this should not even wear a MINI badge.

Not long now until BMW completly sellout & ruin what started out as a fabulous recreation of a wonderful piece of motoring
jas cooper

Since they didn’t use ‘Traveler’ on the Clubman, they can use it now…
zm

agreeing w/ the sentiment here.

i thought the clubman was bad enough. no offense clubman lovers, but i want to cry every time i see it rear its ugly head (and behind). the suv would push me over the limit.

maybe bmw figures the # of purest mini defectors would much less than the # of ppl wanting a mini suv. just think of all those pt cruiser ppl wanting to join our fam! it’d make me have to sell my baby, and i’d never forgive mini.

but, what do i know? is it not possible to turn a profit w/ 220k/yr unit sales in the auto biz? they could always chill out on the marketing budget or find other costs to cut, vs completely destroying the brand.

but then again, that’d be a sure fire way to get the marketing budget down (or not, as you try to recover the brand from the mini mistake).
pirolas

Country
emergo

they won’t call it the Moke – American’s won’t understand it, and it doesn’t really have the sex appeal the marketing department is looking for!

I cruised by http://www.minimarcos.org.uk/altpics/index.html for ideas.

how about MINIsport, MINI Sprint or MINI Trek?
Preston

MINI Traveler
Vanwall

The availability of various copyrights and trademarks will determine the name, and I daresay most of the least nonsensical are already taken, including a lot of the ones here. Traveller and Countryman are out for that reason, and if you can find an off-roady name that isn’t already held by an existing 4-by manufacturer, it prolly isn’t worth using. This won’t be an easy job. Good Luck, Lads.
MINIme

MINI Yak

MINI XTRA

MINI Yeti

MINI Trax

MINI X Series

MINI MAXI

MINI QuadTrac

MINI Cooper X

I’m really going to give this some thought and get back to you…
bluzeke

Th’ Otha’ Mutha’
Roger

Mini Mite
Bill Lawrence

How about:

MINI Midget Hearse
Kevin

I LOVE IT!!!! I was laughing so hard reading through the comments.

If MOKE is taken, how about BLOKE?

BIG SIPPER?

I can’t think of anything remotely serious. I am no help to MINI on this one.
Kenpotian

“Sticky”
JohnPC

Does this thing really need to be called an SUV or SAV? I say this thing, whatever it is, is no more SUV than are/were the Subaru Forester, Audi Allroad or Volvo XC 70 (and whatever they used to call it). If I remember correctly, at least one or two of those pre-crossover, AWD wagons were explicitly advertised as SUVs back before that name was so maligned. Not so anymore, at least the couple that are still around.

This MINI thing doesn’t appear to be much more than a beefed-up Clubman with AWD. I’m sure it’ll still be fairly efficient, and judging by BMW’s ability to create SAVs that drive somewhat sportily, I don’t think we’ll have much to worry about in the drivability department. Unless this test mule isn’t very representative of the future product, and unless there are big changes yet to be seen, this will be no less MINI than the Clubman is.

As for the name, since Colorado is already taken, aren’t there some other western state names that are yet to be used as car names? California? Nevada? Oregon?

Actually, I think I’d like to see something named “Minnesota.” ;)
Jono

MINI Rotundo
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabe

The sarcasm warms my heart.
ST

The US market may be the biggest car market in the world, but MUST we all pander to the US all the time? Surely it’s not just all about getting as many MINI’s out there as possible is it?

I used to own a MOKE here in Aus… I really hope the name MOKE doesn’t become bastardised by using it on this Soccer-Mum mobile!
Jon

Gabe would absolutely love it if you could find somebody at Mini with enough spine to come forward and speak to the Mini community and explain why they are doing this, and how they are/if they are going to address the rather large numbers of Mini owners that see this as a hindrance to the brand.

The sad fact is I think Mini has completely ignored its community exists and have listened to bean counters that have decided that this very predictable move is the best they could come up with. Sad that this is the most creative that they could have been.

Mini Owners Be Damned Mini Bigger is Better Mini Geee, why not a SUV
Vanwall

ZZZZZZZ. What, did I hear an unbroken cascade of cogent and insightful contributions from inclusive motorers? No? Ah, so, there are a few of the usual suspects, I see, bearing the same tired, trollish, closed-minded, boringly repetitive, plaintive bleatings as self-styled arbiters of taste and direction. Reactionary thinking like this would never have brought the New MINI to life in the first place. One size does not fit all, and Mini and MINI have never been about this from the beginning, so blathering some non-existent dogma you pulled out of the pimpled nether regions of your anatomy does not make it so. Killfiled for the foreseeable future, due to the sad lack of vision.
Jon

The fact is that a Mini has never been about being a solution for everybody. To me this decision by BMW/Mini makes as much sense as BMW deciding that since they don’t sell to farmers that they should introduce a tractor next year in their model line-up since they don’t currently service this sector.

Instead of producing a micro SUV in the Mini ranks why not introduce an mid-level micro SUV with a BMW badge on it?

Can say with little to no doubt that what makes the talk of a SUV so hard is that I have a huge amount of respect for BMW/Mini for their solutions for this brand . They have proven themselves to myself time after time, but no matter how nice this vehicle is that I believe it betrays everything BMW/Mini has cultivated for many years.
David

MINI Forza MINI Trail MINI Canyon MINI Valley MINI Tallyho
joe

Iam the bigi used to be the mini
http://miniclub.ie owen

I’m going to suggest the same name I came up with for the Clubman … the MINI Adventure.
Mark

How about The MINI Clubman SUX (Sports Utility Crossover) :-P
Tomas

I believe SUX is already taken. It’s the airport identifier for Sioux City , Iowa.
Jimskater

//snark on//

Cayennette or Li’l Cayenne

Point being–Porsche does an SAV/SUV: the original goal was to generate the cash that’s kept them afloat & able to produce their other “core” vehicles. The Cayenne did so well, Porsche is now in the enviable (?) position of having a controlling interest in VW Group.

Evidently MINI/BMW feel the need to expand the product line, so that the brand has a continued existence. If that’s BS PR, so be it. There’s a market for the Clubman, or it wouldn’t be on its way here.

Ultimately, if you don’t like the Clubman or the R56 styling, don’t buy the cars. That’ll get your point across to BMW. Of course there’s evidently hundreds of thousands of other people out there who do like the current and forthcoming vehicles.

//snark off//

Meanwhile… my (real) entry in the name “sweepstakes”

MINI 4
http://www.coopergear.com Blake

Maximus!

Let’s hope that this is the largest vehicle that MINI builds!!!
MARC

MINI seems to have a thing for “C” names–

MINI COWLEY (the town in Oxford where MINI is made)
Dan S

BRAVO VANWALL! Let us not forget that this vehicle is being developed by BMW/Mini, not Caterpillar. As long as they are not REPLACING the Cooper & Cooper S with a 4×4 we’re safe.

Remember, BMW does have a 4 wheel drive 3 series and no one seems worried that it will replace the regular RWD model.
Jon

Mini Alps Mini Europe Mini Strudel Machine

Since this will be a Austrian built car so not a British car any longer really.
Ken

Clubman X …and if they make a regular Cooper with AWD (and hopefully not a raised suspension) it could be the Cooper X or Cooper SX for the turbo models since a small car with turbo and AWD =sex ..seriously though, the X can represent cross-over and all that other BS they’ll spoon-feed us about this vehicle being built for people with an active lifestyle (like traversing wet soccer fields to drop the kids off).
http://www.blokspeed.net Eelke

I like Countryman. It’s another name from the past, there is a parallel with Clubman, and it refers to the “utility” of the car. I don’t so much like Moke, as someone else said, it is completely different in character from the original Moke. Moke should be left for the occasion when/if Mini does a SAV4-like fun-car.
ThePritchett

How about the “MINI Abortion”

Way to kill a brand, BMW.
David S.

I’m cracking up at the current MINI owners who wail and gnash their teeth at the idea of a bigger MINI, when the Biggie Smalls MINI in their driveway would positively squash the Original Mini that came before. Weren’t you there in 2001 when these same arguments were being made? What did you do about the impending crisis then?

Fact is, despite the acceptance and love in the greater Mini/MINI community, there are still a bunch of Original Mini snobs out there who think that we New MINI owners are posers. And quite frankly, this incessant moaning about new models isn’t exactly proving them wrong.

These people squabbled over every extra inch and every unnecessary pound, as if BMW was planning to fit the New MINI directly into owners’ rectums.

I don’t need a crystal ball or a Deep Throat inside the company to tell you that the size and efficiency difference between a 4WD MINI and your MINI will be MUCH smaller than the difference between your MINI and the Original Mini.

I agree with JohnPC above– adding 4WD and a little ground clearance plus an inch or two more headroom isn’t gonna leave me shedding a tear in my pillow for anyone. Gravel setups are sexy, IMHO. Subaru’s done PLENTY ELSE to screw up their brand image (new WRX anyone? how bout a used Tribeca?), but 4WD and a little ground clearance certainly hasn’t left them hurting.
http://www.robincasady.com/ShiftKnobs/index.html Robin Casady

SUVanna MINI
Larkin W.

MINI Gigantor
lavardera

Mini Estate Wagon

and in S trim

Mini Rally Wagon

or the Family Truckster . . .!
Vanwall

Family Truckster!! Love it!
Bwana Yak

I like the Countryman, but if that isn’t usable, how about the MINI Cross-Country?

Or, since everyone here is taking such offense at this model, maybe we should call it the MINI Molehill.
GregW

MOKE – according to Wikipedia is; Moke – archaic British, Australian, and United States slang meaning Donkey. Mini Moke – a utility vehicle produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC). Moke (band) – a defunct British rock band. Moke (Amsterdam band), indie rock band from Amsterdam. Magneto-optic Kerr effect – MOKE, an effect used for measuring magnetic properties. Moke (Bihar, India) a village of around 200 families in India. Moke (slang) – a disparaging term for Pacific Islanders, especially Samoans/Hawaiians. Tropical Storm Moke (1984). A type of ficitional lizard in the Harry Potter books.
Aurel

MINI BINT HAULER
Vanwall

“Now honey, I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go out with that boy that drives the Big MINI – I heard he has that orange shag carpeting in the back, and smokes those reefies or whatever they call them, and besides, Mrs. Skipowtski down the block said she saw a mattress in there, too! He listens to that degenerate be-bop music all day long, and I bet he hasn’t had a haircut in a month – take it from me, that kind of boy never stays true, and will prolly try something fresh while you’re in that huge 4X4 mini-thing. No, no – no arguments from you; you’ll just have to choose friends that aren’t so…edgy. You’ll see, one of those nice football players will call you right away if you let people know you’re available for prom nite.”

Later that night, Blanche made a rope from her bedsheets, climbed out her bedroom window, and escaped into the nite, never to return. Some say they’ve seen her in a chocolate brown MINI XX4 on the wrong side of town, wearing a black bomber jacket and mirror shades, but her hair is bright red now, and she answers to ‘Flame’ – it’s for sure a different girl, one way or another, thanks to a MINI.
Vanwall

“Now honey, I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go out with that boy that drives the Big MINI – I heard he has that orange shag carpeting in the back, and smokes those reefies or whatever they call them, and besides, Mrs. Skipowtski down the block said she saw a mattress in there, too! He listens to that degenerate be-bop music all day long, and I bet he hasn’t had a haircut in a month – take it from me, that kind of boy never stays true, and will prolly try something fresh while you’re in that huge 4X4 mini-thing. No, no – no arguments from you; you’ll just have to choose friends that aren’t so…edgy. You’ll see, one of those nice football players will call you right away if you let people know you’re available for prom nite.”

Later that night, Blanche made a rope from her bedsheets, climbed out her bedroom window, and escaped into the nite, never to return. Some say they’ve seen her in a chocolate brown MINI XX4 on the wrong side of town, wearing a black bomber jacket and mirror shades, but her hair is bright red now, and she answers to ‘Flame’ – it’s for sure a different girl, one way or another, thanks to a MINI.

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