Archive for August 2009
Aug 31st, 2009
Coupe, Coopster, Concept or whatever you want to call, we spend a bit more talking about it tonight, along with a few of the other stories from MotoringFile, including more on the diesel MINI possibility coming to the US in the form of the R60.
If you missed our take on the new concept last week, you can find it here or in iTunes. Great insight from Todd and Gabe especially, worth the listen.
Finishing off with Todd at the Balducci Winery, including getting a chance to talk to a guy that drove his MINI from St. Louis to Alaska! Watch for WRR at more events in the future as well, including a very very strong possibility of us going to the Dragon in ’10!
Woofcast 304:
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continued →
Aug 31st, 2009
Another week, another new rumored partner for MINI platform sharing. This week it’s Toyota and the next generation iQ. For those that don’t know, the Toyota iQ is a somewhat revolutionary city car that (through intelligent packaging and engineering) delivers more interior space than a Smart car while being relatively the same size.
First reported on by Insideline and then Autocar the talks are in the earliest stages. However the idea is that MINI could share the platform and some interior components to help develop a new range of MINIs smaller than the current R56 two door hatch.
Aug 27th, 2009
According to Insideline and MINI spokesperson, BMW will be showing both the Coupé and the Speedster at the Frankfurt show in late September. In fact we’ve confirmed that the Speedster (pictured above) will be shown alongside the coupe at the Frankfurt and LA shows this fall.
However the bad news is that the Crossover originally intended to debut at Frankfurt will be pushed back to a debut in early 2010. Here’s a quote from the Insideline article:
“The Crossover launch has been pushed back,” says a BMW Mini spokesperson, “as we wish to first explore differentiation within future Mini smaller models and get feedback.”
We wouldn’t read too much into this. MINI’s staking a lot on this Crossover and they expect it to provide solid sales and revenue for quite a few years to come. However the timing of the launch is curious. With production ramping up in December of this year, our guess would be that MINI would debut the car at the Detroit Motorshow in early January. However a debut at the much larger Chicago show or even Geneva could still be in the cards. continued →
Aug 27th, 2009
Lets get this out of the way right now. MINI Coupé concept (or the Coopster as we call it here at MF) was built because and for MotoringFile readers. In an interview with Insideline, Director of MINI Design Gert Hildebrand says this in so many words;
“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.”
The spirit of the MINI community is what brought this car to the concept stage and what will ultimately bring it to production. But did MINI create what many of us have been asking for? Let’s take a closer look at the concept. continued →
Aug 26th, 2009
Todd, Gabe and I had the chance to get together Wednesday and give our thoughts about the the MINI Coupé Concept. Yes, we will be calling it the Coopster. Jump on board.
And, happy 50th birthday to the MINI!
Comments are open. Let us know what you think.
WRR Special: The MINI Coopster
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Download | WRR @ iTunes | 8.9MB | 19:23
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