MINI at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show

MINI’s press conference at the Los Angeles Auto Show unveiled the smallest MINI concept ever…sort of.

The only production-ready premiere at MINI’s booth was the Hardtop 4 Door, which they had hanging sideways from the ceiling. Of course, it looks slightly longer but opening the doors revealed some significant changes.

The front doors, traditionally adorned with a large oval accent, still have the accent but it’s cut off. Getting in and out of the front or rear doors was easy and leg room was as one might expect from an F56.

The rear doors of the 4 Door seem incredibly small once the door is open because they left nothing out of what you’d expect to se in the door of a MINI, but it’s all…well…MINI. The accents, speakers, door latches, door pulls and pocket are all there, but much smaller than the elongated size that we’ve come to know since the first new MINIs appeared.

Of course, with such a small door comes quite possibly she world’s smallest car door sill, but it’s there complete with its aluminum top scuff plate. Have a closer look:

Much has been written and posted about the Superleggera Vision Concept and it made its U.S. debut in Los Angeles. We got a few moments with this mobile artwork’s father, Anders Warming (pictured above). He talked about how the concept has styling cues from its siblings but they are much different in a forward-looking way. The bonnet stripes are three dimensionally recessed into the bonnet itself. While it doesn’t look like any other MINI, it’s a direction that foreshadows where MINI can go with its design and all indicators seem to be that it is being very well-received by the public and press. Watch this space for new as it comes on this one.

One interesting thing to note was the attention to detail on nearly every section of the Superleggera. One such place this can be seen is the difference between production Hardtop 4 Door lights (left) and the Superleggera concept lights (right).

The other notable introduction was the MINI CitySurfer Concept, which may well qualify as the world’s smallest MINI concept introduction. This electric mobility machine can take you up to 35 mph and turn a lot of heads when you fold it up to put it in the back of your MINI. See the details about this concept in our coverage here.

Also notable was the Hardtop and Countryman winning ALG’s Residual Value Award.

You can see the entire video of MINIs press event here.

The booth included a classic Mini and the Countryman pictured above.

Venturing outside the MINI booth, it was interesting to see MINI’s influence. Walking the floor revealed that the contrasting roof is catching on, appearing on the Fiat 500 and Kia Soul EV.

To wrap up, MINI made quite a splash with the Hardtop 4 Door and two concepts never before shown in the U.S. AS the doors open to the public, we will see how these new ideas are received outside of the MINI faithful.