P90150958-MINI Superleggera Vision Roadster Concept

No MINI concept has ever motivated so many thumbs to upward than the Superleggera. However MINI is struggling with approving the car according to Autocar. Given its new strategy of less niche models and more emphasis on core models like the F56 and upcoming Clubman it would seem the Superleggera doesn’t make a lot of sense. However it could serve the company well s a halo car helping to get people excited about the brand and into showrooms. Interestingly BMW has admitted for the first time that the Superleggera rides on a rear wheel drive platform. While we knew the concept was powered by an electric engine, that fact that this has once again been reiterated could be a sign that MINI is serious making the Roadster electric if produced.

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The idea behind the Superleggera according to Autocar was to see ‘“how the public would react to a Mini stretched in a way that it had never been stretched before”, said board member Peter Schwarzenbauer, “and react to design cues that were back to basics, reduced to the max. We got an extremely positive reaction to it, although some hardcore Mini fans said ‘no, that’s not a Mini’.”

Schwarzenbauer went on to say that its rear-drive layout “is a natural,” and the “simpler interior and electric drivetrain are where the brand is going direction-wise.” All well and good but when asked about the idea of putting the roadster into production, “we are not sure yet – the volume is low, and how many open cars do you need in a range?”

Is this just a reaction to the vaguely production looking patent images we saw last week? Is MINI trying to play down the likelihood of building the car to quell the rumors and keep rivals and the public guessing? Time will tell.

Source: Autocar