The Design Process for new Electric MINI Cooper & Countryman
MINI Design had a huge task at hand when they set out to reinvent an icon like the MINI Cooper. In talking with the designers and engineers who created the car, process took the best of the old world and married it with new tech.
BMW and MINI design is known for its use of clay models. Why clay? It’s an old-school way to design but it’s also a great way for designers to literally form their ideas in full-sized dimensionality.
But clay also slows down the process. To help solve for that MINI Design used some of the latest digital tools and virtual reality to help speed up the process and get a better feel for ideas as they took shape.
We have a collection of images that demonstrate this process. What they show is a fascinating glimpse into not just how MINI Design goes about creating cars but also a few sneak peaks at what’s coming.
Case in point the photo above is a very early look at the forthcoming electric JCW (or at the very least a JCW bodykit. The details map directly to the JCW test mule we spotted recently in Munich.
This photo shows a very early design prototype in a dark blue which we have yet to see in production photos. It’s a great color and looks fantastic with white mirrors pictured. It’s also interesting to see how the matte Vibrant Silver trim looks on a dark color.
Here you can see what appears to be an early version of the Countryman headlights that has an indent on the lower side. It’s interesting to see how that correlated with some of the other design elements we see not the Countryman – specifically the front splitter.
Have a look at the gallery below for more easter eggs and let us know what you find in the comments below.
We now know that Plant Oxford will start building the new F66 MINI Cooper ICE in March 2024, followed by the F67 Cooper ICE Convertible and, apparently, the F65 MINI Cooper ICE 5 door.
We also know that the plant is having a £500million upgrade, to also make the MINI Cooper Electric and the MINI Aceman. That will will be confirmed any day now, according to the Sun newspaper.
Head of MINI, Stefanie Wurst, whose dad used to work for BMW at Oxford, told the Sun newspaper, “Oxford is the heart and soul of the MINI brand. We will always make sure that Oxford has a sufficient amount of MINIs to produce”.
That side view “preview” of the JCW bodykit… is that image mirrored, or were they thinking of moving the filler flap to the driver-side?
Good eye. I would assume it’s just a mistake in the clay buck but who knows.
I love that MINI still uses this technique to design vehicles. I used to work at Honda R&D as an IT guy (now I teach Art) and I saw clay models there as well. It always seemed like a cool job. I imagine using computer models and AI is cheaper, but you lose the tactility of working with your hands. Why not do both, like MINI does?
That the head up display is still projecting on a separate screen instead of on the windshield is…..