Last week, we told you that MINI was showing its major dealers the brand new Cooper hatchback at a secretive meeting in Helsinki, the capital and largest city in Finland. Nobody was allowed to photograph the car and people had their phones checked as they left, but we've managed to get an impression from a US dealer. He told us that the car was shown both as a three-door and as the newer five-door. People are concerned the MINI will once again grow in proportion to become a regular family car, but our info suggests MINI will promote the new three-door as being exactly the same size as the old one. As for the five-door, that will have a slightly longer wheelbase to make more room in the back of the car. The first ever MINI Cooper (hatch) with rear doors will be slightly smaller than a Countryman in length. Full article at Scoop: New MINI Cooper to Get 8-Speed Auto and LED Headlights - autoevolution
Interesting rendition of what's to come. I can't see the final version of the new MINI looking like that in the rear... Hopefully BMW is just messing with everyone's minds in the know that photos like these would be shared. I'll remain optimistic.
I wish that were true. BMW has proven they can make an ugly car. Fingers crossed the MINI will still be a MINI, time will tell. :fingerscrossed:
If I want a true mini, I'd get another classic. I think the new design will be pretty different but it will bring in new design improvements. I have a optimistic attitude for it.
I think I will stick with the First Generation "new" MINIs still out there and quit driving MINIs when I can no longer get the First Generations. All these design changes are ruining the name, IMHO. I had one of the first of the now "classic" Minis [1959 Morris Mini Minor]. It was nice and I owned it until I could no longer afford to keep it running, given the Brit parts and the fact that I would have to wait so long for parts to arrive by boat. That said, I probably would not get another classic. On the otherhand, if only Rover had kept its head above water, we would not be posting about the Bimmer-MINIs at all....
Oh great a 8 speed auto.....I can't even imagine what the replacement cost on that is going to be :crazy: Mini has already proved it can't make a good tranny. CVT...crap! And it seems now that even the 1st gen S auto is becoming an issue, seen 3 bad trannys last week alone! Know what they cost? Try, $3500 for a used one, $5800 for a rebuilt from Mini, and then the biggest joke, $10,000 for a new one from Mini! Fricken cars are not even worth that much. Poor guy in the shop right now, bought a used one for $3500 from LKQ, has 84k miles on it BTW, only one they found, and now as to pay Steve for labor, what a bummer :frown2:
Rumor coming out of the design studio is that Chris Bangle is working overtime on the 3rd gen MINI..... The new MINI rear end treatment is going to be fabulous..... He plans to incorporate some of the iconic designs developed on the bigger BMW's.... It's going to be sweet....
What - you mean the "if a little styling is good, a lot of styling must be better" school of thought?
After reading about all the electronic gizmos on the new car I just see lots of $dollar$ signs. First for the dealer on buying one then for the service department have to fix all of the wiz bangs because the car won't run at all if they are on the fritz. A MINI doesn't need all that stuff. It needs to be light, reasonably powerful, and fun to drive. Oh well I'll have my R53 for the next 10 years then we'll all have to be driving (or self driven) be safety couches on wheels that are powered by hamsters and AA batteries.
Yes, and as soon as they do someone will mod it with cats instead of hamsters and D cells instead of AA's!