Mini staged several North American debuts, including this sporty Coupe concept, and the roadster to the rear.
Even if it is no Centennial, turning 50 is a milestone for a car brand – and reason to celebrate, which Mini did in style over the summer, at Britain’s Silverstone race track, with the introduction of two new models, the Mini 50 Mayfair and the Mini 50 Camden.
Both downsized offering are making their North American premiers at the 2009 L.A. Auto Show.
If the names sound familiar, that’s because they honor two well-known London neighborhoods. In car language it means that the Mayfair is comfortable and sophisticated and the Camden looks into the future.
The Mini Roadster concept is a bit more aggressive than the current convertible.
One of the features of the latter model is that it talks, with a Misson Control’, Harman Kardon audio system that interacts with the driver and talks about safety (fasten your seat belts), the weather situation (abundant sunshine,) and instructs the driver to switch on the air conditioning, with the occasional update about such things as the amount of fuel in the gas tank. Nice gimmick, especially when you are taking friends for a ride.
But Mini has more birthday presents that also are on display in Los Angeles: the Coupe and Roadster concepts.
The open-top model has the same 1.6-liter engine with twin-scroll turbocharger as the Cooper S, which delivers 175 hp, and torque of 177 lb-ft. that jumps to 192 lb-ft with the overboost function.
Up to the A-pillars, the Roadster is similar to that of the current Mini Convertible. The windshield, though, is 60 mm lower and raked at a sharper angle, providing the look of a ‘baseball cap’, said Ian Robertson, member of the management board of the BMW Group and Mini’s sales and marketing chief.
Less dramatic are the changes to the Roadster, which also gets a more sharply angled windshield than that of the standard Mini.
Robertson confirmed the arrival, in the third quarter of 2010, of a new production crossover with code name R60. The official name of the new, Mini-sized crossover will soon be announced, likely next month, at the Detroit auto show. The number 4 plays a major role, as it will be Mini’s fourth model, seats four people, has four doors, 4WD, and is longer than 4 meters (about 13 feet).
The concept car for the crossover was unveiled at the Paris auto show in 2008.
Mini promises to stay focused on the North-American market, it’s largest, followed by the English and German markets. Robertson expects the sales of the Mini brand to be ‘slightly’ down compared to 2008.