A New Mini MINI: The Rocketman...and it's going to be a long long time

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This almost makes me want to wait.

Autoblog
What could possibly be smaller than a MINI? We're likely to find out in a few years as Motoring File reports that BMW is in the early stages of developing an even smaller model to join the MINI lineup around 2011 or 2012. The Bavarian automaker needs a new ultra small car to improve its corporate average CO2 emissions, but such a vehicle wouldn't jive with the BMW brand image. Enter MINI, which is now adding the larger Clubman model to its lineup, but will likely find itself with an even smaller car to help out its parent company. Motoring File surmises such a car could cost as little as £8,500, or about £2,000 to £3,000 less than the least expensive MINI on the market now, the MINI One.

A smaller MINI may actually move the retro brand closer to the car from which it sprung, the original MINI Cooper. The current car resembles the original in appearance, but is considerably larger, even more so since the second gen. debuted. The original MINI developed by Sir Alec Issigonis (on a napkin, no less) was only as large as it absolutely needed to be. It would be great to see today's MINI pumping out vehicles that adhered to that standard again.
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Leftlanenews.com
Mini is working on an even smaller car for the European city-car market, a new report finds. The city-car market — which has increased in popularity over the past few years — could be a way for Mini's parent company, BMW, to reduce its CO2 emissions in the face of stricter regulations from the European Union.

Motoring File is reporting that the even smaller Mini will sticker for around £8,500 and would hit the European market early next decade.

Mini recently unveiled the larger Mini Clubman at this year's Frankfurt Auto Show. The introduction of the Clubman and possibly a new city car shows BMW's commitment to expanding Mini's lineup worldwide.
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It would be cool since it would be more like the original Mini Cooper.
 
I can't see that it would be possible to create a vehicle as small and light as the original Mini with crash regulations as they are these days. Unfortunately.
 
At least the new Fiat 500 is under 1000kg and with 135hp and 160+hp versions on the way it should be a little pocket rocket.

I have never liked the new Mini as I have owned 2 original Minis. I don't think they are bad cars (although rear space is a joke) but just don't like them.
 
Sounds sweet. I have recently wanted to get my hands on an old-school cooper. I guess this would be close enough. The other thing about this that makes me happy is that it is smaller. I'm not too keen with the cars getting bigger trend, so smaller is very welcome. With an S engine, this would be one wicked car on the track.
 
Milliethemutt
At least the new Fiat 500 is under 1000kg and with 135hp and 160+hp versions on the way it should be a little pocket rocket.
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I swear if the US gets the Fiat 500 I will start saving up for one. Those things are brilliant.

And on to the topic at hand, a smaller Mini = awsome. Bring it on. What extra weight that may be added due to health and saftey bull**** can easily be countered with MORE POWAH!
 
You know, I do like the idea of a (Slightly) smaller Mini model. the '08s, I think, have balooned to the point of being wider than my Nova...considering the original was considerably narrower, there's a bit to be said.

Make it small, easy to tune, simple and cheap. (The last two are pie-in-the-sky wishes, considering it's BMW building them, but a man can dream.)
 
So we've got the 500, the Up! and this new Mini. Sweet.

Too bad we've got a one in three chance of seeing any of those cars, although, it is looking up for the FIAT and VW camps as of late.

But, IMO, the wait isn't worth it. You may as well get what you want for now and then trade in the Cooper when the new one debuts; That is, if we end up getting it or not.
 
YSSMAN
So we've got the 500, the Up! and this new Mini. Sweet.

Too bad we've got a one in three chance of seeing any of those cars, although, it is looking up for the FIAT and VW camps as of late.
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It is a shame that we will probably never see any of these here. They, sound like really great machines. Too bad Fiat has yet to bring any car over here, VW still hasn't gotten around to brining the Polo over here, so we will need that to come over, and then probably the Fox before VAG gives the Up! any real consideration. And I'm sure the Mini stands no chance should it ever get get physical with a suburban.

But, IMO, the wait isn't worth it. You may as well get what you want for now and then trade in the Cooper when the new one debuts; That is, if we end up getting it or not.
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Definitely true. And by the time this becomes available, there will be something even cooler on the horizon, and something even better once that becomes available.
 
Does the 500 weigh under 1000kg including a driver fuel and luggage?
 
Depends on how heavy the driver and luggage are I suppose. It's listed in Evo as 930 kg kerb weight (for the 1.4 sport) so if I was driving it it would be over 1000kg straight away.

I just saw a few 500s recently and they are well cool.
 
-> I think they should call it 'Micro Mini' or 'Mini Micro' just like the skirt for hot babes. :D

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-> That would be a great competition to the 500, Aygo, the upcoming VW Up! and the Fortwo. But as usual, it won't arrive in the US just like the rest except the Smart.
 
A Mini MINI is still in the works it seems!

Motoring File
MIN-i City Car Set to Debut in 2012

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It’s almost hard to believe but MINI’s product onslaught will continue unabated after the Countryman, Coupe and Roadster launches over the next 18 months. What’s next? If you believe L’ Automobile and Auto Express it will be a shortened version of the current MINI hatch meant to go toe to toe with city cars such as the smart by 2012.

The car’s key attribute will be not only size (and less weight) but also efficiency. We expect the highly anticipated 1.5 liter 3 cylinder engine to make it’s MINI debut in the new city car. With every ounce of technology at the disposal of BMW we expect this 3 cylinder to get around 48 mpg on the highway in the US cycle.

But will it every come to the US? We expect it ultimately will thanks to the aggressive EPA averages each automaker must achieve in the coming years.

The car has several working titles and code-names. However the one we keep hearing over and over is “MIN-i”. There’s a chance it may change but don’t be surprised if we see that name in the future.

It’s worth noting that our sources are telling us the L’Automobile image (above) is quite a bit more realistic than the Auto Express image see here.

For those reading MF over the past years this news isn’t entirely new. We’ve reported on MINI working on asecret city car for a number of years. But until just this year the project was shrouded in strict secrecy. It’s only now that product plans are underway that we’re starting to hear more details.

Look for further news in the coming months.
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It's a photoshop/rendering, I'm guessing it will look almost nothing like that despite what Motoring File showed. They showed the Countryman to look completely different then it actually does. It'll probably be ugly though since it has to conform to a bunch of wacky EU pedestrian crash standards. It why the front of my car looks so goofy.
 
The rendering also appears to picture a two-seater, which would suck. Make it a proper four seater, with the size of a 500 and a decent tiny front-end, too many muscles just doesn't fit small cars. It will sell like bananas.
 
The Cooper now isn't much bigger then a 500. This will go up against cars like the Smart and the iQ.
 
Joey D
The Cooper now isn't much bigger then a 500. This will go up against cars like the Smart and the iQ.
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The US cooper or the EU cooper, or are they the same size now?
I still weight 1200lbs more, though I'm guessing the US 500 will be quite heavier than the EU model.
 
dave_sz
The US cooper or the EU cooper, or are they the same size now?
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Same size, although I'd tend to refer to the car as a MINI since Cooper is only a trim level (we have not one but two trim levels lower than Cooper over here, the First and One... and "Cooper" has long past the point of meaning anything special like it used to with the Classic Mini).

Making a small Mini look good will not be an easy task.

As Joey has pointed out, crash regs, pedestrian protection regs and all manner of other stuff make it very difficult to make a truely small car any more. The reason Smart and Toyota (iQ) get away with it is because theirs are fresh designs, they aren't designed to look like anything else.

The MINI on the other hand is designed to look like something else, as is the 500, as is the Beetle etc etc. All those cars are significantly bigger than their spiritual predecessors - which isn't a problem in itself, since they really now aim at a different and much more affluent market than the classic originals. Also, Fiat's potential next small model (nicknamed the "Topolino", after the city car that predated the original 500) is likely to be an original design, and Volkswagen already make small cars that are more true to the "peoples car" format than the modern Beetle is.

MINI are in a tricky position though, because they're insistant on having a range that look like Minis. Which means their eventual city car could have some very awkward proportions.

The smallest "normal shape" cars on sale in Europe at the moment are probably the Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107 and Fiat's Panda. They're all two-box desgins (like the Mini) rather than one-box (like a Smart). They're also all small and light (the lightest Panda is 840kg, the C1 et al begin at 790kg).

fiat-panda-diesel.jpg
2009-Citroen-C1-car-pics.jpg

Panda, C1​

This is what the smallest Mini needs to be like. Smart have showed with the Crosstown concept that you can make a decent looking (caution: this is my opinion) two-box car from a one-box car:

Smart_crosstown_16-1024.jpg

Now make that a bit longer so it can fit four (even if it's an iQ-style tiny back bench), make it a bit lower and less chunky than that Smart, rake the windscreen a bit and you'd have a good approximation of a modern-day Mini, and hopefully it'd only weigh in at between 800-900kg.

What I fear we'll inevitably get from MINI is a really ungainly-looking Mini-styled blob that still somehow manages to weigh over a metric tonne...
 
They should probably just stop now. That new huge 'Mini' thing that I saw in the Bullring recently was horrific looking and doesn't deserve to wear the Mini badge. I imagine this will be the same. They build the Mini well, it drives well, and it looks good. Why ruin it with countless other models that just water down the original idea and introduce some ugly into the line up?
 
Looks like it's coming to Detroit!

Motoring File
The “mini” MINI is Coming to Detroit

We’ve known for quite some time that MINI has been in the processing of developing both a concept car and a production car that will slot below the current R56 hatchback in both size and price. Now comes word that the 2011 Detroit Auto Show will see the debut of the “mini” MINI.

Word comes straight from MINI head Dr. Wolfgang Armbrecht via Financial Times Deutschland:

There will be a taste of ”the next spectacular idea from the Mini brand” at the Detroit auto show he told the newspaper in an interview published on Monday. ”Keep a close eye on the coming months,” he added.

So what can we expect? As we’ve reported the mini-MINI will be based off of the current R56 platform but will be shortened to original Mini proportions. Sounds like a perfect platform for BMW’s new three cylinder engine doesn’t it? That’s what BMW thinks as well and we expect the 3 cylinder power plant to debut in the new Mini city car before it makes its way to the R56 replacement’s lower model ranges. Look for highway MPG in the high 40’s (US) and typical Go-kart handling. Oh and a price lower than the current range.

You can read our previous coverage of the “MIN-i” as it’s known internally in our MINI City category here.
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I'm interested to see what this will look like, hopefully it will live up to the original Mini's ethos, which means it has to be small, cheap, fun, practical and economical.
 
It's called "Min-i" ?? say it out loud, and you sound like you're from the Black Country!

Seriously though, I'm going to go away and think about my response to the consistent whinging about the Mini being too big, and not enough like the original.. it irritates me hugely!
 

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