Rumors have been swirling for months about what BMW would do on August 26, 2009 for its Mini brand. After all, that is the fiftieth anniversary of the public debut of Alec Issigonis' original Mini. With most of the speculation revolving around either a coupe or some kind of cropped windshield speedster, it turns out the reality was somewhere in between. Unlike the original coupe of the Sixties that simply had a fastback replacement for the standard square-back roof, the new MINI Coupé Concept completely replaces everything from the beltline up. The upright windshield that has been part of the Mini look from day one is finally swept back and a truncated roof covers the remaining two seats.

All pretenses of being a four seater has finally been dispensed with for the new coupe. The shape of the roof indicates that should Mini move ahead with production, and it could easily be replaced by a folding fabric unit to create the anticipated speedster model. What's more, dumping the rear seats means Mini could theoretically add a hefty brace back there restoring some of the structural integrity lost in the standard convertible, or perhaps restore some cargo room as compared to the Cabrio. At this point, it's unknown if those B-pillars are are tinted glass or just big solid blind spots, but visually, the lower half of the car remains pretty standard R56 John Cooper Works.

Although we don't have images of the interior yet, it sounds like it's largely standard Mini, although there are two clocks hanging off the sides of the steering column mounted tachometer much like the so-called Openometer in the convertible. One tells time while the other is a stopwatch for recording laps. The MINI Coupé Concept will be shown publicly at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month alongside the production version of the new Crossover.

By Ralf Dennissen, Contributor

Date posted: 08-25-2009


The 2009 Mini Coupe Concept is a kind of birthday present, as the Mini brand celebrates 50 years since it began on August 26, 1959. And we'll all get to enjoy this present, because it will be presented in public for the first time at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show.

At a secret location near Munich, Mini's Design Director Gert Hildebrand tells us about his newest creation. "The idea to do a Mini coupe was born in our design center," he says. "New ideas never come from the board offices; they come from the floor of the design studio. BMW does trend analysis a lot and every three months we talk to Mini representatives from all over the world to discuss the needs of our clients. But we were never asked to do a coupe. We're close followers of blogs and so forth, and we just felt that people would like the idea of a car like this."

Hildebrand takes a look at this dramatic creation, a two-seater that looks low and sleek. "It's a pocket Porsche," he says. "Maybe we can bring back the same adventurous customers we had with the BMW Z3 coupe. And, actually, both cars have had the same designer — Marcus Syring."

Fire Up the Blowtorch, Hans!
The 2009 Mini Coupe Concept began with a Mini John Cooper Works and a blowtorch. Just like the regular Mini in Europe, it measures 146.1 inches overall and 66.1 inches wide. But thanks to the new greenhouse, it is just 53.3 inches high, some 1.4 inches lower than before. It's a pure two-seater, and there's only luggage space `behind the front seats.

"It is intended to be really sporty," Hildebrand says. "And because of the absence of rear seats, it weighs between 175 and 200 pounds less. It also has a better Cd in the wind tunnel because the windscreen lies back 16 degrees more than the regular Mini."

To lean back the windshield has had complicated consequences for the structure of the coupe, though. Hildebrand says, "Every new car at BMW has to undergo structural tests, where they put a certain amount of weight on the roof. A leaned-back A-pillar is inherently weaker than a pillar that stands up more."

Beneath the skin, this concept is still a Mini John Cooper Works, so the turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-4 will make 211 horsepower. This will help reinforce the coupe's mission, which is, as Hildebrand says, "to emphasize Mini's masculine side."

Nice Hat
Surprisingly enough, there was no big design competition for the 2009 Mini Coupe Concept within Hildebrand's studio. "We are actually quite a small team, so designer Marcus Syring made six sketches from which I picked one," he says. "They were simple sketches made with a pencil. All of the design work was done on the computer, though — virtual design."

To differentiate all the different forms of the Mini, the designers have focused on the roof, Hildebrand tells us: "Have a look at the different Mini models, like the Cooper, Clubman, and the crossover that is due for next year. They all have different roof shapes."

For the coupe, Hildebrand says his teenage son provided an unexpected inspiration. "The car has a baseball cap on its head, with the front backward, just like my son," he says. And in the same way, Hildebrand sees the coupe as the ideal car for a young couple: "It is simple, logical, but still erotic."

The baseball cap is functional, however, as the design director points out. "The roof spoiler has an opening in it. We need that to deliver air on the back of the car, for downforce. And it also keeps the rear window clean, as we don't have a wiper back there." The C-pillars also feature a little aero piece to minimize turbulence in the car's wake, which reduces drag.

Style Quotient
Designer Annette Baumeister chose this car's color palette, and the selection hasn't been made by coincidence, as in the same year the original Mini was born, the Cooper T51-Climax driven by Australian Jack Brabham won the Formula 1 constructors championship for the Cooper Car Company. "Jack Brabham always wore light-blue Dunlop overalls and a helmet painted gold," Hildebrand says.

There's no crazy stuff for the 2009 Mini Coupe Concept's interior, since the dash design and the seats come straight from the regular Mini. Designing a completely new interior would have been impossible anyway, because of the short period in which the showcar had to be designed and built. The fabrics, however, are new. Hildebrand notes, "The interior is done by Oliver Leghart, and we also worked with Poltrona Frau, an Italian furniture company that works a lot with leather. They also do seats for Alfa Romeo and Ferrari."

The coupe has a big hatch, although it doesn't work on this showcar. There will be a small opening in the wall between the passenger space and the cargo area so you can conveniently grab stuff from the luggage compartment. The cargo space itself measures about 8.8 cubic feet, about the same as a regular Mini three-door. "Eventually maybe we can move the seats down even a bit more, but you must not forget that Mini already is one of the cars with the lowest seating position. Maybe we can develop a special seat together with Sparco, since we already do some stuff with them."

Coupe, Roadster or Both?
Aside from being a birthday present, the 2009 Mini Coupe Concept is a serious design proposal. In fact, it will be shown at Frankfurt in the company of a roadster concept. "This roadster showcar has not been finished yet," Hildebrand tells us. He's about to go on, when one of the BMW executives present warns him against continuing. But someone else in the studio tells us that eventually, they will decide to build either the coupe or the roadster. Or both. Or neither.

As Hildebrand says, "Everything you see is doable for production. It might not be cheap, but it's doable. Hopefully we can get the OK before the end of the year. We will need another two to three years to develop the car. For sure we have to do a thorough aerodynamic study, because we've only done a rough one on the computer."

There's no word yet about what such a production version of the 2009 Mini Coupe Concept car might be called. "This is always something that's done last," the designer says. "It's always one of the more difficult parts of bringing a car to the market. We have thought about lots of names, from Speedwell to Broadspeed, two traditional English tuning companies. Personally I like Downton, a company that made Minis for celebrities in its time."

Just days after MINI unveiled its Frankfurt-bound Coupe Concept, an image of what appears to be a corresponding MINI Roadster has hit the Web. A MINI Roadster has been rumored for months, and this could just be the evidence that such a model exists.

Although no technical information was leaked with the image, the Roadster will likely be heavily based on the Coupe Concept. If that proves to be the case, expect a true two seater – albeit with more cargo room than its convertible counterpart – and the mechanical workings on the John Cooper Works models.

MINI has yet to officially give the production nod to either vehicle, but expected both to arrive in MINI showrooms sometime in 2011.

Look for the MINI Roadster to debut next month alongside the Coupe Concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show.