yet another blob!

[madaboutcherry]

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Searc ... -pictures/

[minipete]

Aren`t they turning them into a bloody Ugly thing,the first Bini wasn`t all that bad,but now BMW are going to far.

[Mini4Ever]

looks rather big and bulky

I really can't say that any of those beamers are Mini

[whitebuffalo]

Why doesn't BMW stop messing around with the "Mini" or "MINI" name (as they show it) and just call the car line the 0.1 series? They already have a 1 series so a smaller car would be a bit less than that! Ugly thing those Binis.

[Catweazle]

Hello,

yes ugly, terrible . Not a britsh Mini, a real weißwurst Bini

Best regards
Catweazle

[Dean]

i have a bini ( i know i know) its my day to day car A-2-B, like most cars it has its good and bad parts.

but when my parents when down to pick up there bmw 1 series coupe, the sales man said, the bini they could understand, the convertable, yes and no, but when they started to bring out the clubman, ( which really is an estate) and the countyman they said its to far, my parents almost bought a countyman, but they drove it 3 feet and hated it, drove like crap, wishy washy streering, too gimicky, over priced, and when we saw it parked up next to the 1 series they bought ( which was cheaper and better spec'ed) the bini countyman look like cheap tat. and the funny thing, 1800 people paid up front for it before even seeing it, driving it, sitting in it, and boy they will get a shock,

and now they are design this as a concept, they need to stop,

ruin the mini name and design, think they already have

[graham in aus]

So far from a Mini and so ugly

Stretching things even further:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s6j_CuUCTw

Impressive prep. but how does this relate??????

[mab01uk]

Some people still get very hung up about the ‘Mini’ name but the Rover Group’s Marketing Department planned to let it wither quietly away and die without even realising they had a world famous 'brand' with a future. MINI is now a successful range of small cars which would, in BMC days, have included Issigonis’ 11/1300. Had BMW gone for a basic city car MINI in 2001, it could not have been built at the Cowley, Oxford plant in the UK. All such basic small cars are now only economically viable if built in low wage economies. Even Nissan Micra production has now ceased in the UK to be replaced by the larger more profitable Juke – a MINI Countryman competitor.

Sales are growing in the premium supermini classes and small 'soft roaders' – that’s why other manufacturers are launching prestige superminis with lots of options nearly 10 years later and why BMW are expanding the MINI into a range of small cars. Little credit is given to BMW for taking a risk at the start and successfully creating and pioneering the premium, prestige small car sector. Now, 10 years later, the MINI is being copied by the Alfa Romeo Mito, Audi A1, Citroen DS3 and, at the lower end, the Fiat 500 and with others on the way.

A Mini MINI city car is on the way soon though.............probably to be called the MINI-Minor (or maybe MINI City) :
http://www.motoringfile.com/2010/12/14/ ... o-detroit/

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArtic ... rs/251456/

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArtic ... rs/254545/

[madaboutcherry]

who owns the wolseley and riley names? could we see their grills on the front of the blob?

[madaboutcherry]

they could make a wolseley hornet convertible, or has that been done before.

[Pete]

Some people still get very hung up about the ‘Mini’ name but the Rover Group’s Marketing Department planned to let it wither quietly away and die without even realising they had a world famous 'brand' with a future.

You've hit the nail on the head, MINI is just a brand now that can barely be connected with the original concept (slight size issue), well maybe by some devoted followers of 'the brand'.
I personally don't see why so many get so hacked off though by the various new BMW MINI products until I see their marketting dept trawling through old 60's rally car photos to sell the latest off roader, which is laughable. They are also producing some very ugly models at the moment it has to be said.

Funnily enough I am currently considering a 1.6 Cooper D due to it's fantastic fuel economy, couldn't give a stuff what the badge on the back says.

[mab01uk]

who owns the wolseley and riley names? could we see their grills on the front of the blob?

Revival of the Riley brand
Autocar (02 September 2010) has also learnt that another, rather more unexpected version of the Mini is being considered by the design team. It’s an outright luxury model that would herald the revival of the Riley brand.

The concepts for the Riley show that it will either be a spin-off from the Mk3 Mini, due in 2013, or a new notchback body style inspired by the original Riley Elf and Wolseley Hornet.

Many at BMW acknowledge that a super-luxury version of the Mini, fitted with a very high-end wood and leather interior, is likely to have appeal to affluent city dwellers.

However, others argue that a notchback MINI would attract buyers in countries that regard hatchbacks as low rent. A three-door van, based on a version of the Countryman platform, is also likely to feature in the future MINI plan.

Despite the profusion of niche models, the challenge for the MINI design team is to nail down the form of the MINI 3.
http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArtic ... rs/252508/
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010 ... model.html

The forthcoming MINI Coupe could be called the MINI Broadspeed Coupe.
Autocar sources also suggest that the Broadspeed Coupe name is being evaluated by MINI and BMW, in homage to the Broadspeed racing team that manufactured the 1966 Broadspeed GT Coupe, which was based on a Mk1 Austin Mini Cooper 1275 S
http://www.motoringfile.com/2010/06/09/ ... nch-dates/
http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArtic ... rs/241631/

[mk1coopers]

Don't let BMW see this, its half way to a Sprint!

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/show ... 5b&t=19678

[whitebuffalo]

Yes, BMW did a good job of creating a whole new brand of small cars and good for them. I guess what hacks people off is that BMW associates the Bini with the classic cars and bastardizes the history with new monstrosities! At least that is the way I see it. They can make a "MINI" Estate, but don't call it a Clubman or anything related to the classic Mini range. They should be proud enough to drive their own way and make something that is actually original. It's like some American sitcoms and drama shows that were modeled off of BBC hit shows like "Being Human" , "The Office" and "Life on Mars" Good in English, but a poor translation to American. The American versions are crap.
Ok, I will jump off my box and drive away in my Elf

[mab01uk]

Yes, BMW did a good job of creating a whole new brand of small cars and good for them. I guess what hacks people off is that BMW associates the Bini with the classic cars and bastardizes the history with new monstrosities! At least that is the way I see it. They can make a "MINI" Estate, but don't call it a Clubman or anything related to the classic Mini range.

But nearly all major car companies now own a selection of historic marques and use names from their various brands past history on their modern day versions, why should Mini be any different?............'Badge Engineering' experts BMC plundered numerous names and badges from famous car companies and brands they had bought out and taken over!!

Austin Rover did not hesitate to use the Countryman name on vehicles like the Montego Estate............
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... tryman.jpg
or going back further before the classic Mini even........the Austin A70:
http://www.austinworks.com/wood-A70.html

[whitebuffalo]

Yes, BMW did a good job of creating a whole new brand of small cars and good for them. I guess what hacks people off is that BMW associates the Bini with the classic cars and bastardizes the history with new monstrosities! At least that is the way I see it. They can make a "MINI" Estate, but don't call it a Clubman or anything related to the classic Mini range.

But nearly all major car companies now own a selection of historic marques and use names from their various brands past history on their modern day versions, why should Mini be any different?............'Badge Engineering' experts BMC plundered numerous names and badges from famous car companies and brands they had bought out and taken over!!

Austin Rover did not hesitate to use the Countryman name on vehicles like the Montego Estate............
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... tryman.jpg
or going back further before the classic Mini even........the Austin A70:
http://www.austinworks.com/wood-A70.html

Yes, many car companies utilize NAMES from the past, but most of them do not associate their modern name sakes to the past achievements of those names unless the parent company is the same as the past namesake's. BMW has never been involved with the classic Mini, yet they flaunt their wares with reckless abandon with the achievements of the BMC Mini. The Bini websites use vintage Monte Mini picts to give their cars some type of credence. They only bought the name, not the history.

[Tim]

For the first few year BMW here in Australia tried to ignore the history. It was bizarre, they refused to ever mention the original in any of their promotional material. The local MINI agent happens to be a Mini fan from way back. Around launch time the local Mini club were having a show and the plan was to display the first new Mini to have arrived alongside an original one in the same colours. When BMW heard about it they banned it completely. At that time most young Australians remembered Minis as being slow, painted in dull colours, smoky and with a dirty stain down the side from the leaking fuel cap.

After a few years of pretending that the MINI was a new idea, they discovered that they weren't being bought by 25 year old blondes, but by 50 year old blokes, who rememebered the original. Suddenly the advertising all changed and they remembered that there was this older car that perhaps the designers did draw some inspiriation from at some stage.

Tim

[mab01uk]

They only bought the name, not the history.

I think they bought the whole of Rover from BAe......with Mini included and then invested millions in keeping the classic Mini in production until 2000 by developing the MPI, even though Rover had planned to kill the Mini off forever in 1996 due to new European safety and emmisions legislation, BMW's new investment in the Mini and John Cooper's insistence on this last update finally got the MPI into production in 1996, extending the Mini's life by 4 more years
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iodnXn9o ... r_embedded

Interesting to read Mike Theaker's (BMW/Rover Engine Development Engineer) account of the Mini MPI development story. Mike Theaker also later worked on powertrain development for the New MINI.
Mike Theaker on the Development of the Twin Point Injection system for the Mini.
Link to PDF below:
http://www.miniestate.de/MPI_technology.pdf
(September 2000 Miniworld)

[mab01uk]

For the first few year BMW here in Australia tried to ignore the history. It was bizarre, they refused to ever mention the original in any of their promotional material. The local MINI agent happens to be a Mini fan from way back. Around launch time the local Mini club were having a show and the plan was to display the first new Mini to have arrived alongside an original one in the same colours. When BMW heard about it they banned it completely. At that time most young Australians remembered Minis as being slow, painted in dull colours, smoky and with a dirty stain down the side from the leaking fuel cap.

After a few years of pretending that the MINI was a new idea, they discovered that they weren't being bought by 25 year old blondes, but by 50 year old blokes, who rememebered the original. Suddenly the advertising all changed and they remembered that there was this older car that perhaps the designers did draw some inspiriation from at some stage.

Tim

It was similar in the UK market at the beginning of re-establishing MINI in buyers minds because market reseach had shown most potential UK buyers still associated Mini's with rust, noise and unreliability, etc. The USA market did however use the Mini history from day one because there had been so few previous US Mini owners in the 1960's who still remembered the downsides of Mini ownership!

[austinisuseless]

Rust and puddles of oil was the main downsides of the original Mini ownership, needing an oil tray underneath on driveways, as well as starting on some damp mornings. But oil leaks was usual for cars then, Fords were just as bad.