Category: MINI

MINI have just announced UK pricing of the Countryman range. While these numbers won’t directly translate to the Australian market, it will give an idea as to where we can expect the Countryman to sit in MINI Australia’s hierarchy.

Prices have been released as OTR figures and a two-wheel drive Countryman Cooper S is priced at £20,810. For comparison a 6 speed manual Cooper S hatch will set you back £17,015 OTR. The two-wheel drive Countryman Cooper D is priced at £18,810, the regular hatch version £15,185.

At initial launch MINI’s new ALL4 all-wheel drive system will only be available in either Cooper S or Cooper D spec. The ALL4 Cooper S will cost a further £1,220 or an extra £1,065 if you take the diesel option.

So, there you have it, expect the Countryman to be somewhere between 5-10K more than their regular hatch counterparts when they land in Australia. If you tick the ALL4 option box you’ll probably pay $2000 for the privilege. Hmm, this is starting to add up isn’t it.

A full list of UK prices and specifications is shown below.

MINI Australia have finally confirmed rumours about the local release of the John Cooper Works WC50. These rumours have been around for several months and AUSmotive can now say with certainty that Australia will be getting 10 examples of the WC50, from a limited worldwide production run of just 500 vehicles.

Justin Hocevar, MINI National Manager explains further, “The MINI John Cooper Works WC50 pays homage to 50 years of motor sport for MINI. This is a major coup for the Australian subsidiary to secure these highly sought after special edition models, the number 1 car is destined for the BMW Group museum and the 500th will find an admiring home in Australia.”

“Obviously MINI has enjoyed a rich motor sport history all over the world, however there’s a particularly proud heritage of motor sport for MINI in Australia and the arrival of this special edition, including the 500th car, is yet another testament to that”, says Justin.

It remains uncertain how MINI Australia will coordinate the allocation process for these cars, but expect something unique to be done with car #500.

Customer deliveries should be underway before the middle of the year and car #500 will be on display at the first two rounds of with the MINI Challenge—the Clipsal 500 (11–14 March) and the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix (25–28 March).

If you’ve not heard of the WC50 before then make sure you feast your eyes on the images and press release after the jump. In essence, though, the car is a John Cooper Works model with unique cosmetic changes, including Connaught Green paintwork unlikely to be seen again on a MINI.

After checking out the images online of the new MINI Countryman I’ve been left wondering just how big the car really is. On pure numbers, as the image above shows, there’s not much in it. But in reality those numbers don’t reveal the whole truth.

While the R60 has reasonable storage space when the rear seats are folded down, don’t expect the car to swallow too much luggage in a four-seat configuration.

The squared-off front nose of the R60 Countryman makes the R56 hardtop seem almost wedge-like by comparison. The extra height of the crossover model has all been added below the shoulder line, mostly to aid ride height. On the road, though, the Countryman doesn’t look too topsy-turvy. Check out the video after the jump to see the Countryman in action.

I’m still intrigued by this car and will have to reserve full judgment until we see the Countryman in Australia.

[Source: MotoringFile via Auto Bild]

Less than a day after MINI released a teaser video of their R60 Crossover model official-looking images have been leaked on the net. Kilometer magazine have posted up these three pics of the R60, which is understood to be badged as the Countryman.

At this size the pics don’t confirm all details, however you can just make out some “ALL4” badging just behind the front wheel arches, indicating the Contryman’s all-wheel drive system. The interior stack containing HVAC controls also appears to have undergone a much needed rework, although, it is difficult to tell from the angle shown. The interior shot gives a peak at a new handbrake lever design, as well.

The exterior colour, too, is new. The body colour looks to be a flat white paint, which has never been seen on a MINI before. There has been Pepper White and the lovely looking White Silver metallic of the Camden model, but never a plain old white—which looks great in these pics.

Overall the look of the 4×4 MINI has been well executed. There’s enough there to let you know it’s a MINI, with quite a few details transferring across from the Beachcomber Concept. However, there is also enough to set it apart from its midget cousins. So, a four-door MINI, hey, one thing is certain, this model will not be to everyone’s taste. But, if it allows that ALL4 malarkey to appear on some pure road-going models, then I’ll be all for it.

Presumably MINI will get on the offensive and release some more images prior to the car’s official launch at Geneva in March, if so, I’ll post ’em up as soon as I can.

[Source: MotoringFile via Kilometer magazine]

The award for the overuse of automotive camouflage this week goes to MINI who have gone way over the top in this official video release. Yes, the funsters at MINI HQ have had some fun with this one.

Underneath all that crazy vinyl lies MINI’s new Crossover model. The R60 platform was first presented to the public with images of the Beachcomber Concept released just before Christmas. The 21st century Moke is currently on show at the Detroit Motor Show.

The camo will be coming off the Crossover at the Geneva Motor Show in March. You can see the Camouflage Foil clip after the break, along with a clip from the Detroit show featuring the Beachcomber.

MINI will be hitting the Detroit auto show (16-24 January) doorless Moke stylez with this new Beachcomber Concept. Based on the R60 Crossover platform (due for release late next year) the Beachcomber opens itself for action with “spontaneous and active” open air attitude. The Beachcomber also features the Crossover’s ALL4 all-wheel-drive system.

You can’t ever imagine a car like this making it down a production line, but that hasn’t stopped MINI Australia Manager, Justin Hocevar, from going on an early sell job, “It’s an exciting look at what the future could hold for MINI. If the MINI Beachcomber Concept did eventuate I think it would be very well suited to the Australian landscape and way of life, especially given our propensity for coastal living and appetite for adventure, leisure and fun.”

MINI also claims the car is nice, cosy and safe by having strong rollover protection and reinforced A and D pillars. But, you know, there’s no doors, so while the concept car might fully recreate the Moke experience, if the Beachcomber ever did make into into series production, one would be very surprised if the doorless look remained.

That said, bung a few doors on this Beachcomber and you could very well be seeing what the production version of the Crossover model may look like. Expect quite a few of the styling cues you’re seeing here to translate across to that model.

The Beachcomber Concept, though, perfectly embodies MINI’s cheeky attitude and will certainly stand out from the crowd when it hits the motor show circuit. There’s more pics available after the jump and make sure you click on them all to explore the finer details at wallpaper-friendly 2000px sizing.

Australian and and full International press release also available after the jump.

MotoringFile brings us an early Christmas present with news the Roadster and Coupé concepts will be going into production as early as June next year.

According to the report pre-production models should start rolling off the line mid next year, with the first batch of customer production cars starting some time around October 2010. Should that news be correct Australian deliveries could be expected before the end of 2011.

The “twins”, as they’ve become known (see YouTube clips below), will be powered by the 155kW engine from the John Cooper Works. While most of the dimensions are the same as the existing hardtop model, the Roadster’s sleek roofline is 51mm lower.

Apparently, there’s more “big news” to come on the production front, so AUSmotive will be keeping an eye out for that.

[Source: MotoringFile]

US entrepreneur Craig Costello once lived a life as a graffiti artist on New York’s streets. Back then he was known as KR. Not happy with the tools of the trade available over the counter back in the 80s KR developed his own product. That product, now known as KRINK, has since been applied to a number of consumer items, from Levi’s jeans to the MINI Cooper S you see above. All covered with the trademark KR dripping wet look.

From what I can tell the KRINK MINI, first shown in Hamburg, was created for no apparent reason. I mean, it looks pretty cool, or at least, I think it does. But, you’d think the car would have been created for a charity project, an art gallery or some other meaningful cause.

Maybe it was, and I’ve just missed the detail. Anyway, as I said, I reckon the results of the KRINK MINI are quite appealing. What about you? Nice bit of art, or a waste of time and money?

More pics and video after the break.