MINI unveils Coupé Concept

Forget the Concept part of the name, what you are looking at here will become the next member of the MINI family in the not-too-distant future. Set for public unveiling at September's Frankfurt Motor Show (September 17-27), the Coupé Concept joins the much-talked about MINI SUV (currently known as Crossman) in an expanding range for the BMW-owned brand.

The launch of the Coupé Concept is designed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the company's creation and send a message to the world that there are still areas for it to grow. Don't be surprised to see the long-rumoured Speedster join the Coupé as well as a production reality.

"The MINI Coupé Concept is an expression of MINI design and the great ability of the brand's designers to fill the elementary values of the brand with new life, using the options of modern drivetrain and suspension technology, and developing fascinating perspectives for the future of the brand on this basis," said the MINI statement announcing the car.

As you can see from the pictures, the Coupé Concept sports a strong family resemblance to the MINI hatch, Convertible and Clubman. In fact, the front side panels come directly from the Convertible.

However, from the A-pillars back the Coupé Concept gets a unique treatment. The A-pillars are more steeply raked, leading to a lower roofline that flows onto the integrated rear wing. The wing helps the air flow across the short rear deck lid; which incorporates a tailgate that is hinged at the roofline opening the entire rear glass area for easy luggage loading.

Although strictly a two-seater, the the car can accommodate 250-litre of luggage in the trunk, according to the manufacturer. MINI has also incorporated a through-loading feature so the occupants can access the luggage while on the move.

All up the Coupé Concept is 15mm shorter than the regular Cooper hatch (3714mm vs. 3699mm) and 51mm lower (1356mm vs. 1407mm) but shares the same width (1683mm).

Power for the Coupé Concept comes from the same 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo engine found in the John Cooper Works edition. That means 155kW of power and 260Nm of torque with a further 20Nm available on Overboost.

The interior receives the usual MINI treatment with a large tacho mounted behind the steering wheel and the enormous speedo mounted centrally on the dashboard. For the Concept the seats are trimmed in two-tone brown leather and the same material is used throughout the cabin.

In keeping with the sporty theme for the car, MINI has included two Chronoswiss clocks either side of the rev-counter; one to tell the time and the second a stopwatch for logging lap times.

Expect a wider range of engine options when the production Coupé and Speedster arrive. Given that this Concept doesn't look too far from production ready, expect it sometime in either 2010 or possibly 2011.

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