SPY PICS: 1 for the (off) road

Perhaps the most interesting thing about BMW's upcoming X1 AWD is the speculation it will be sharing at least some parts of its drive system with the also upcoming MINI Crossman SUV.

Interesting not because the two vehicles will face the possibility of some cross-brand cannibalization, but because the MINI starts as a transverse-engined front-driver where the BMW 1 Series is steadfastly rear-wheel drive.

Maybe the two vehicles will share the same rear differential/suspension, and leave the engineers to their own devices when figuring how best to route drive to the back wheels. BMW at least has a heads-up here because it can adapt the same system already employed in the X3 SUV.

Expected to be introduced in 2010, the X1 is about RAV4-size and, in the same manner as the X3 and X5 BMW AWDs, stems from a regular road-going car range. The drivetrain will almost certainly borrow at least conceptually from the 3 Series based X3, including maybe BMW's xDrive 4WD system. The big difference is that the X1 will, unlike the X3 and X5, look a lot like its donor vehicle.

Thus the X1 is expected to share much of its cabin architecture with the 1 Series, not to mention a lot of the EfficientDynamics technology being applied across the BMW range.

These spy pix by our favourite sneaky camera people from Carparazzi show a fully operational if heavily disguised X1 prototype doing an urban circuit somewhere in Europe

The profile view in the spy shots shows the extended, wagon-style back, along with a likely wheelbase increase to make the X1 more roomy in the back than the somewhat crampy 1 Series hatchback. The back doors, as well as being longer than the 1 Series, also gain a raised, squared-off upper profile that just may mean the non-appearance of BMW's familiar "Hofmeister kick" in the rear side windows.

Otherwise, the similarities with the 1 Series hatchback, apart from a slightly jacked-up ride height, are marked, suggesting a lot of commonality with external cladding as well.

-- with Carparazzi