|
The MINI Crossover Concept is a design
study for a fourth variant in MINI’s current model range. With four
doors, four drive wheels, four single seats and at four metres in the
length, the Crossover Concept combines versatility and style: its main
aim is to tempt new target groups into the world of MINI.
The MINI Crossover Concept is packed
with innovative design details and practical solutions. It seeks to
retain MINI ownership as a unique prospect as competitors continue to
try and replicate the successful MINI recipe.
You know what they say about length…
The MINI Crossover Concept is the first
MINI model to measure over four metres in length and almost 1.6 m high,
giving it greater practicality and enhanced flexibility.
Looks matter…
The MINI Crossover Concept still
features many of the typical MINI characteristics, such as the wheels
located at four corners to highlight the ‘go kart’ feeling, the circular
design features and the entertaining use of space and functions. More
than just an all-wheel drive, however, the MINI Crossover offers
fantastic flexibility and meets more specific customer requirements.
With four doors, two on each side, you
may think the MINI Crossover Concept has a conventional feel after all.
But you’d be wrong. Two conventional doors can be found on the
passenger’s side (front and back), with a third for the driver. The
fourth door, for the rear passenger on the driver’s side, slides back
along the outside of the car for convenient access and loading.
The rear door has a frameless,
retractable window and when open, swivels to one side to facilitate the
loading of long items, such as skis, snowboards and surfboards. But it
doesn’t stop there: the capacity can be increased even further due to
the folding roof cover which extends across the whole length of the roof
and there’s even a transport case which can be fitted on to the outside
of the rear door.
But it’s what’s inside that counts…
With more storage space than ever seen
before in a MINI, the MINI Crossover Concept offers additional capacity
and uniquely, the opportunity to personalise the layout of the
interior.
The four seats are individual, single
seats which can be adjusted forwards and backwards by up to thirteen
centimetres in the rear – allowing more legroom to the rear passengers.
The front and rear seats are linked
visually by the new MINI Center Rail – a matt-polished aluminium
fastening rail which extends from the dashboard through the middle of
the car, to the rear. A unique fastening system can be used with the
Center Rail to attach cupholders, storage units and entertainment
consoles which can be passed between the front and the rear passengers.
The MINI Crossover Concept features a
new display and control console which hosts all major entertainment,
telecommunication and navigation functions: the MINI Centre Globe. This
three dimensional globe can be personalised independently by both the
driver and passenger as the display is shown in two hemispheres – for
example, allowing the passenger to surf the net whilst the driver
follows the navigation.
Operated by a touch-sensitive surface,
the MINI Centre Globe can also be programmed by a trackball situated on
the steering wheel, buttons or slide controls in the lower section of
the globe, or even by a keyboard which extends out from the dashboard on
the passenger’s side.
The MINI Centre Globe also hosts the
stop/start function, whereby the driver inserts a Keyball into the upper
edge to start and switch off the engine. |