Mini concept cars

There have been a number of Mini concept cars, produced to show future ideas and forthcoming models at international motorshows.

Pre BMW era

9X (1967 to 1979)

From 1967 to 1979, Alec Issigonis worked on designing a replacement for the Mini in the form of an experimental model called the 9X.[1][2] The 9X was itself developed from the remains of a previous project in 1966 when Innocenti requested a smaller Mini for the Italian market, known as Mini-Mini and later on the Innocenti 750 - with a new in-sump gearbox and powered by an ultra-compact engine stretchable between 750-1000cc. However market research at BMC doubted there would be a market for such a car outside of Italy where it would be unable to compete with the Fiat 500 on price, its engine and gearbox though would be carried over to the 9X.[3][4] Due to politicking inside British Leyland

1994 to present

Mini Spiritual and Spiritual Too (1997)

At the 1997 Geneva Motor Show, BMW and Rover with help from italian coachbuilder Stola revealed two Mini concepts called the Spiritual and Spiritual Too. Compared to the ACV30, it showed a potential non-retro design for the forthcoming new Mini, which was designed by Oliver Le Grice.[15] The cars were compact and clever, with the Spiritual featuring a rear-engined 60 hp 800 cc 3-cylinder version of the K-Series engine while Spiritual Too was to use a 1.1-litre 4-cylinder K-Series[16] as well as the latest version of Alex Moulton's Hydragas suspension system to maximise interior space; this was claimed to be more of the heart of the mini instead of retro.[17]

Mini ACV30 (1997)

External links

Official international Mini website

References

Wood, Jonathan. Alec Issigonis: The Man Who Made the Mini Breedon Books Publishing, 2005^
Nahum, Andrew. Issigonis and the Mini Icon Books, 2004^
Gillian Bardsley. Issigonis: the official biography Icon, 2005^

ADO74

In 1972 British Leyland began considering a replacement for the then 13-year-old Mini known initially as Project Ladybird. With the cancellation of the 9X under BMC the small car market had been left to the growing band of superminis which, as the 9X had done, took the Mini concept and improved on it.

The main improvement was from the realisation that the Mini's incredibly small size was not entirely necessary. Superminis were still much smaller than the usual small family car but were slightly larger than the Mini, which led to significantly more useful interior space without the need for the compromises in seating position, drivetrain refinement and low equipment levels that the Mini used to create its spacious but small interior. The Italian engineer Dante Giacosa had long been Issigonis' main rival when it came to mastery of small car design and his transverse (but no gearbox-in-sump) engine layout and the addition of a hatchback (both ideas that Issigonis had himself seen as a way of improving the Mini on the 9X) provided the template for the new generation of superminis.

British Leyland now had to catch up with the market. The ADO74 project considered various proposed car sizes, from a direct Mini replacement, a more conventional supermini and a compact saloon. Unsurprisingly the mid-sized option was chosen and styling proposals were drawn up by Harris Mann and Giovanni Michelotti, with Mann's design going forward. The result was over 15 inches longer than the Mini, with a wheelbase 10 inches longer. Like the 9X (and most of its would-be competitors) the ADO74 used MacPherson strut front suspension, but with independent trailing arms at the rear, akin to the contemporary Honda Civic. Power was to have come from the proposed H-Series later K-Series engines,[12] which were all-new designs [13] that owed little to the A-Series engine though it could have just as easily been built with the A-Series initially due to the company's financial state.[14]

The ADO74 project progressed slowly - partly due to continuing corporate problems at BL and partly due to the need for numerous design changes requested by the firm's overseas sales division, Leyland International, which took the view that the ADO74 was too conventional and that it would be better to create another innovative car rather than compete directly with the established competition. The supermini market moved quickly in the early 'Seventies and the ADO74 underwent several redesigned to keep abreast of these changes in order that it wouldn't be outdated as soon as it was released. Eventually these changes became so significant that BL realized that it would be better to start from scratch. The ADO74 project was cancelled in 1973 and the ADO88 project took its place.

ADO88

This was a 'clean sheet' design using all the knowledge gained from the cancelled ADO74 proposal, with Charles 'Spen' King in overall charge. The new car was sized to be smaller than the established superminis but larger than a Mini to allow useful improvements in refinement, practicality and safety that the market demanded. With the Mini's superb interior space for its size still one of the ageing model's key selling points the brief for ADO88 was that the car had to offer the same usable cabin volume as the competition but in a car with smaller external dimensions.

Budget restrictions meant that there would be no new power units for the ADO88, which would instead use the familiar A-Series units from the Mini, along with the old car's gearbox-in-sump transmission. Tests showed that despite its age the engine could still deliver highly competitive fuel economy so it was modernised and updated to create the A-Plus generation. The conventional suspension of the 9X and the ADO74, and the Mini's solid rubber cone springs, were replaced by the Hydragas system recently debuted on the Austin Allegro which offered a useful improvement in ride quality as well as being much more compact than a standard steel spring and damper setup, which was crucial to provide the car with the required interior space.

That requirement also led to the ADO88, despite the efforts of Harris Mann. having an inevitably boxy appearance, with an almost vertical rear hatch (similar in appearance to the later Fiat Cinquecento). This style was received very poorly in customer clinics and the project was renamed LC8 with the aim of providing a more upmarket style and appearance to make the car more competitive. Having originally been intended as a complete Mini replacement, LC8 would now become a separate car in its own right to replace the higher-end Clubman and 1275GT Mini models while the more basic Minis would continue (with some of the improvements from the ADO88 project such as the A-Plus engine and front disc brakes) as a budget model. The LC8 became the Austin Metro, which was initially launched in 1980 as the Austin Mini-Metro to signify its status as a supplement to the Mini range rather than a replacement.

Pre BMW era

9X (1967 to 1979)

1994 to present

Mini Spiritual and Spiritual Too (1997)

Mini ACV30 (1997)

External links

References

Project Ant - the Barrel Mini (1968)

Mini Clubman (1967-68)

Pininfarina Mini

ADO74

ADO88

2000 Paris Motor Show

Mini Hydrogen concept (2001)

Mini Traveller (2005)

Mini Crossover (2008)

Mini Coupé (2009)

Mini Beachcomber (2009)

Mini Paceman (2011)

Mini Rocketman (2011)

Mini Clubvan (2012)

Mini Vision (2013)

Mini Clubman (2014)

Vision GT

Mini Superleggera Vision (2014)

Electric Concept

John Cooper Works GP Concept

Vision Urbanaut Concept