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The compact SUV Mini will launch late in 2010 and bring here in 2011 as its fourth model. Photo Gallery
Fans of the Mini Moke can rejoice.
Mini is hitting the beach with an open-body, all-wheel drive concept that will star on the brand’s stand at the Detroit motor show in January. While the Mini Beachcomber Concept’s all-paw undercarriage is the main link to the compact SUV Mini will launch late in 2010 and bring here in 2011 as its fourth model, the concept echoes the same outdoor lifestyle approach – and carries it to extremes.
Hearking back to the Mini Moke of the 1960s-70s – and up to the 1990s in some countries that persevered with the lowered Jeep-like styling that did its best work as a beach buggy, the Beachcomber is an open-body design. The doorless and roofless four-seater is apparently just the thing to let the outside in for what BMW describes as ‘a spontaneous and active experience of freedom and leisure time’. However BMW says there is the potential to add soft or lightweight plastic coverings for the roof and doors to avoid the spontaneous and active experience of rain, sleet or snow.
The four occupants sit high in the rugged looked Beachcomber, which is itself raised on extra-large alloy wheels, enhanced by a suspension set up to allow a ‘generous’ rate of spring travel unknown on the Moke in its natural state. However, the wide sills and squared-off character accents on the body are a strong reminder of the Moke’s hardy ‘ammunition case’ looks, while the vertical lines of the grille are a direct reference.
The Mini Moke had a lot of shortcomings in its time, but built a large enough fan club for production to continue in Australia and Portugal long after it ceased in Britain, where just 14,500 cars had been produced. At about four metres in length with short overhangs for better off-bitumen geometry, like the coming compact SUV, the Beachcomber is a metre bigger than the Moke. And with modern materials strengthening the pillars and roof frame, plus up-to-date approaches to crumple zones and load paths, it would be considerably safer as well.
The interior has been designed for flexibility, with fold-down seats joining the open roof in allowing the vehicle to carry larger objects than it really has a right to. The interior focus is on active lifestyle features, including a liquid-sprung compass, artificial horizon instrument, and the Centre Rail fastening system — already seen in the Crossover Concept – that allows a range of sporting, lifestyle and communication equipment to be rearranged throughout the cabin.
But could this herald the return of the Moke that BMW has mined for the retro references of the Beachcomber? “Possibly,” says BMW spokesman Tim James. “And if it ever did eventuate, you’d think it would have a very strong following in Australia. “Considering we are largely a coastal-populated area, it does suit the Australian market.”
However James said nay new version of the Moke would be a vastly safer effort than the original. “I think the automotive market has moved on a fair degree form 1960s in that sense,” he says. “The Beachcomber is largely based on the production model of the compact SUV and carries over its design and safety aspects. “It’s just touching on the heritage of Mini.”
