The Geneva Concept looks the part as a mechanic's vehicle. It
 |
| Spanners and spare parts replace teabags. (Photo: MINI Canada) |
features a special roof rack system with an integrated spare tire, as well as a myriad of spotlights and fog lamps to provide additional lighting for mechanics to perform service work. The Concept Frankfurt features detachable hard window-boxes, filled with useable, handy items, unlike the Tokyo's picnic tea hamper, or the Detroit's snowboarding accessories. Inside the clip-on red boxes include binoculars, a spanner kit, and storage space for additional components such as oil filters or replacement license plates.
Aside from aesthetic changes, the cabin gains a stopwatch mounted
 |
| Big toolbox takes up most of the rear cargo space. (Photo: MINI Canada) |
on the steering wheel to ensure timely service, and a big, heavy-duty fire extinguisher for that odd flare up, the cargo bay is where the rally action is happening. The Geneva's designers have hollowed out the back end of the wagon's floor to allow an entire set of mechanic's toolboxes to be carried on board. There's also a cargo bay divider, which doubles as a work surface for computers or a portable television. Of course, none of this would be as easy to access without the very clever rear doors, which feature a hinge that swivels the doors behind and outwards for ease of use. Similar hinges are used on the cabin's side doors.
In
 |
| Could this be the next MINI's interior? (Photo: MINI Canada) |
scaling down the typical service vehicle (a big cargo van like the Benz/Dodge/Freightliner Sprinter, Ford Transit in Europe or E150 here at home) for a rally team, MINI hasn't removed fun or style. The car is painted in similar colours - silver with red accents instead of red with white accents - as the original Monte Carlo rally car, but instead of featuring 12-inch steel wheels, it rides on glamorous chrome-plated 'daisy spoke' wheels. Squint carefully and you can see the special UK-logo radiator grille badge, and Monte Carlo badging on the tailgate. With all this work to give the Concept Geneva so slick and so organized, I doubt that any sane rally team would want to chase a rally car. Inside the cabin, the MINI retains its futuristic-look cabin with mood lighting, but gains red Alcantara inserts on the seat for additional grip and comfort.
Whether you think the Geneva Concept, the Detroit Concept
 |
| Special hinges provide better access for cabin and trunk. (Photo: MINI Canada) |
or (especially) the Tokyo Concept are silly ideas, one thing is for sure, MINI's decisions to develop different themes on one vehicle, as opposed to several different unrelated vehicles, is a solid signal that it has something important on its hands. Expect to see many of the clever details that the Traveller series of concepts feature, such as the air-vent drink cooler, the globe-style centre stack, the two-door wagon bodystyle and perhaps even the window-boxes in the next-generation Cooper. As for an introduction date, it will only be a matter of time before the new car shows up, as the Cooper Works GP seems to be the current car's swan song.
Specifications:
- Body Type: 2-door wagon
- Layout: front engine, FWD
- Engine (est.): 1.6L, SOHC supercharged I-4
- Transmission (est.): 6-spd auto w/ manual mode
- Tires: 205/40R 18
- Website: www.mini.ca
