BMW to add wagon to next version of Mini

Mini Wagon Concept (Photo: BMW Canada)

Society seems to have decided that the compact little hatchback with the thick strain of 1960s English DNA is called the Mini, when in reality it is actually a Cooper created and distributed by the Mini arm of Germany's BMW.

This is important to remember as you contemplate the addition of the Traveller station wagon to the Mini lineup when it is refreshed in 2007, starting with a revised Cooper early in that year (it could be 30 mm longer than the current model) and the Traveller version by year's end. This means they'll both likely be 2008 models.

After that, other Mini models will follow, though what they might be or when they might arrive is unknown.

The new version of the two-door Mini wagon (which is supposed to be a genuine four-seater with cargo space) was introduced at the Frankfurt auto show recently, on the 45th anniversary of the first Traveller launch.
Strictly speaking, the new version was called the Mini Concept Frankfurt and is said to be a "design study re-interpreting the philosophy of the little Traveller from Great Britain through a new concept of 'Travelling in Style' befitting the beginning of the 21st Century."

Whatever it's called, the vehicle that BMW showed off at Frankfurt is likely a fairly good approximation of what the production car will look like. Though it will certainly lengthen the popular footprint of the Cooper hatchback (by as much as 200 mm), the Traveller may speak directly to evolving consumer tastes for a more useful vehicle and therefore find at least some degree of buyer acceptance.

Mini Wagon Concept (Photo: BMW Canada)

BMW has done its best to keep the Cooper's attitude, going so far as to claim a "coupe-like appearance" for the Traveller concept, though that may be pushing the boat out a bit far, as the Brits liked to say in the 1960s.

Coupe, wagon or whatever, BMW has worked in "numerous design features ... acknowledged as genuine icons typical of Mini," and added "numerous innovations both inside and outside that are equally typical of the brand."

Amongst the innovations of note are wide-opening doors with parallelogram kinematics, a new silver metallic paintwork, and "exquisite" interior materials.

The concept car "quotes the classic Mini Traveller also through its elegant Estate (the British term for "wagon") design, boasting a symmetrically-split double door at the back, as well as split rear side windows."

Mini Wagon Concept (Photo: BMW Canada)

BMW says the "fundamental idea in developing Mini Concept Frankfurt was to make loading and entering the car as simple and convenient as possible." This is why all four doors (two on the side and two at the back) come with those kinematic joints and springs.

To allow the best possible access and entry into the car, the doors swivel to the side and at the same time to the front in one single movement, "ensuring maximum opening space leading into the interior."

The rear sliding windows open electrically, BMW notes, "the front section moving parallel beneath the rear half."