Photo: theophiluschin.com
Rarely you get to see someone as passionate about a car whose production he overlooked like Peter Schwarzenbauer and his MINI Superleggera Vision Concept. At the 2014 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, this beauty was introduced and the world stopped for a moment.
When we first saw it we knew that this was no ordinary creation. We knew that this might very well be a new, definitive step, in a completely different direction from MINI. And we weren’t sure if we liked it.That’s because the Superleggera is different in a lot of ways.
Talking about a MINI automatically brings forward its legacy, the creation of Sir Alec Issigonis from the late 50s, the one car that actually propelled the working class of the UK through the economic downturns of the 60s and 70s.
That car will never be forgotten and that car will forever be present in our hearts but what does the future hold for MINI? Well, in order to be capable of further growth, things have to change, the brand has to attract new customers. That can’t be achieved without a rethinking of the design, at least.
This is what the Superleggera is. Looking at it from any point of view you can’t mistake it with anything else but a MINI and yet only the headlights are shared with a production model, everything else being completely new, developed by the Italian and British companies, together.
The taillights hide the Union Flag between them and the lines of the body point at a muscular presence. And yet, that MINI feeling still lingers. Inside, you get to see the big round display we’ve seen on the Clubman and that too reminds us of Sir Alec. Somehow this is a MINI without looking like one. And that is the key of success.
Furthermore, with the Coupe and Roadster models soon to be retired, there would be room for this model to take the stand inside a dealership. Could this be possible?
Ask Schwarzenbauer and he’ll tell you ‘yes’ in a heartbeat, as he did for Automotive News. He told them that he could envision a starting price for the production of the Superleggera model of around €35,000 ($47,600) which wouldn’t be bad, considering how it looks and what it would bring to the table.
Hearing that, automotive manipulator, Theophilus Chin started working on a ‘production’ version that he finished not too long after. His version has side mirrors, door handles, a proper windscreen and interior trims from the current Roadster, new taillights and a front grille. The door sills have been lowered as well and the doors grew in size for easier access. What do you think, could this be real? Would you be interested, considering the departure from the MINI DNA?
Talking about a MINI automatically brings forward its legacy, the creation of Sir Alec Issigonis from the late 50s, the one car that actually propelled the working class of the UK through the economic downturns of the 60s and 70s.
That car will never be forgotten and that car will forever be present in our hearts but what does the future hold for MINI? Well, in order to be capable of further growth, things have to change, the brand has to attract new customers. That can’t be achieved without a rethinking of the design, at least.
This is what the Superleggera is. Looking at it from any point of view you can’t mistake it with anything else but a MINI and yet only the headlights are shared with a production model, everything else being completely new, developed by the Italian and British companies, together.
The taillights hide the Union Flag between them and the lines of the body point at a muscular presence. And yet, that MINI feeling still lingers. Inside, you get to see the big round display we’ve seen on the Clubman and that too reminds us of Sir Alec. Somehow this is a MINI without looking like one. And that is the key of success.
Furthermore, with the Coupe and Roadster models soon to be retired, there would be room for this model to take the stand inside a dealership. Could this be possible?
Ask Schwarzenbauer and he’ll tell you ‘yes’ in a heartbeat, as he did for Automotive News. He told them that he could envision a starting price for the production of the Superleggera model of around €35,000 ($47,600) which wouldn’t be bad, considering how it looks and what it would bring to the table.
Hearing that, automotive manipulator, Theophilus Chin started working on a ‘production’ version that he finished not too long after. His version has side mirrors, door handles, a proper windscreen and interior trims from the current Roadster, new taillights and a front grille. The door sills have been lowered as well and the doors grew in size for easier access. What do you think, could this be real? Would you be interested, considering the departure from the MINI DNA?
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