By Greg Kable of AutoWeek
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The MINI Rocketman concept hints at the British brand's small-car history, but it is likely a future production model.
MINI is returning to its roots with an ultracompact concept called the Rocketman that's set to be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show ahead of likely future production.
The pint-sized car has been conceived as a modern interpretation of the original Alec Issigonis-inspired model that revolutionized small-car design when it was introduced in 1959. Smaller than today's entry-level hardtop, the concept is clear recognition that MINI is considering a less expensive, urban-based model to compete with the smart fortwo and the Scion iQ.
While stopping short of confirming that the Rocketman will be developed into a showroom model, MINI is keen to point out that every concept it has created since the brand was relaunched by BMW in 2001 has progressed into production.
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Styled in-house by the same team responsible for the recent Beachcomber and Paceman concepts, the Rocketman eschews the contemporary one-box styling of perceived urban-based small-car rivals such as the smart fortwo for a more traditional two-box profile that provides it with unmistakable visual ties to the rest of the MINI lineup.
The new concept also has a fresh take on a whole raft of classic MINI design cues, many of which are will be on the next hardtop due in 2013. Plus the Rocketman gets tauter surfacing treatment than any existing MINI model. The result is a thoroughly modern-looking small car whose design is neither conspicuously retro nor appears to be forced.
The car is fronted by a hexagonal-shaped grille, oval headlamps with the latest LED technology, an upright windscreen heavily tapered at the outer edges, a high waistline and large wheelhouses accommodating 18-inch wheels shod with narrow, low-rolling-resistance tires from Continental.
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The design team also fit the concept with a reinterpretation of the original MINI's so-called floating roof. The glass structure is arranged in sections fitted with with optical fibers to re-create the look of the Union Jack. When not illuminated in the colors of the British flag, the various sections glow a neutral white.
Curiously for a MINI, there is a distinct lack of chrome adorning the Rocketman's exterior. Instead, it receives carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic highlights, most prominently within the front fenders and wheel arches, to further enforce its contemporary construction.
To ease entry into the cabin, MINI's designers used deep, double-hinged frameless doors. They pivot outwards in a two-stage process that provides a larger opening angle than a conventional single-hinged door when space is at a premium. The lower edge of the doors also incorporate the sill element, something made possible by the concept's carbon-fiber spaceframe design but likely to be ruled out on costs grounds for any eventual production version of the new car.
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An equal amount of attention was paid to the luggage-carrying properties of the MINI, which receives a innovative two-piece tailgate. The upper part, fashioned from glass, hinges centrally from within the roof, opening high to provide easy access to the trunk. By contrast, the lower part slides out from the bodywork in the form of a drawer that also doubles as a luggage carrier.
The Rocketman is shorter, wider and lower than the hardtop.
MINI hasn't officially confirmed what engine it plans for a possible production version. But it's no secret that BMW is well advanced on a new range of turbocharged three-cylinder common-rail diesel and direct-injection gasoline units. Code-named N37 and N38, they share the same architecture of the German carmaker's inline four- and six-cylinder diesel and gasoline engines.
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Another question mark hangs over exactly what platform MINI is looking toward to base its new entry-level model. While BMW is developing a new front-wheel-drive structure to underpin the next-generation hardtop, MINI officials suggest it will be too big to provide a suitable platform for a car of such compact dimensions as the Rocketman. One possible scenario put to AutoWeek during a exclusive preview of the new concept is the development of a smaller structure with PSA (Peugeot-Citroën), with which BMW collaborates in the area of four-cylinder diesel and gasoline engines.