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Mini 4x4 patent images leak out
08 January 2010
These patent drawings give the best clues yet as to how the upcoming Mini 4x4 will look.
They show that the recent Mini Beachcomber concept was essentially a stripped down version of the production car, which will go on sale this September from around £17,000.
See the Mini 4x4 patent drawings
Mini Beachcomber concept - full details and pictures
Intriguingly, the drawings show three variants: one three-door, one three-door with a club door and the overhead shot shows one door handle on one side and two on the other.
his is most likely because the patent application is covering off all possible variants - a three-door, five-door and three-door clubdoo.
The 4x4, which will most likely be called the Countryman or Crossman, is a shade over four metres long and shifts Mini into more family-orientated territory.
Inspired by the original Mini Moke from 1964, the Beachcomber is also being used to explore design ideas that could find their way onto future derivatives of the Countryman.
The Countryman will be the first of the BMW-generation Minis to be built outside of the UK.
Instead of being made at Cowley, the Countryman will be manufactured by Magna at its Graz plant in Austria.
Tom Richards
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