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.
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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Re: Mini 4x4 patent images leak out
These are not 'leaks'. They are registered designs published by the UKIPO (what used to be the Patent Office). Once you have filed a registered design application, it will normally be registered within a few weeks, and registration involves publication of the designs so that the rights conferred by the registration are visible to all.
I don't know why they are filing UK registered designs, though. You can file an EU-wide registered design covering the UK for similar cost. And OHIM (the EU registry) takes much longer to register, and hence publish, applications.
Incidentally, registered designs protect the appearance of an article. Patents protect inventions.
Re: Mini 4x4 patent images leak out
Am I the only one that's getting fed up with this 'leaked' image nonsense? I may be being a bit too cynical but as far as I'm concerned there is only one place these images are 'leaked' from and that's the BMW marketing department.
All car makers seem to be doing it at the monent.
Re: Mini 4x4 patent images leak out
The patent docs actually show 3 versions - 3 door, 4 door (suicide door on 1 side), and 5 door (conventional doors).
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