(continued from above)
Displaying both an awareness of tradition and talent for innovation, the MINI
design team developed the vision of a car that takes up impressively little
space on the road but boasts an enviably spacious interior. The MINI Rocketman
Concept therefore carries over the classic virtues of the brand into a
pathbreaking vehicle concept. It offers a fresh interpretation of unmistakable
MINI design features, and uses cutting-edge construction and manufacturing
technology to create unique solutions in body and interior design.
The
innovative character of the study is defined by the systematic application of
lightweight design principles and a pure-bred interior geared to maximum driving
fun and unbeatable variability. A carbon spaceframe construction, whose striking
surface structure is visible at the front end of the car, around its doors and
in the interior, forms the basis for a weight-minimizing construction. Indeed,
the MINI Rocketman Concept offers the ideal platform for achieving outstanding
efficiency. To this end, it is designed to allow the integration of a drive
system which combines further enhanced sprinting ability with average fuel
consumption of just three liters per 100 kilometers (94 mpg imp).
Wide-opening doors with double-hinge joints and integrated sills facilitate
entry into the MINI Rocketman Concept. The lightweight seats are contoured in
customary MINI style and can be arranged in a variety of different positions.
This allows owners to choose between maximum driving fun two-up, a comfortable
amount of room for three occupants, or even an exceptionally efficient division
of space accommodating four seats.
Body Design
The MINI
Rocketman Concept body is shaped by an avant-garde interpretation of
time-honored brand features. Innovative construction techniques allow the
principle used in the classic Mini - of providing the maximum amount of room on
the smallest possible footprint - to be carried over to the mobility challenges
of urban areas in the 21st century. The MINI Rocketman Concept measures (3,419
mm) in length, adding just a little to the front and rear of the brand's
founding father born in 1959. The new study is (1,907 mm) wide, including the
exterior mirrors, and stands (1,398 mm) tall. Its proportions also display clear
symmetries with both the classic Mini and the brand's present-day line-up.
The interpretation of the characteristic MINI design language chosen for the
study car also exudes a powerful and dynamic allure. Tightly contoured surfaces,
large wheels and a basic form dictated by straight lines help give the MINI
Rocketman Concept a resoundingly solid structure. In addition to its telltale
proportions, a sprinkling of distinctive design features ensure that its brand
affiliation is immediately clear. Large, circular headlights and a radiator
grille with chrome surround dominate the front end. While the exterior contours
of the headlights fit the familiar visual template, their inner structure has
been further developed for the new study. The centrally positioned LED units
generating full beam are bordered by an eye-catching light ring for dipped-beam
mode. Direction indicators integrated into the headlight units are a feature
shared with the current range of series-produced MINI models.
The
dimensions of the headlights reflect those of the current MINI, which means they
come across as particularly large when set against the smaller face of the study
car. As stand-out features of MINI design they symbolize the core values of the
brand, which remain reassuringly intact in the new vehicle concept represented
by the study.
In the area surrounding the headlights and around the front
apron and radiator grille, sections of the carbon spaceframe are visible
alongside the painted and chromed surfaces. Its striking surface structure
serves as a reminder of the study's innovative construction blueprint.
MINI Rocketman Concept: Review (2/2)
