June 2, 2004:
What might have been …
Today I received (from my favourite eBay seller “CadillacAlex”) a Rover group press release from March 1997 (before Rover & BMW split, with MINI going to BMW).
… unveil a revolutionary new Mini design concept - Spiritual … a full four-seat family car achieved in a package of just 3.1 metres [10 feet, the same as the original Mini and much shorter than the MINI]
… powered by a flat three-cylinder engine mounted under the rear seats and driving the rear wheels … exceptionally compact but can seat four adults in comfort [like the new MINI? ;)] and meets all forthcoming safety and emissions demands.
… Spiritual Too extends the same compact design to a larger five-door car …
[Spiritual] is not the new Mini; it is a free-thinking approach to the long-term challenges of a future generation.
(click here for rear view of Spiritual)
Josh (2004/06/02 @ 10:48 pm)
Wow, I’m glad the drugs wore off somewhere between then and 2002.
Gabe (2004/06/03 @ 12:47 am)
There’s some great nuggets about these cars in “the New MINI” written by Graham Robson.
Rocketboy (2004/06/03 @ 1:56 pm)
Wowie that’s terrible… I wonder what the anti-BMW guys think about this Daihatsu looking Pill on Wheels…
GadgetGav (2004/06/05 @ 5:49 pm)
I’ve seen these concepts at Gaydon and they are as odd looking in the metal as they are here. I’m so glad these were never made. I was there for the 40th anniversary of the original Mini and almost everyone there disliked them - maybe that’s why they weren’t made…
Ryan (2004/06/06 @ 7:41 pm)
Surprising enough, if you stare at the bottom photo and then glance at the top one, you can see some similarities in the bonnet area.