Mini's new concept to appear at the Geneva Motor Show
Mini will be going back to their roots a bit with their new car: the four-seat, 3.4m long, 1.9m wide Rocketman.
At the moment the car is still just a concept, but it does show that there is interest from BMW to produce a car that is more like the British-built city car of the 1950s.
Carrying on with its tradition of innovation, the Rocketman has what is said to be a 3+1 seater – a flexible interior with three full-time seats and one part-time perch of sorts. The aim is for the car to be used by mostly two people, with the driver’s seat and the steering wheel and instrument cluster set up to slide forwards and backwards.
Moving the driver’s seat forward allows space for an adult in the back and the fourth seat, which is normally kept folded up in the back of the car, creates space for one more. The people at Mini, however, admit that this would only be viable for short distances.
Harkening back to the original design again, the boot door splits in two to offer a drawer-like opening. The bottom half is said to represent “the further development of the downward-opening tailgate seen on the classic Mini”.
The top half of the boot opens a section of the roof, allowing a very wide space to access the car.
Like in the current Mini, you will still have an oversized centre dial staring at you, but all the controls for the in-car features have migrated to the steering wheel for ease of use. It even has a trackball by the driver’s right thumb to control things like internet browsing and satellite navigation.
The outside still bears a distinct contemporary Mini feel, but there are several elements that mark it out as a concept rather than a production car, most notably the upside-down horseshoe rear lights.
The Rocketman will make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show next week.
Source: Autoblog UK
MAD Motoring 