These acquainted with BMW are probably conscious of among the wild ideas the model has delivered to life through the years. However MINI’s been with BMW some time now, and sometimes, among the novelty spills over. Among the finest examples? The wild “MINI Ferrari,” or as you would possibly understand it, the MINI Superleggera. The open-top two-seater seems to be like nothing else from the model — and it nearly made it onto a manufacturing line. Due to Steve Saxty’s BMW books, we have now extra perception than ever into what it took to make the roadster spring off the web page and into actuality.
Origins of the MINI Superleggera
In 2006, Anders Warming, then BMW Group’s artistic lead, had a brainwave. Now just a few years after the BMW Z8 got here to market, he thought it could be a good suggestion to indicate the smaller model some love and produce a automotive with comparable halo energy carrying a MINI badge. It didn’t occur till almost a decade later, however the “MINI Ferrari,” as Anders envisioned it, would finally see the sunshine of day. Humorous sufficient, it will in some methods find yourself sharing extra with BMW’s electrical choices than the Z8.
For Ville d’Este 2014, Adrian van Hooydonk reached out to Touring Superleggera. BMW teamed up with the Milanese coachbuilder up to now to develop the 328 Touring Coupe. It wasn’t exhausting to persuade van Hooydonk to do the MINI Ferrari mission. “We do the Minarri — think about that with all of the Dusenbergs,” Warning mentioned. Contemplating a lot of the level of Ville d’Este was telling distinctive automotive tales, van Hooydonk went for it. It was the proper alternative to carry to life a separate mission, at the moment dubbed the i4. Whereas not precisely the electrified 4 Sequence we all know at the moment, it was an EV — sans roof and sporting roadster traces. Why the “i4” badge? The automotive’s design was initially meant to parallel the connection between the Porsche 911 and Boxster. Besides, on this case, the i8 takes the place of the 911.
Finally, the MINI Superleggera ended up leaning closely on current MINI design language. Working facet by facet, MINI and Touring Superleggera developed the idea, retaining model hallmarks just like the hexagonal grille. It even used F56 headlights and Union Jack taillights, the latter which later debuted in manufacturing MINIs. Shockingly, it even retained the electrical powertrain that its predecessor touted.
Why MINI Superleggera By no means Made It
MINI initially deliberate to construct the Superleggera. BMW had even constructed a second automotive, presuming every part was greenlit. Nevertheless it by no means occurred. However BMW was critical concerning the automotive, even probing motorbike producers to see if a low-volume run was attainable. Sadly, all of it fell to the wayside. Immediately, BMW’s electrical choices are far more streamlined — they’d nearly zero electrification when the Superleggera debuted — which was allegedly among the purpose the MINI Superleggera by no means got here to fruition. A crowded lineup with too many fashions meant no room for the Superleggera. So…possibly we have now a greater shot at the moment?
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