Mini Minor

Unlikely relationships that yield astonishingly positive results: a dachshund raising a group of abandoned tiger cubs, rapper 50 Cent and actress Meryl Streep chuckling courtside at a New York Knicks game, and BMW and Toyota working together. The symbiosis started in 2003, when Mini launched its first diesel version powered by a Toyota engine. Eight years later, the automakers got back together and signed an extensive cooperation agreement: BMW would supply diesel engines to Toyota as well as develop and build the rear-wheel-drive Supra coupe replacement, which will be twinned with the BMW Z4 roadster replacement, and Toyota would offer its fuel cell know-how in exchange. For BMW’s near-premium brand Mini, that would mean an all-new Minor (shown here in renderings). “It´s still early days as far as the baby Mini goes,” says a source from Mini. The Minor—its name dating back to 1959 when the original Issigonis design was first marketed as Austin Seven and Morris Mini Minor—would likely cost between $14,500 and $16,000. Early styling exercises combine elements from the Paceman and the Rocketman concept. No timeline was provided for the Minor’s arrival, but the report does state that early styling exercises show fresh proportions and a double-bubble roof; a small, trapezoid-shaped grille; and Union Jack–themed taillamps (à la the Superleggera Vision Concept).