BE MINI.
Was all that was needed to say. The Bavarian's took the traditional British car to the next level of 'coolness' at Frankfurt. By launching the MINI Coupe, MINI went a step beyond the original by creating an entirely new model, that had not existed before. MINI Coupe is the fifth member of the MINI family and its launch will be closely followed by the launch of MINI Roadster next February and MINI Paceman, in little over a year.
However, getting back to the matter at hand, the MINI Coupe proves to be much more impressive in reality than it did down on paper. As eager and as enthusiastic as I am about MINIs, I found the images of the then upcoming MINI Coupe to be uninspiring, and border line cartoon-like as they seemed so unbelievable. Could a MINI ever be a good-looking coupe? Well, the answer is yes. When the MINI Coupe is viewed for real, in the metal, and sat in, it is much more convincing and exciting. It is sporty, yet luxurious in the materials used to build the car. It does look like a sportscar and not a white elephant. It is eye-catching and attention drawing, just the way the original 'new' MINI was ten years ago, when it was first launched. Despite being a brand new model, it does retain everything that is needed to be a MINI.
I look forward to my test-drive in this car, when it hits the showrooms in October. Will it handle as beautifully as the hatch when going around bends? Will it feel like I'm in a go-cart, as current MINIs are frequently described as being? Only time will tell.
So what do you think of the MINI Coupe? Take a look at my video below from my MINI experience at Frankfurt.
Video featuring images from MINI at Frankfurt IAA 2011.
More on MINI at Frankfurt coming soon.
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