Yes if you were wondering, the Paris Motor Show will start early next month. More important than the date is the fact that more and more car manufacturers are teasing us with new images of their newest concepts. Here is the new MINI Crossover that may get an invitation to Paris, with a mix between the Cooper, the Clubman and some off-road styling. I always knew MINI was meant to stay mini, not biggie, so why they plan on building a crossover is not something I’m interested in.

With an overall length of over 4 meters and a 2606mm wheelbase, BMW is planning on building the new MINI crossover by 2010, with minor changes to the interior we get to see in the pictures. Would you buy one? Do you at least like it? I don’t (except for the interior)!

The boys at ABF got their hands on a new toy, Mini Cooper S, and managed to turn it into a real beast that outputs nothing less than 650 hp. I still wonder where they packed all these horses because that’s a really small car that only weighs 795 kg and they installed a large turbocompressor and an intercooler that boosted power from the standard 172 hp. Could that be the world’s fastest Mini ever? Sure is and I certainly love it.

via NextConceptCars

These days, just beautiful pictures and creative ads on television may not be enough. Therefore BMW did something really interesting this time and had to come up with a different approach that I think will most likely get them visitors. They want to sell more MINI Clubman units so their idea was to stick them in people’s eyes in Beijing. How? As MINI Clubman rickshaws.

Now that’s weird but also a great marketing strategy because a lot of people appreciated the effort and took on a ride. I supposes that’s the best Clubman for eco-activists out there which always think about Earth before doing anything. Though we’re not ecogeeks, we’s love to give it a spin on Beijing’s streets.

via AutoMotoSCope

BMW just announced that next year (2008) they will make their MINI Clubman car available in the US but in a limited edition. And boy that’s limited and should be very exclusive, with only four models available to US dealers each month and should increase gradually over the year.
All these will happen because BMW is, apparently, making more money from selling a MINI Clubman on the European market rather then doing it in US. And to enforce it, you should know that Italy is the country that sells the most MINI Clubman-s in the world.
The laws of economics are very powerful and even if you won’t like it, BMW will do it

via MotoringFile