What happens when you take a small, iconic British car from the 1960s, let a premium German car-making group totally re-engineer it for a greener 21st century, then turn it over to a legendary Italian coachbuilder for a new body and interior?
This: The Mini Superleggera Vision concept.
Introduced at this year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, this exclusive interpretation of a roadster was created by the BMW Group’s Mini and Touring Superleggera, the venerable design shop in Milan. With one look you can see both the Mini’s British heritage and the Italian styling. What you can’t see is the electric drivetrain and the modern driving dynamics.
In both its original and reincarnated forms, Mini has followed the less is more strategy, and this minimalist approach is carried to the extreme in the design by Touring Superleggera so as to keep the focus on the driving experience.
Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design explains, "Touring Superleggera and Mini have much in common: both companies attach great importance to their history and this is something which defines their outward appearance to this day. What is more, they both emphasize iconic design and distinctive solutions. These elements are merged in the Mini Superleggera Vision to create an elegant automobile which interprets a British roadster under the influence of Italian style and hand craftsmanship."
"The Mini Superleggera Vision elegantly perpetuates what the classic Mini started 55 years ago: reduction to the essentials. Its energetic, minimalistic design embodies the dynamic essence of an automobile. At the same time it creates unique emotional beauty in combining the past and future of the automotive industry, i.e. traditional coachwork craftsmanship and modern design styling. It was a pleasure for me to design a concept like this," says Anders Warming, Head of Mini Design.
The front of the Mini Superleggera Vision comprises traditional Mini design features: two circular headlights and a hexagonal grille. The classic Mini hood stripes are three-dimensionally embossed and lead into polished aluminum accents. The inlaid hood recalls classic British roadsters.
The horizontal rib look of the radiator grille adds a classic sporty touch but a closer look shows that it is closed. There’s no need for a water-cooling system with the Mini Superleggera Vision’s electric motor.
The side view of the car is defined by its characteristic “Touring” line, which is all the more impressive since the large aluminum panels are formed by hand. “Mini and Touring both believe that proportions are the key factor of beauty, and share the same values of essentiality and innovation,” says Louis de Fabribeckers, Head of Design of Touring Superleggera. He continued, “In this car all unnecessary equipment or decoration is sacrificed, as performance is gained through lightness and efficiency of the bodywork and interior. The Italian touch is in the proportions and the typical waistline.”
The color is appropriately called Como Blue.
The rear fin, although subdued, seems natural to this car’s design but also invokes an homage to sports cars of days gone by. The highlight of the flat, wide rear is the unusual lights. The Italian designers didn’t want anyone to forget that the Mini is a British car, so the lights are designed in the form of a Union Jack divided in two, combining heritage with the kind of modern LED technology used in the new Mini.
A surrounding shoulder line in polished aluminum visually separates the exterior and interior. The interior design, with its bare aluminum panels and dash reflects the traditional classic coachwork construction that Superleggera used on the outside. Likewise, the doors and three-spoke steering wheel evoke tradition. The British theme is carried inside as well: the structural elements in the doors form a Union Jack.
The center instrument display includes touch-sensitive controls. The analog clock on the far right is straightforward, but the instrument next to it activates a camera that is integrated between the driver and front passenger seat to capture the fun moments that the car’s occupants are certain to have.
Since 1926, Touring Superleggera has been on the leading edge of advanced automotive design and custom coachbuilding. It is one of the few companies that covers the entire productive cycle from first sketch to turnkey, low-volume production of special bodywork. “We are delighted that Mini wanted to stimulate an independent initiative and particularly Italian design for the first time”, says Piero Mancardi, CEO of Touring Superleggera. He continues, “This project also shows Mini’s attention to preserving and nurturing the skills of craftsmanship incorporated in modern coachbuilding.”
The Mini Superleggera Vision is a modern expression of coachbuilding—“Carrozzeria”—that is still possible in today’s auto industry by blending creativity and flexibility with the discipline of high standards. It's how Mini and Touring Superleggera created a car that is not only state of the art, but a work of art.—Scott Blazey
How did Touring Superleggera and Mini go from design to actual car? Check out this video:
