The Sky is the Limit:

The MINI Beachcomber Concept is a four-seater concept car designed consistently for maximum driving pleasure, taking up the enhanced options of the new MINI and combining these potentials with the vision of a radically  open body concept. 

ALL4 all-wheel drive and the variable interior give the MINI Beachcomber Concept abilities absolutely ideal for a spontaneous and active experience of freedom and leisure time. The potential offered by the car’s modern drivetrain technology and space concept is used here to the greatest possible extent  to ensure a highly emotional driving experience. Hence, the MINI Beachcomber Concept consistently does without doors, a conventional roof and all other body elements which might possibly limit the intensity of the occupants’ encounter with their surrounding world. This makes the driver and up to three passengers one harmonious entity communicating directly with their surroundings – whether cruising through town, enjoying rough tracks in the mountains, or breezing along the beach.

The MINI Beachcomber Concept combines all-wheel drive with cutting-edge suspension technology, numerous body elements serving to make the car extra-strong and robust, as well as an elevated seating position. Generous spring  travel and extra-large light-alloy wheels raise the entire car to a higher level. Access to the front and rear seats is nevertheless exceptionally convenient and easy thanks to the omission of doors and the entry cutouts extending all the  way down to the seat bottoms, allowing the driver and passengers to get in and out in one smooth and flowing process. A pleasant and interesting side effect  is that the distance the occupants feel from their surroundings is reduced to  a minimum.

The driver and passengers will also enjoy the driving pleasure created by this concept in everyday traffic under regular motoring conditions – simply because the MINI Beachcomber Concept retains its unmistakable character even when adverse weather conditions require use of the soft roof or the lightweight door and roof elements fitting on easily and conveniently within a few instants.

MINI entering new terrain – with a fourth model and a complete range of innovative ideas for the ongoing future.
The MINI Beachcomber Concept symbolises the elementary values of the brand in new, radical style – and at the same time the new model continues the current development of the MINI range in a particularly attractive manner. 

Within just ten years after the re-launch of the brand, the fourth version of  the MINI is now set to enter the market. As a unique crossover in the typical style of the brand, the new model offers a fascinating re-interpretation of  that typical MINI design, with the functional convenience of four doors, four full-size seats, a variable interior, and a unique standard of driving pleasure  now to be enjoyed for the first time also beyond the beaten track thanks to newly developed all-wheel drive.

The new production model now available from MINI goes far beyond the  realms of urban mobility, inspiring the MINI designers to enhance that un-mistakable MINI feeling by adding further facets never seen before. Creating  the MINI Beachcomber Concept, therefore, they are taking up the technical  and concept qualities of the production model announced for autumn 2010, offering the ultimate expression of freedom in a car on this basis. The result is a new, incomparably open concept for a driving experience for all your senses, plus a degree of versatility greater than ever experienced before in discovering and enjoying new terrain.

The potential use and versatility of the MINI Beachcomber Concept is defined exclusively by the activities and preferences of its user. Clearly, the most authentic and natural surroundings for a car of this type are beaches where the MINI Beachcomber Concept, through its enhanced traction and radically  open body, offers that unlimited freedom of movement it expresses from the start through its name alone.

The MINI Beachcomber Concept therefore allows the driver and passengers to actively live out their personal style, just like a kitesurfer, wakeboarder or triathlete is magically attracted to the hot spots of beach life the world over. Through its robust and versatile character, the MINI Beachcomber Concept furthermore follows in the footsteps of the Mini Moke, which, back in the 1960s, quickly became the epitome of adventurous motoring in your leisure time and  in sports activities in sunny coastal regions.

Unique, typical of MINI, and with a great role model from way  back when.
The MINI Beachcomber Concept is the vision of a car leaving behind all  conventional standards and creating innovative momentum for individual mobility of the future. The combination of traction optimised by all-wheel  drive for excursions beyond the beaten track, on the one hand, and an extreme focus on motoring in the open air, on the other, is quite unprecedented in the world of the automobile. 

Now, therefore, the MINI Beachcomber Concept makes such a driving  experience a truly attractive option, offering a harmonious blend of features  only a MINI can provide in such authentic style. And since individual character, a clear focus on maximum driving pleasure, and the courage to create new concepts have always set the foundation for new models in the MINI range, this  open-air all-wheel-drive concept clearly stands out from the beginning as a typical MINI.

The authentic style and character of the MINI Beachcomber Concept also results from the fact that the brand once already offered an extreme thrill of driving pleasure in the open air by conscious reduction to the very minimum: Way back in 1964, just five years after the market launch of the classic Mini, the creator of the first model, the world-famous engineer Alec Issigonis, already developed an all-open version of this revolutionary compact car. 

The body of the Mini Moke, as it was called, was made up of hardly more  than a floorpan, wide sills at the side, the engine compartment lid and the windscreen. A folding roof served – more or less – to protect the driver  and passengers from precipitation.

With its robust structure and the drivetrain technology carried over from  the Mini, this four-seater fun car became a great success particularly in the sunny regions of the USA and Australia. Production of the Mini Moke in Great Britain continued until 1968 with a production volume of some 14,500 units, following which production was continued in Australia and Portugal.

The MINI Beachcomber Concept now projects the principle of the Mini Moke into the 21st century. The rustic appearance of the car and its consistent concept of consciously reducing the body components and interior to a minimum  clearly follow the tradition of the radically open Mini Moke back in the 1960s. This is indeed further accentuated by design language strongly inspired by  the Mini Moke and enhanced by various striking details such as the characteristic radiator grille.

It goes without saying that the new model meets all modern demands in  terms of space and comfort, efficiency and safety, while nevertheless retaining its clear focus on driving pleasure in direct contact with the surroundings.

Even ALL4 all-wheel drive goes back to a role model from the past, to be precise  a prototype Mini Moke fitted by Alec Issigonis with two engines in 1963.  On this test car appropriately referred to as the “Twini”, the front and rear wheels  were driven in each case by a four-cylinder from the Mini range of engines.

Versatile, modern, and safe at all times.
Modern and up-to-date from A–Z, the MINI Beachcomber Concept offers  a wide range of innovations for consistent driving pleasure in the 21st century. The outstanding know-how in automotive development of a premium car  maker in the areas of design, drivetrain, safety and production technology brings together the undiluted character of the concept car with a wide range of  solutions most convincing in practice. 

Measuring approximately four metres in length and with its highly versatile  interior, the MINI Beachcomber Concept offers all the variability and spaciousness required for active leisure time. Consistently reduced to a minimum, the body of the car ensures an intense feeling of the sun shining in and the wind rushing by, while full maintenance of all MINI safety standards guarantees maximum occupant safety at all times.

The MINI Beachcomber Concept comes with a strong and stable body structure incorporating clearly defined load paths and deformation units serving to convey and consistently absorb impact energy in the event of a collision. Rollover safety also meets the highest demands made of an open car, the stable frame on the passenger cell able to withstand even extreme situations formed by substantially reinforced A-pillars and an equally strong D-pillar bar complete with an integrated lateral support element at the rear of the car. This additional safety component is indeed finished in body colour and, through its geometry alone, conveys a supreme standard of strength and stability. It is made of  high-strength steel for maximum stiffness on optimum weight, again in the interest of supreme safety.

This concept of intelligent lightweight technology serves to consistently lower the car’s centre of gravity in the interest of superior agility at all times. Indeed, this agility is further enhanced by another special feature also standing out through its special look, with the lateral support element boasting recesses shaped to form the “MINI” model designation. Again, this special feature clearly visible from outside particularly when looking at the car from above further emphasises the spirit of pure adventure in the open air.

Extreme variability for all kinds of activities, weather and road conditions.
Single seats at the rear adjusting fore-and-aft as required and with backrests folding down completely offer the passengers a supreme standard of grand touring comfort tailored to their individual requirements and allow appropriate adjustment of transport capacities for all needs. In practice, this means that the driver and passengers are able to conveniently stow even bulky sports equipment such as mountain bikes or wakeboards securely held in position by special fastening systems.

When open, the MINI Beachcomber Concept is also able to carry extra-long objects such as surfboards without the slightest problem. Fastened firmly to the lateral support, surfboards fit conveniently into the car, sticking out at the top  on the way to the beach.

The driver and passengers enjoy convenient access to the luggage compartment though the rear panel split vertically down the middle into two sections. Whenever necessary, the right-hand side may remain fully open for bulky objects  extending out of the car at the rear. The left rear element, in turn, is a window-less door hinged at the side and extending up to the seat backrests. The additional storage case fitted on to the door is reminiscent in its round shape of a fully enclosed spare wheel holder of the type otherwise seen on a conventional offroader. But since the MINI Beachcomber Concept comes with runflat tyres and therefore does not require a spare wheel, the lockable case may be used to take along additional luggage, keeping beach mats, towels, surf shoes or similar odds and ends within easy reach at all times.