Remember the Mini Superleggera Vision Concept from the 2014 Concorso d’Eleganza at Villa d’Este in Italy? It was a lot of things—low, sleek, topless, unabashedly oriented toward back-road fun rather than boxy practicality. It was a great little concept, a seeming flight of fancy, but as Autocar reports, Mini’s top brass really want to make it a production vehicle.
The British car mag quotes Mini boss Peter Schwarzenbauer as being particularly interested in bringing the Superleggera to reality. “The interest was tremendous when we showed this concept car,” Schwarzenbauer told Autocar. “We are now working hard to get it on the street. It’s an economically challenging project and there is no firm decision, but we have a lot of people here that are fighting for it. I think it would be extremely good for the brand.”
Autocar reports that the eventual roadster, if it’s produced, would ride on a version of the short-wheelbase UKL platform provided by BMW and used by the current Mini hatchback. That means front-drive with the option of all-wheel-drive, perhaps with a plug-in-hybrid option using a turbo 1.5-liter four-cylinder up front and an 87-hp electric motor driving the rear axle, the same setup seen on the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer. More conventional drivetrains would feature the same range of three- and four-cylinder engines found in the rest of the Mini lineup.
Schwarzenbauer says the Superleggera would not replace the existing Coupe and Roadster models, either. “They don’t compare,” he told Autocar. “The Superleggera is a serious sports car.” If he can convince the rest of the crew at Mini to build it, the Superleggera would hit the market sometime in 2019, with a design that’s promised to stick close to the style of the concept vehicle.
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