Rumormill: MINI Speedster said to be on the way... again

[MCS08]

by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Apr 7th 2009 at 9:27AM

BMW has been on a roll with its MINI brand, and after the raging success that the revived Cooper had in its first generation, the German automaker saw fit to give the brand its first major revision back in 2006. A year later, the automaker released the extended-length Clubman model and this year it finally launched the new convertible. What's next? Almost certainly the first MINI Crossover, which is expected to make its formal debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show.

You'd be forgiven for assuming that BMW's MINI team would be content to rest on its laurels for a few models years after all of this activity, but the ever-active rumormill wouldn't agree. According to MotoringFile, a new MINI Speedster may (finally) be on the way, based on the running gear of the current R56 Cooper. If true, we can expect to see a fabric top along with a possible removable hardtop and the same 1.6-liter engines as used in other models from MINI. Longtime MINI followers may recall that a speedster variant was often mooted for the previous Cooper, but in recent times, that talk has diminished somewhat.

A small, two-seat, roadster that promises equal portions of driving fun, reasonable fuel economy, and an attainable price tag? Now that's an idea we can get behind.

[Source: MotoringFile]

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/07/rumo ... way-again/
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[danjmcs]

Yeah, that one is the one I want Last rumour was that it would replace the convertible altogether, which of course we now know didn't happen.

Could be fun for sure!

[MCS08]

I don't think they would need to replace anything. A MINI sport coupe seems to be a more natural evolution than the SUV/crossover they are about to unveil. I can easily imagine walking into MINI showroom in the future and seeing a Crossman, Clubman, Cooper, and Speedster with respective S & JCW models.

I keep telling my wife that once my MINI is paid off I will keep it forever as my fun car and buy a family mover for my day to day stuff. A MINI sport coupe could ruin EVERYTHING for me!