What is it?
It's the MINI Coupé / Roadster Concept partnership fresh from the Frankfurt floor. We've seen the hard-top Coupé already, but the soft top Roadster is brand new and was unveiled amid a bevy of American cheerleaders and much talk of wearing a baseball cap back to front. How British.
Why's it here?
To explain, the design of the Coupé's roof is we're told, inspired by MINI designer Gert Hildebrand's son's back-to-front baseball cap - a fact noted from the stage. Despite that, it's the Roadster we're most interested in because we've not seen it before. Both two-seaters promise an enhanced driving experience, down to their lower weight and lower centre of gravity, but the Roadster adds a dash of quirkiness to the mix. It features a 'Buddy Radar' that alerts the driver when there's another Roadster about, as well as a heartbeat monitor. That's right - an actual heartbeat monitor, so no longer will it be possible to convince your partner that you weren't scared at all during that mistimed lane-change manoeuvre
Show stopper or floor filler?
Watch us wreck the mic, psyche! Sorry. This pair is definitely cut from the show stopping cloth, and to add an extra layer of interest to us in the UK, MINI has confirmed that it will be built in Oxford. Lord Mandelson will be pleased. When and how much isn't clear, but as these cars are more or less production-ready, we'd expect to see them in shops early next year, with a price tag annoyingly but justifiably a little higher than the hatchback.
Mark Nichol - 15 Sep 2009