The MINI Countryman. Will it spawn a stretched, seven seat version?
Are MINI planning a seven seat MPV MINI? According to the latest rumour they are.
We have jokingly said that no version of the MINI that can be conceived by BMW’s marketeers would surprise us. But we were wrong. The concept of a seven seat MINI – which is the current MINI rumour – has taken us aback. Blimey, we still haven’t got our heads round the MINI Countryman looking like someone clicked on ‘Enlarge’ when they ordered a regular MINI.
Could it be true? Well, yes it could, as BMW seem intent on dragging every single variation on the MINI they can in to public view. We’ve even had a tacit confession that the 21st century MINI Moke / MINI Beachcomber will make it in to production, so why not a seven seater MINI?
The premise for the argument that we’ll be treated to the people-carrier MINI comes from a quote Auto Express got from Dr Wolfgang Armbrecht, MINI’s brand management boss who said “We could take the wheelbase from 2.60m to around 2.70m”. Which is apparently enough to conclude we’ll get a seven seat MINI.
Now I’m an old man now, so my brain works in feet and inches still. But I can work out that a 40mm increase is about an inch and a half. Now I know MINI are the masters of making space, but you can’t exactly get up and party in the back of a MINI Countryman. I can’t really see how MINI will get enough for an extra row of seats with a wheelbase that gets an extra inch and a half added.
Unless the overhang at the back is six foot long.
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