In Da Clubster: San Francisco design student beats Mini to speedster punch
Mini Clubster S design study by Richard Mitchell – Click above for image gallery
Variety is the spice of life – or so they say, but that seems to be the case over at BMW's Mini division, where the variants of their entertaining little runabout have been pouring out like Cristal in the V.I.P. Room. First came the hatchback, then the cabrio, then the Clubman, a crossover is nearly here, a rally version is rumored to be under consideration, and a coupe concept was just unveiled the other day. But before the party's over, Mini is expected to make a slick little speedster with a sportier flair than its existing convertible. That car could be just around the corner, but one student got tired of waiting and designed one himself.
Rather than simply Photoshopping a more rakish windshield onto the production cabrio (Mini's new coupe concept hadn't been shown when this concept was germinated), Richard Mitchell – a transportation design graduate from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco – instead conceptually started with the BMW 1 Series platform to give his design, called the Clubster S, a longer profile with rear-wheel-drive. Mitchell combined typical Mini touches with design attributes from other examples from England's deep roadster back catalog, and built it into a compelling 1:5 scale clay model, which you can check out along with a series of renderings in the gallery below.
[Source: DeviantART]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Emil 1:04PM (8/27/2009)
Now that just looks ridiculous.
Reply
thomas 1:00AM (8/28/2009)
as a mini should.
MajorGeek 1:04PM (8/27/2009)
No.
Reply
Ken Stamper 1:08PM (8/27/2009)
Wow, I totally disagree. I like it a lot- the chopped look is what makes it really look like a speedster. Granted, it's based on the proportions of the 1-series, but that long hood looks great too.
MajorGeek 1:16PM (8/27/2009)
To each his own, of course :) I like it until you get near the top where it looks like the car was made taller to be a speedster. Doubt the real deal would ever look this way though..
thomas 11:34AM (8/29/2009)
what... top?
you realize its topless, yes? are you looking at the same car i am??
MajorGeek 11:56AM (8/29/2009)
Look closer, even a speedster has some sort of top section, look where the body appears to be "added on" with a rim around the car. Then again, unlike the silly typical voter on Autoblog, I am actually shopping Minis. Seems there are a lot of people here wanting to vote up ugliness, even though they aint bought a new car in 5 years. To each his own. Im thinking Clubman anyway.
Shawn 1:05PM (8/27/2009)
...Was this design done in a cartoon illustration class?
Reply
Shipey 1:08PM (8/27/2009)
/puke
Reply
ExqueezeMe! 1:09PM (8/27/2009)
1:5 scale clay model?
"What is this? A center for ants? How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read... if they can't even fit inside the building?"
-Derek Zoolander
Reply
ebleyes 1:14PM (8/27/2009)
It looks like a Super Mario game character, the mushroom maybe.
Reply
nomatta 1:39PM (8/27/2009)
Dont drop the soap.
Reply
Peter Rockwell 1:31PM (8/27/2009)
A rear-wheel drive Mini? Sacrilege!
Reply
ssrock64 1:33PM (8/27/2009)
I like the design, but judging by the coupe's lines the real deal probably won't be much different from the rest of the Mini brand. Just look at the coupe concept, with styling exactly like current Minis from the belt-line down. The roadster will probably be just like the coupe concept only with no roof and twin bulges behind the headrests of the seats. Great idea, though.
Reply
Stumpy 1:42PM (8/27/2009)
I like it. Looks cool.
..
Reply
TRL 1:47PM (8/27/2009)
Why does it look like it is wearing a turtle neck sweater?
If this is not a model, but someone actually butchered a perfectly good Mini they should be punished.
Reply
Protzenegger 4:28PM (8/27/2009)
Can you seriously not tell that that's a model?
trentor 1:59PM (8/27/2009)
I think the wheel spokes are actually balloons. The car is great for parties. It doubles as a bicycle, airplane, and donkey.
Reply
txdesign 2:03PM (8/27/2009)
Some of you need to open your minds a little bit. Yes it is a pretty far out concept (I like it), but it's details in these concepts that eventually trickle down into production. I hope that BMW breaks the currently rapidly aging mold with the 3rd gen Mini and goes in a different direction. I don't think that updating the current design, like the New New New Beetle, will do this time. I could definitely see this front end with the exposed mouth and high hoodline in the next gen Mini.
Reply
JZeke 2:18PM (8/27/2009)
+1
Stop drinking the haterade, people!
Nevertheless, the long-hood proportions aren't right for a Mini-branded product. This would be compelling as a Healy Sprite, a name owned by BMW...