1968 Morris Minor Mini Cooper Traveller on 2040-cars

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Mini Clubman All4 Scrambler Concept is the big Mini we want

Mini of Italy built a butch version of the Clubman for the 2016 Valentino Park Motor Show. Called the All4 Scrambler, it's what happens when a Mini takes inspiration from a BMW R Nine T Scrambler motorcycle. We must say, we like this brutish little car. The matte paint is Frozen Grey, a favorite of BMW's high-performance M cars, while the roof is black. There's a luggage rack up there, and the old-school leather suitcase in the cargo area looks like it'd be right at home strapped to the back of an touring bike like the R Nine T Scrambler. In fact, the best thing about this Clubman is the way Mini of Italy has blended the motorcycle's characteristics into a compact wagon. The knobbly tires are more aggressive than the R Nine T, but the overall aesthetic effect is the same. The rubber looks sporty and, unlike the production Clubman, they do a better job of filling out the wheel wells. Add in the rally lights and It's a great look. It's harder to see in these images, but there's also a matte black applique on the front and rear bumpers, side sills, and around the wheel arches. It's a practical move, of course, but it's also makes for a nice, aggressive effect. Mini's tweaks in the cabin are modest. The Nappa leather and Alcantara upholstery comes in a rich tan shade meant to mimic the R Nine T's seat. It looks so good we wish Mini offered some version of the color on the production Clubman – every car should have a tan leather option. The headliner gets an Alcantara finish, too. Overall, Mini of Italy has built a handsome, production-based concept. Buon lavoro, I miei amici. Related Video:

Meet Vini, the V8-powered second-generation Mini Hardtop

There are several ways to extract horsepower from a Mini Hardtop, and most are far more straight-forward than squeezing a V8 engine under the clamshell hood. And yet, at the request of a client, England-based EDM Racing is well into the process of doubling the retro-styled hatchback's cylinder count while making it rear-wheel drive. Amusingly called Vini, the V8-powered Mini started life as a 2007 Cooper S. It had a little over 100,000 miles on its odometer when David Power, the managing director of suspension bushing expert Powerflex, instructed EDM Racing to prepare it for an improbable engine swap. As mechanics stripped it to the bare metal, Power sourced a 4.0-liter, 415-horsepower V8 and a matching seven-speed automatic transmission from an E92-generation BMW M3 and began figuring out how to make it fit into a city-friendly hatchback delivered new with a 172-horsepower, 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine. Installing the new drivetrain directly behind the front seats would have likely been the easiest solution from a packaging standpoint, but the team decided to keep the front-engined layout. The conversion consequently required chopping out significant chunks of the Hardtop's firewall and floor, so EDM Racing started by designing and welding in a roll cage to maintain the car's structural integrity. The firm then installed modified front and rear subframes from a Subaru Impreza to keep the four wheels in their original position, or as close to it as possible. Power stressed he wants Vini to look nearly stock, especially when it comes to its track width, meaning punching out the wheel arches Renault 5 Turbo-style was out of the question.  The V8 fits surprisingly well in the Mini's engine bay, and it keeps the car's weight distribution in check. Power originally considered using a Subaru-built flat-four or a straight-six from an earlier M3, but both would have put too much weight ahead of the front wheels. Installing the automatic transmission was more difficult, however. "Making it all work in an OEM fashion will be a challenge for sure, but no more so than the most galling part of the project so far: Chopping out a transmission tunnel wide enough to accept the Getrag. I was aware of the dangers associated with cutting too much away and removing integral strength from the shell in the process, hence why we tackled the job in set stages and with the cage [installed]," EDM Racing's Elliott Dunmore explained.

Mini Rocketman concept reportedly going into production as an EV

Remember the Mini Rocketman Concept from the 2011 Geneva Motor Show? If you don’t thatÂ’s OK, as itÂ’s been almost an entire decade since Mini pulled the wraps off. Despite the massive time lapse, Mini decided to revive the concept, not just for show. The companyÂ’s finally going to put the Rocketman into production, as an electric vehicle. We've heard this before, a few years ago, but nothing was set in stone. Now it seems a decision has been made. AutoCar in Britain recently learned that the Rocketman will fulfill its premise as the companyÂ’s first subcompact city car. The production model, scheduled for 2022, will reportedly be heavily reworked and built as a joint project with Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors. “WeÂ’re advancing plans for a model along the lines of the Rocketman. ItÂ’s a car we have been looking at for a long time, but to build it profitably at the price point we think customers are prepared to pay, you need a joint venture partner to share costs. Great Wall Motors has provided that opportunity with a shared electric car platform that will be used by Mini,” an anonymous “senior BMW official” was quoted as saying. The production Rocketman will retain its three-door hatchback design and is expected to serve as the manufacturerÂ’s newest entry-level model. It will be built by Great Wall Motors in Jiangsu, China, while BMW oversees the design and production with plans to sell it in all markets globally. When the Rocketman first surfaced at Geneva, it was essentially BMWÂ’s direct response to DaimlerÂ’s Smart ForFour. However, even with positive feedback from prospective customers, the project was shelved because development discussions between BMW and its initial partner, Peugeot, ended abruptly. The companies were reportedly going to share platforms and powertrains in another joint venture. In the new agreement with the Chinese company, the production model will apparently use a small-car platform used by Great Wall Motors called the Ora R1. The Peugeot-BMW project was going to use either a three-cylinder gas or diesel engine. But the new model will gain an all-electric powertrain by Spotlight Automotive as a part of BMWÂ’s massive plan to launch up to 25 new plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles by the end of 2023. One of those models is the newly released all-electric Cooper SE.