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Mini Aceman spy photos show strong relation to concept

When Mini revealed the Aceman concept earlier this year, the automaker made it clear that it previewed an upcoming model. That production model is what you see here under the camouflage. And it seems the little electric crossover is hewing close to the concept's lines. The overall shape is classic Mini with a two-box layout, floating, contrasting roof and wheels pushed to the corners. It of course has big headlights at the front, and they have the bevelled edges of the concept. We can just make out the edges of a grille panel like on the concept. Of course it's difficult to see, being solid, a result of the car being an EV.  Moving around the car, we find the semi-flush door handles that BMW has come to like. The concept's wide hatch opening and multi-segment LED taillights seem to have made it to production without much change, too. The camouflage makes it hard to tell whether the squared-off contrast fender flares of the concept are sticking around, but considering how much else is true to form, we'd expect them to show up. The Aceman will fit between the new Mini hatchback and the Countryman SUV. Previous spy shots of the Countryman have shown that it's a fair bit longer at the rear than this Aceman. We're expecting it Aceman go into production in 2024, likely with a reveal sometime next year.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2024 Mini Hardtop winter testing footage before unveiling

2014 Mini Cooper

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone from Mini refer to 'go-kart-like handling,' I'd be retired, living on a beautiful piece of coastline somewhere in the Caribbean. Perhaps even on the shores of Puerto Rico, where Mini chose to launch its latest Cooper and Cooper S hatchbacks. As with so many frequently used phrases, though, there is indeed some truth to the cliché - while the Mini Cooper has never actually handled quite like a go kart, it has always had a certain directness in its movements, reacting to steering inputs with an immediacy and fervor unlike most any other automobile meant primarily for the street.
Combine those unique driving dynamics with a sense of fun that permeates the entire brand from pre-sales marketing to the actual sales process itself and you end up with a marketplace success. As an ex-Mini owner myself (a 2009 Cooper S Convertible), I can attest to the kinship felt between fellow Mini drivers who share in the knowledge that they are having more fun than the poor appliance-driving masses sharing the highways and byways of these United States. It's no surprise that the style-conscious US continues to be the marque's single largest market year after year.
This enviable brand perception hasn't been attained without its own fair share of flaws, however. Though the quirky design and massively customizable bits and pieces that have made up the Mini brand's interior philosophy since it was reborn in 2001 have proven somewhat endearing, the Cooper Hardtop's ergonomics have always been an unmitigated disaster. Plus, this is a very small car, with a rear seat that's practically uninhabitable by adult-size occupants. While that adjective seemingly goes hand-in-hand with the brand's name, the modern Cooper has never been as ingeniously packaged as its 1959 forbearer, which offered up as much interior space as possible through innovative engineering and minimalist design. Further, parent company BMW has positioned Mini as a premium brand, so the Cooper's diminutive size has never equated to low prices. And for being such a small car, the Cooper historically hasn't been well-known for its fuel efficiency.

Next Mini Clubman nearly ready to haul

With the three- and five-door Mini Hardtop models successfully hitting the market and the pending arrival of the hot John Cooper Works model at next week's Detroit Auto Show, Mini can turn its eye toward another important model, in the form of its next-generation Clubman, which our spies have spotted testing on the roads of Germany. Aside from the rear barn doors, the next Clubman looks to have a lot in common with the new five-door Hardtop, which makes sense considering how much the current car has in common with the R56 that it's based upon. That similarity ends quickly once you take a look inside the cabin. The typically open Mini cabin is more dramatically segmented in the new Clubman, with a high transmission tunnel that separates the driver and passenger. In a worrying move for fans of parking lot shenanigans, Mini is moving to an electronic parking brake in its new model, although beyond that, the center stack is similar to the redesign Mini pushed through for this latest generation. As is the case with the current Clubman, the next-gen will likely share its engines and gearboxes with the Hardtop, meaning a base 1.5-liter, three-cylinder turbo in the Cooper Clubman and a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder in the Cooper S Clubman. Six-speed transmissions, in both two- and three-pedal varieties, will likely also be offered. Check out our gallery of spy photos of the new Clubman, up at the top of the page.