[Root Ginger]

MINI's face lift. What do you think?

OMG. Auto express has just plopped through my letter box. On the front cover they have exclusive shots of the facelefted 2006 MINI.

It has twin headlamps and a bigger grill and also appears to have photoshop added rubbing strips. Noooooooooooo! I hate rubbing strips. Nothing makes a car look uglier than plastic strips down the side even if these ones are colour coded.

Headlamps actually look alright now I've had a chance to reflect. The grill looks kinda weird though. It's too tall and there's too much plastic on the lower bumper. However this does appear to be the MINI One model (possibly a One D as it has S side skirts, but then again, maybe they're going to be standard now).

The Auto Express web page hasn't updated yet but when it does I expect it'll all be on there. www.autoexpress.co.uk

...and what do Auto Express call this new MINI model???

The MINI 2

 

[ALD0]

LOL-You beat me to it literally!!!!!!

 

[Root Ginger]

LOL-You beat me to it literally!!!!!!

I expected it to be posted already, did a search and nothing! I was even expecting a news item on the front page.

I guess this is one of those times when exclusive actually does mean exclusive and not exclusive to every motoring journalist in the world

What d'you think?

 

[ALD0]

Yeah looks ok-I find it very Mercedes like, but i'm sure will look good come to 2006

 

[andyupnorth]

Interesting, but it was only last week that Autocar was carrying pics of a MINI test mule and one of the features they mentioned was the fact that to comply with pedestrian impact regulations, the windscreen wipers were going to be mounted under the rear edge of the bonnet - something that is clearly not the case in this pic. Also mentioned in Autocar was changes to the bonnet itself - in the next MINI this will apparently be a traditional lift up one leaving the wings with lights in place to replace the expensive clamshell design.

Either way, one or both magazines are wrong, or they could be both guessing - I think it's the latter and we have yet to see how the next MINi will look.

Quite like the lights though...but why has the fuel filler changed sides?

 

[Rich-UK]

Looks like a dodgy photoshop job to me....

 

[ButtonIt]

Reeeeeeks of photoshop in here

 

[Root Ginger]

Looks like a dodgy photoshop job to me....

The spyshots they have in the article do appear to confirm the headlight arrangement though. Even if the image is Photoshop which undoubtedly it is, Auto Express do have this uncanny knack of posting photoshop images that look exactly the same as the real car. This is mainly done to protect their sources.

Their photshopped cabrio pics were spot on, but were again, photoshopped images

 

[ALD0]

That Picture is Photo shopped, But they have "Spy Shots" aswell which appear to show twin lights on the front, thinking back to Paul M's Vid though, they didnt have the twin lights. So who knows!!

 

[Rakey]

Yeah looks ok-I find it very Mercedes like, but i'm sure will look good come to 2006

might be easier to see if te image wasn't too big for the page

but its a minger, and its from AutoExpress so we don't have to pay any attention to it

 

[andyupnorth]

Just had a look at the article - the pic is obviously photoshopped - they state in their write up that the new MINI will have a traditional lift up bonnet yet in the pic it is the clamshell we know and love. Pity their journalists and artists couldn't have got together to make sure they were all singing from the same songsheet.

 

[MarkS]

I really hope that's wrong. I don't like it at all.

Mark

 

[simeds]

suddenly nissan micras seem attractive-well almost

 

[MiniMinor]

Don't like it !

 

[Skinnyrunt]

I don't like it, I don't want that one!

 

[Rakey]

more like a face slap, rather than lift

 

[MiniMinor]

I was thinking of waiting for the new 06 models to come out before i changed to an S, now it looks like i'll be changing my mind if these pictures are to be believed..

 

[spur]

I dont like but it will more than likely be different by the time it comes out in 06 or early 07. Mut admit, it looks a LOT better than the pictures they had recently of the (new) moke and convertible. Where is Paul Mullett to clear this up? I do like the idea of the extra BHP, especially to help the COOPER CONV have a bit more pace.

 

[pob]

Don't like it at all. The lights look wrong. Plus if they get rid of the clamshell bonnet 'to save cost' it'll ruin the clean lines at the front. Here's an idea - just put the prices up rather than make cost cutting measures. People will obviously still buy it as in three years there's always been a significant waiting list, and there's no sign of it diminishing.

I'd pay more rather than buy what sounds like is going to be an inferior version of the car. I suspect the S I have on order might be the last MINI I buy.

Leave it alone BMW and concentrate on making that nasty looking 1 series look better!!!!

 

[160rav]

Hi

Hope its only photoshop version and not part of BMW plans for Mini in 2006. I guess I'm glad I ordered 2005.

But if it is, I guess it would grow on us similar to posts here when 2005 was revealed!!