(By Tom Lohnes) – The all-new 2023 Mini Cooper was found in China with no camo recently, and it isn’t looking so great.
Starting with the obvious here, this is likely not the final design. The new Mini has been in the works for about three years now, and it still has about six months to go before its full debut. But, this 80% of so completed car really doesn’t look as cheerful as the old model does. With a droopier front end and an overall heavier look compared to the outgoing model, this hatchback has lost a good bit of its charm. Shown in S electric trim, this is the EV version with some sporty touches, and it really isn’t all that hot looking. What’s worse than the exterior though is what you see when you peek inside.
Oh lord, what happened here. With a mix of Tesla Model 3 and 2001 Toyota Echo inside, I really hope this interior is exclusive to the electric version, because having a JCW performance gas mini without a gauge cluster would be a huge loss. Even the early 2000’s mini with a central cluster had at least a tach in front of the wheel, and losing that in a manual car would be horrible.
So, that’s out first look at the new Mini. Is it ruined? We really can’t tell yet. The new model debuts sometime in 2022, so be prepared to judge then.
This looks like they put a grille on there that was too big and nailed a plank of wood across it to make up for it. I think the “grille with a plank in its teeth” is going to be the current era’s equivalent of malaise era railroad track bumpers, except that I have no idea what the stylist’s excuse was.
Comment above nailed it, since the vacuum cleaner grille and origami fenders came out stylists are now hired from the institutions for the blind.