Despite some time confusion on the floor of the MINI stand - could it really be 4 p.m. in Buenos Aires and 8 p.m. in New York, as the logo beneath would have it? - there's no confusing the future of the MINI Traveler concept shown at Frankfurt on Monday. MINI says it's going to broaden its future lineup, and while the Traveler may be a bit much to contemplate now, it's certainly being considered as an addition to the next generation car coming in a year or so.
Pitching it as a latter-day successor to the Mini Traveller that bowed exactly 45 years ago in September 1960, the new concept has a long side view made more expansive by the lack of a B-pillar. Big doors make for easier access to the back seats. And the back of the vehicle is bespoke with all sorts of utility solutions: the doors are symmetrically split, the roof opens for loading taller objects and the cargo box at the rear has a clear sliding shelf that moves out of the way for your stuff - or flips toward the headliner and latches into place to provide a see-through separator between humans and their things.
While its press conference was hipster pitch-perfect (do you recall all the words to the 1980s novelty hit Double Dutch Bus?) the Traveller proved a bit of a paradox. Does the world want a bigger MINI? The concept of jumbo shrimp seems to work okay, but then they're not fueled by $3 a gallon gas, nor are they particularly difficult to park.
Is the Z4 Coupe a logical candidate for production? Is the Pope German? BMW executives were fairly open about the prospects for the Z4 Coupe Concept, which looks much like the new Viper coupe or Porsche Cayman and improves markedly on the base roadster's shape.
Like the Cayman, the Z4 Concept shares its fundamentals with a roadster, and while it has its own roof and luggage area, the Z4 Concept shares the Z4's 3.0-liter in-line six-cylinder engine with 265 hp and 232 lb-ft of torque. BMW says it will take only 5.7 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph and will hit a top speed of 155 mph. Electric power steering and more powerful brakes are expected to make it into the production version of the Z4 Coupe when it arrives in the 2007 model year.
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