MINI Elf or a Riley MINI?

I googled Riley Elf a few mins ago and came across this!
Revival of the Riley brand

Autocar has also learnt that another, rather more unexpected version of the MINI is being considered by the design team. It’s an outright luxury model that would herald the revival of the Riley brand. The concepts for the Riley show that it will either be a spin-off from the Mk3 MINI, due in 2013, or a new notchback body style inspired by the original Riley Elf and Wolseley Hornet.

Many at BMW acknowledge that a super-luxury version of the MINI, fitted with a very high-end wood and leather interior, is likely to have appeal to affluent city dwellers. However, others argue that a notchback MINI would attract buyers in countries that regard hatchbacks as low rent. A three-door van, based on a version of the Countryman platform, is also likely to feature in the future MINI plan.

Despite the profusion of niche models, the challenge for the MINI Design Team is to nail down the form of the MINI 3. This car is based on the same all-new platform as the planned BMW range of compact front-drive cars and is expected to look more expensive and upmarket than today’s car, according to insiders.

With extra competition from the Citroën DS3 and Audi A1, BMW wants the next-generation MINI to look and feel more sophisticated and ‘jewel-like’ than the current three door. With the MINI 3 and baby BMW ranges expected to account for as many as 800,000 sales by the second half of the decade, the mainstream MINI model needs to stand out as a polished and premium vehicle, not another mass-produced small car.

[Source: Autocar]

Three words:


Oh......... God.......... No!

It will never happen

Prototype spotted.

Red Riley wrote:Prototype spotted.

"Fins ain't what they used to be!"



Jase

OMG, that is seriously ugly!!

Yeah, looks a bit like a baboon's butt, doesn't it?

Looks like someone's grafted a Renault Megane back end onto the BINI. When I first saw that pic I thought Red Riley had been at it with the Photoshop again, but that car is seriously UG-LEE!

<rant>
I'd go a bit further. It's Fugly. If they make this monstrosity, and I hope they don't, anyone who buys it should have their driving license withdrawn as they obviously can't see.

Sheesh when are BMW going to get the message.....the BINI is awful and anything based on it is WORSE!!!

</rant>

Gotta say I'm not a big fan of the idea

I think the BINI is a perfectly good little car, it's a good attempt at making a character car for the naughties and beyond, the major travesty is calling it a MINI and trying to trade on the reputation of the original car. It's not a mini and it never will be, it has nothing to do with our beloved little angels other than BMW had enough cash to buy the name

For exactly the same reason the reinstatement of the Riley or Wolseley names or any of their trademarks would be nothing more than a cheap marketing trick imho.............

I rememeber reading somewhere that BMW don't actually own the rights to the classic mini, only the name. The car itself (and, presumably the Elf/Hornet) was sold to one of the other inheritors of the remains of MG/Rover when it was ruthlessly broken up and auctioned off, I think it might be Tata...

That would seem to suggest to me that whichever company it was has the right to build classic minis and derivatives, as long as they called them something different. Getting one through modern type approval could be an entirely different matter however......

Sorry if this sounds ranty, just my twopenorth...

Keep the faith

Adi.

RELATED STORY??

http://cars.uk.msn.com/news/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=157009849

Red Riley wrote:Prototype spotted.

Oh dear, what an abortion

Does anybody actually believe the sh*t printed in Autocar or Autoexpress? They are the motoring press' equivalent to the Daily sport. That amateurish photoshop has been doing the rounds as long as the BMW MINI and is total fiction.

A guy on another forum I use took some photos of his BMW MINI which is tastefully modded with aftermarket alloys and some custom graphics. He then emailed them to Autoexpress claiming they were spy shots of the forthcoming MINI GP and heard nothing back. Sure enough these photos appearred as a scoop in the next issue

I love it. Makes me laugh every time someone finds that picture. It hasn't been out quite as long as the BINI though, since I only made it when I posted it on here. I especially like that you think it's amateurish, since that was the intent. I tried to make it as fake looking as possible, just to see if anyone would actually believe it was real. You know what P.T. Barnum said.
But I do think I did a pretty good job of matching the blue color.
To quote Bugs Bunny, "Ain't I a stinker?"

The rear end is bugging me red, what is it. I originally thought it was a 350Z but a quick look at a pic changed my mind, then a Alfa, then a Lexus, but none of these in UK spec seem to match. It's on the tip of my tongue but just can't place it.

I have to say the only real reason it looks amateurish is that the two cars are so mismatched. The magazines I mentioned print shopped cars pretty every week and you can spot them a mile off. Some of them are so bad I nearly convinced myself that I could make a living churning them out and I can barely use PS.

Can't seem to recall what car that was from. I think it was just a quick patch-up job that I didn't bother to keep. So it's a mystery, even to me.