Study will debut at IAA 2017 show in Frankfurt
MINI is not only playing the all-electric card, but also playing the racing and rallying heritage card with its latest Frankfurt motor show-bound study dubbed John Cooper Works GP Concept. It serves as a reminder for the brand’s Monte Carlo rally wins from exactly 50 years ago and is a very aggressive take on current MINI design.
It looks like a touring car with spoilers and a widebody kit to our eyes, although MINI says it “majors on purity and emotional richness,” yet does emphasize that it’s “significantly wider than the current MINI,” and that “the design study exudes dynamism and power.”
At the front it uses a very aggressive looking front bumper that’s mostly just one big splitter lip that’s as big as on actual racing cars. It neatly flows into the widened wheel arches which continue along the sides with beefed up skirts and rear flares as well – these aren’t flush-fitted to the body and they appear to be floating next to it.
The racy look is topped off by the large roof-mounted rear spoiler and bumper both of which add to the concept’s wide and aggressive stance. Inside, it looks like a MINI stripped out for racing purposes, complete with racing seats, a big fire extinguisher and full roll cage.
Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, said the concept “The MINI John Cooper Works GP Concept is all about the unfettered feeling of driving and levels of performance found in motor sport competition. This is driving fun in its purest form.”
Read our 2015 MINI John Cooper Works and 2017 MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4 test drives!