► Mini JCW GP Concept
► Latest design study
► At Frankfurt 2017
Get your crash helmet and your overalls ready – Mini’s latest concept car is ready for the track. The Mini John Cooper Works GP Concept is Mini’s latest design study, and it’ll be on show at the 2017 Frankfurt show alongside the Electric Concept.
There hasn’t been a GP version of the current generation of Mini hatch, so this concept is the closest we’ve come to one.
Looks racy…
It should be – Mini’s GP cars have always been hardcore, hard-charging hot hatches designed with track days in mind.
The GP Concept is much wider than a regular current-gen Mini hatch and sports a race-bred body kit including a whopping front splitter, rear diffuser and substantial rear wing. There’s also a roof scoop slapped on there, but how much use this actually has on a front-wheel drive, front-engined car (other than cooling down frazzled occupants) is debatable.
Red detailing is everywhere, from the bumpers to the wheels and even the headlights. The rear light clusters sport Union Jack motifs like other Mini concepts, including the Electric Concept that will be shown alongside this at the 2017 Frankfurt show and others like the Superleggera roadster concept.
Smaller details include vinyl numbering ‘0059’ denotes the year the original Mini was conceived – 1959.
BMW Group’s design head honcho, Adrian van Hooydonk, says that the concept ‘brings together the full suite of defining MINI design features and showcases them at their sportiest and most exciting.’
Will I have to climb into it?
Afraid so – the cockpit is stripped out and is cocooned by a massive full roll cage. There’s still the regular Mini dash, but it’s complemented by bucket seats with white, red and black detailing, 3D-printed parts and a large circular display in the centre. As is the way with GP cars, there are no rear seats.
Can I have one?
Nope – this is a design study after all. Still though, Mini has produced limited runs of GP hatches before, so we’re hoping it’ll see the light of day beyond a motor show stand.
We’ve been thrashing the Mini Challenge at Oulton Park and Brands Hatch!