AUTO RED BOOK REVIEW: MINI BEACHCOMBER CONCEPT

On The Cover Review: MINI Beachcomber Concept

When a MINI Cooper and a Jeep Wrangler have babies, they'll look like this.  If the bloated MINI styling, chunky tires, and door delete didn’t convey enough attitude for the MINI Beachcomber concept at the 2010 North American International Auto Show, maybe the fact that it was driven onto the stage by a guy in a giant shark’s head chewing on a tin can got the point across.  Between 1964 and 1993, MINI sold the Moke, which was a regular MINI Cooper chassis with a bare-bones, almost golf cart-like body.  The Moke sort of sets a precedent for the door-less MINI idea, but it could probably fit in the backseat of the Beachcomber.  If MINI comes out with anything bigger, they might have to change their name.  The Beachcomber may look radical, but it is probably very close to production.  Think about what it would look like if it had doors, if the roof wasn’t open, and if the machismo was toned down a bit.  That’s right—it’d be a run-of-the-mill crossover.  That’s not very hard to envision.  Of course, if you closed it all up like that, it would be hard to wear a giant shark’s head costume in there.  But most people don’t really need to do that very often anyway.