Britain's motor industry got a boost this morning, as BMW took the wraps off the pair of racey Mini concepts in Frankfurt that will go into production in Oxford in 2011.
Both the Coupe and Roadster are two-seaters are designed with enthusiastic drivers in mind - the Coupe revealed in pictures earlier this month gets power from the JCW Mini's 1.6-litre turbo engine, so boasts 211hp, while the Roadster gets the less frenetic turbo unit from the Cooper S.
The Roadster looks a little less extreme than the Coupe from a styling perspective, but Mini has made an effort to distinguish it from four seat Cabrio models with extended overhangs at the front and rear. The Roadster has a manually operated fabric roof, and the rear deck conceals a traditional boot that Mini says is uncharacteristically large for the segment. Because the roof folds into a separate area behind the seats, luggage space is undiminished with roof up or down.Roll-over protection is provided by a single aluminium hoop that pops up in moments of crisis.
The two new model launches co-incide with a big push by Mini in the US, where it has announced plans to extend its network by 20 percent to 100 outlets.