Mini

I Want the MINI Paceman Adventure Truck!

If MINI ever builds this I’m all in. As a former MINI owner and a huge fan of the brand, I have to say I’ve been a bit disappointed with the model line as of late. The MINI got larger, the line fractured into so many models, all of which are really working, and things have just seemed a bit flat.

Leave it to a bunch of interns and their instructors at BMW’s plants in Munich and Dingolfing to come up with something that really kicks some serious MINI butt. The thing is though this is a one-off and might not ever see the light of day. Based on an All 4 Cooper S Paceman the team removed the back end and replaced it with a truck bed creating a rocking little MINI Truck. (Remember the Chevy Luv?) fitted with heavy duty off road tires a spare on the roof, rally lights, and what looks like a rugged interior, raised ground clearance, and painted up in “Jungle Green” metallic paint, this is a winner to me.

I really hope this goes from an intern project to an actual vehicle. This is the kind of thing MINI needs to bring the excitement back.

MINI Art Beat, Vine, and Rolling Social Media.

Pushing the boundaries on Social Advertising, MINI has converted a Mini Countryman into a rolling billboard powered by Vine video streams. The Countryman is covered in thousands of LED lights arranged in a structured array on the vehicle. The LED lights are fed Vine video streams which play back on the car as it cruises the streets of London at night. Now this is a pretty inventive way to use the Twitter owned social media video site. The entire backstory on the production, technology, and campaign can be found at the MINI Space Blog here.

Getting 30 Plus.

OK, I’ll admit it… I’m a lead foot. I like to drive fast, I have a fun car with a lot of pick up, and I tend to take advantage of it. It’s hard not to mash the gas pedal down and rack my way through all six gears getting the car up to speed. I like pushing it through winding roads, and I like snaking through busy traffic on the freeway leaving all the left-lane lollygaggers in my wake.

Lately though, as the price of gasoline has edged toward 4 bucks a gallon, (and inspired by Kristy’s Honda Insight 45 plus to the gallon) I have been trying to drive a little bit gentler.

The result of my new driving style has been an increase in fuel economy from about 24.5 mpg to 30 mpg. I know it’s not great, but it is better, and I’d probably get better than that if I drove the freeway to work. Red lights kill you and Kansas City’s lights are all out of sync. Hit one green light, you might hit another but don’t count on it. The best part is, that my gentle driving style during the week means more gas in my tank on Saturday and Sunday. All of this translates to a few hours of fun driving without feeling guilty. Yes that’s right I do not feel guilty about having fun driving my car just for the sake of driving it. And I don’t feel guilty about putting the top down and stomping on the gas.

Even after today’s run about town, I am still getting 30 mpg, and if I push it I might be able to get it close to MINI’s projected mpg of 35, although I know you never get what the EPA says you will. None the less I’m getting better mileage than I was and that is a good thing.

Rocketman! BSUR and PostPanic’s 2 Minute History of MINI.

Some days you stumble across things that ignite your passions on a number of fronts. As a MINI owner, the Rocketman concept gets me going because it is a cool looking MINI concept. As a guy that does a lot of animation, motion graphics designer, video editing and special effects, this video for the Rocketman gets me going because of the superb use of great animation, motion graphics, green screen shots, post production, editing, and integrated CGI. This product film for the MINI Rocketman was created by BSUR and PostPanic. This two-minute short film tells the history of MINI using both 2D and 3D animation combined with live action footage. which is PostPanic’s specialty.