New Paceman Concept revealed - the most expensive MINI ever

Here's another MINI model for all you MINI fans out there - a new 'Sports Activity Coupe' concept, called the Paceman.

It's not a definite to be rolling off the BMW production lines any time very soon, but a debut at the Detroit Motor Show in January will help BMW gauge popularity, and the publics' enthusiasm to digest its potential £22,000+ price.

Based on the 'snouty' Clubman model but with extra heft to the shoulder lines and some rear window slimming giving it that coupe, on 4x4 stilts, style. There are a few of Clubman's doors missing too.

We've seen a bit of a rise in these urban coupes of late, with cars like the Nissan Juke and the soon-to-be-selling-like-hot-cakes Range Rover Evoque forging another new segment in car-land. I guess this is MINI's slice of that action, especially in America where the Evoque has already whet many big appetites.

A good dollop of turbo-power would be delivered by the rather pokey range-topping 1.6-litre engine seen in the Cooper S mega-MINIs, which in the Paceman will power its 211bhp through MINI's ALL4 four-wheel-drive system.

More luxurious than sporting, but with that sort of power even mountainous kerbs and
gorge-like potholes shouldn't be a problem. The MINI marches on, only in more expensive trousers.

Clubman's snout, 4x4 stilts, a bit more beef and a trim here and there, and you've got yourself a 'Sports Activity Coupe'

That tapering towards the rear of the glass-house could 'provoke' thoughts of the Range Rover Evoque

New rear lights and squarer body lines move the MINI design language, already over 10 years old, forward into a
potentially chunkier future