 |
 |
 |
 |
BMW unveils MINI Baker Street and MINI Bayswater
With just months to go before the Olympic Games in London get under way MINI introduces two new special edition models to spread contemporary London style around the world. The latest takes on the MINI, the MINI Baker Street and MINI Bayswater, will go on sale in spring 2012.
Special design features and exclusive equipment mark the cars’ exterior appearance, interior ambience with their own distinctive look. The MINI Baker Street was designed to embody the "youthful, fresh and innovative trend-setting style of the brand", while the MINI Bayswater focuses primarily on the sporting verve and handling.
The MINI Baker Street’s name is synonymous with the address of a certain fictional hero. It is 125 years since Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle released his first story with the master detective in the title role. Today, the Sherlock Holmes Museum and Madame Tussauds waxworks museum can both be found just a stone’s throw from Baker Street underground station.
The MINI Baker Street comes with Rooftop Grey metallic exterior paint combined with special hood stripes in basic black that are given extra character by a subtle V-shape design. 16-inch 6-Star twin-spoke light-alloy wheels painted in high-gloss black along with matching black exterior mirror caps present a contrast to the exterior paintwork.
The MINI Baker Street can also be ordered in Pepper White and Midnight Black. In MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper D trim the roof is painted black, while “Baker Street” lettering on the side frame the side indicator lights.
Inside the cloth/leather seats feature a diamond pattern and there is light grey contrast stitching for the floor mats. The gearshift/selector lever as well as the handbrake gaiters and seat tags which, like the door sills, bear “Baker Street” lettering.
The equipment list for the MINI Baker Street also includes the Pepper Pack, which brings with it air conditioning, an on-board computer, a leather steering wheel, the Chrome Line Exterior package, front fog lamps, a lighting package and height adjustment for the front passenger seat. The range of optional equipment, meanwhile, offers a host of other items with which customers can tailor their car to their personal requirements.
The range of available engine variants for the MINI Baker Street spans the MINI One (72 kW/98 hp), MINI Cooper (90 kW/122 hp), MINI One D (66 kW/90 hp) and MINI Cooper D (82 kW/112 hp). All the engines channel their power through a six-speed manual gearbox as standard or an optional six-speed automatic.
The MINI Bayswater takes its name from an extremely vibrant area of London. Located to the west of the city center halfway between the shopping hot spots of Knightsbridge and Notting Hill, Bayswater is best known for its unusually high density of bars and restaurants, not to mention the adjacent and no less famous Hyde Park.
The MINI Bayswater comes with Kite Blue metallic exterior paintwork which was created exclusively for the special-edition model, as was the interior design and 17-inch light-alloy Sandblast wheels with high-gloss black surfaces and bright machined rim and spoke edges. Midnight Black metallic and Eclipse Grey metallic paint shades can be ordered for the MINI Cooper S and MINI Cooper SD as an alternative to the new, radiant Blue finish. The sporty appearance of the MINI Bayswater is emphasized by the black contrasting roof and the likewise newly created Sport Stripes for the hood, which streak towards the windscreen. The exterior mirror caps carry an identical stripe design, blue on the right-hand side of the car, grey on the left. “Bayswater” lettering adorns the side indicator surrounds, door sills and seat tags.
Inside the Punch Leather seats come in the exclusive color variant Rocklite Anthracite and include side bolsters sporting a metallic sheen and blue and grey contrast stitching. Two-tone contrast stitching also adorns the gearshift/selector lever and handbrake gaiters. There are also Piano Black cockpit trim strips, which continue the path set by the Sport Stripes over the hood and the leather Color Line elements in Rocklite Anthracite, which are emphasized by black stitching. The same leather variant is also used for the armrests, while the model-specific floor mats have anthracite-colored edging and blue contrast stitching.
Customers can order their MINI Bayswater in MINI Cooper (90 kW/122 hp), MINI Cooper S (135 kW/184 hp), MINI Cooper D (82 kW/112 hp) or MINI Cooper SD (105 kW/143 hp) trim. The special-edition model is also delivered with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, while a six-speed automatic features in the options range.
There was no word from BMW on pricing or if and when the two special edition MINI’s will be available in the United States.
01/21/12
a