Editing Mini (section)

==Concepts and unproduced prototypes==
{{see also|Mini concept cars}}
[[File:1969 Mini 9X prototype Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon.jpg|thumb|left|Mini 9X at the [[Heritage Motor Centre]]]]

From 1967 to 1979, Issigonis had been designing a replacement for the Mini in the form of an experimental model called the 9X.<ref name="issigbio"/> It was even shorter ({{cvt|9|ft|8|in|m|2}}) and yet still a bit roomier.{{Efn|Making it 2cm shorter than the [[Fiat 500]], but still 5cm longer than the [[BMW 600]].}}<ref>Keith Adams. Concepts & prototypes: BMC 9X (1968–87); AROnline, 18 September 2020.</ref> Designed as a hatchback, and Issigonis designed an all new engine, 50% more powerful than the Mini's, but due to politicking inside [[British Leyland]] (which had now been formed by the merger of BMC's parent company [[British Motor Holdings]] and the [[Leyland Motor Corporation]]), the car always fell victim to other priorities.

A number of prototypes produced for vehicles based on the Mini but which never saw production are held and sometimes displayed at the British [[Heritage Motor Centre]] museum at [[Gaydon]], Warwickshire. These included the Twini, a re-engineered [[four-wheel-drive]] Moke with two engines—one at the front and another at the back; the [[Austin Ant]], a second attempt to produce a four-wheel-drive vehicle, this time using a [[transfer case]]; and a two-seater convertible MG edition of the Mini known as ADO34, cancelled due to it being perceived as competition for the [[MG Midget]].

In 1992, a project considering possible improvements to the Mini was started. Codenamed ''Minki'' ("Mini" plus [[Rover K engine|K-Series]] engine), it included a redesigned dashboard, a two-piece [[Trunk (automobile)#Door|rear door or tailgate]] instead of a boot, fold down rear seats, [[Hydragas]] suspension and a 3-cylinder version of the K-Series engine with a 5-speed gearbox.<ref name="am-minki">{{cite web|url=http://www.austinmemories.com/page46/page46.html |title=Austin Memories: Minki |work=austinmemories.com |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209025952/http://www.austinmemories.com/page46/page46.html |archive-date=9 February 2010 }}</ref> However, the project was cancelled by management within Rover, who decided that the cost of engineering the changes, and achieving compliance with modern crash testing standards, was too great for the production volumes that could be expected of an updated Mini.

In 1995 the idea to update the Mini again surfaced but this time with BMW management. As part of the process of deciding how to replace the Mini, a vehicle representing what the current Mini could have become, if it had been developed further over its production history, was commissioned.<ref name="am-minki"/> This resulted in the ''Minki-II'', designed to house the 1.4L MPI K-Series engine with an extensive redesign inside, but without the original Minki's tailgate. The car had to be widened by 50mm and lengthened by 50mm to accommodate the new engine and gearbox, with Hydragas suspension and dashboard from a [[Rover Metro|Rover 100]]. The Minki-II was used for Hydragas development work, this suspension being considered at the time for the R59 project, later to become the [[Mini Hatch]].