Alpina made a name for herself by spoiling large BMWs with great engines. But this car neither carries the famous round nor does it have a V8 under the bonnet. The specialists of Buchloe worked on a Mini Cooper S (R53) twenty years ago. But just like the Alpina i8, which never came about, this hot hatch remained on the bottom of the cutting room.
Unfortunately, the “Lux” appeared at the 60th anniversary of Alpina’s surprising appearance. The assembly took place in the Penz air base in Bavaria and brought together over 650 cars and 2,000 people. While BMWs were undoubtedly the main attraction from different decades, this charged small machine was not unnoticed.
Our friends of Motor1.com Germany allowed us kindly to share these pictures of the unique mini of Alpina. The Cooper S received a variety of dark blue accents that were visible on the front and rear aprons, wheel kits and side mirrors. The further distinction from the regular car was clear taillights, including the third brake light. Alpina’s characteristic bikes cannot be overlooked, and this elegant design was later offered as an official accessories for R50 and R53.
Inside, Alpina bathed the two -tone interior in Alcantara and covered almost any surface with the microfiber material. The blue-and-gray-sitting padding stretched to the door cards, while plastic cladding was built with soft blue paint. If it had been in production, the Mini badges would probably have been replaced by Alpina’s logo.
However, the “Lux” of the Cooper Cooper has never made it beyond the prototype level. Andreas Bovensiepen, CEO of Alpina, announced in an interview a few years ago that high costs would have made the car too expensive. It can also be assumed that there were concerns that too few customers would be interested. Instead, Alpina shifted his focus on the 6 Series (E63/E64).
Since the mini project was killed in the infancy, the 1.6-liter engine with four cylinders remained unaffected. It still produced the torque with £ 168 and £ 162 (220 Newton meters), which were sent to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gear. At this time, Mini quoted a sprint of 100 km/h in 7.2 seconds and a top speed of 222 km/h.
The Cooper’s “Lux” arrived for a few years before Aston Martin tried something similar with the Toyota IQ. The luxurious cygnet was a fancer version of the city car that help the British car manufacturer in the early 2010s to meet EU fleet emissions. In contrast to the Mini, it actually went into production, but only for two years. The turnover was dark: Aston Martin had hoped to move 4,000 units every year, but finally sold less than 150.
Photos: Motor1.com Germany
