Catching up on some Paris Motor Show posts here. First up for the week, the MINI Crossover Concept. With its cousin, the BMW X1 also in the show, the gargantuan MINI was intent on catching some camera flashes as well.

Aside from bragging about its size and its Mini Center Globe, the Crossover Concept finally revealed a few more details regarding what’s under the hood though not as detailed as we had hoped.

The car will be on all fours - four-doors, four seats, 4WD, and will be powered by four-bangers. The lineup will feature a slew of four-cylinder engines and European markets might even get a diesel variant.

The Crossover Concept (to be the Crossman ) will enter production by next year to be launched as a 2011 model.

BMW will strike at the crossover market with a double whammy - the BMW X1 and the MINI Crossman. BMW has confirmed that they will be using the 1-series platform for both vehicles and production will indeed commence with the X1 rolling out of the Leipzig plant and the MINI Crossman to be handled by Magna Steyr through an outsourced venture.

As far as the two are concerned the Crossman is nearing its production version while the X1 is still in the concept phase. What is quite notable in this is that, with the shared platforms, it is also indicated that the two might also share the same powertrain lineup. If details on the Crossman holds true, then that would mean that these will sport a 3.0L engine.

Platform and powertrain sharing partly annoys me to a minute extent since that would mean that you’ll practically be dealing with the same cars with two identities, one in a crisp suit and one in a baggy pants.

A desire to be cute? Or an innovative twist for a piece of market share? Either way, why call a big vehicle MINI? That’s like calling a Chihuahua “Juggernaut” or something. MINI on growth hormones and steroids would be a proper name to this MINI crossover.

Ever since its comeback (and the Italian Job) MINI has again made a name for itself as that zippy city car that could get in and out of the nooks and crannies of congested traffic flow in style. But building a crossover just by adding doors and hulking the Clubman a bit? Come on!

Updates have it that this Crossman (rumored name) will be using the same engine as the coupe and Clubman. Hey, those engines make the cars zippy because it packs enough power to propel the small and lightweight cars to orbit. But 207hp on a bigger and heavier body? If it goes 0-60 in sub-10 seconds then I will be impressed.

Good thing that while the body stylings are very much MINI, the platform will be borrowed from parent BMW’s X1. But how would that compare to the agile handling that is associated to all the other MINIs? We’ll just have to see.

Source: Automotive Blogs