Mini Roadster to be revealed at Frankfurt Motor Show

The English automaker Mini will officially add a fifth model to their lineup, after the forthcoming Mini crossover, this September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The upcoming Mini Speedster will be a strictly two-seater and offer a much more attractive alternative to the Mini Cabriolet. The Mini Speedster will be offered with the standard engines that are offered in the Cooper’s lineup, but in keeping with the speed theme there will also be a 1.6 Liter turbocharged four cylinder making 208 HP, just like the unit found in the Mini Cooper JCW.

Speedsters are sportier versions of cabriolets; unlike roadsters they still have a convertible top, but going with the whole speed theme, they are shorter and much more minimalistic. The windshield on a speedster is usually raked further back than standard models, this makes the open air speedster look like it is at speed even when standing still. Behind the occupants, speedsters tend to have some sort of a double hump structure on the rear sill that helps the air flow over the occupant’s heads and give the profile a much more complete look. It is not necessary for a speedster to feature more aggressive bodywork, but that is the case with the new Mini.