HEADLINE: Ideas & Trends; Conflicting Drives: The Mini in Big Car Country
BYLINE: By DANNY HAKIM
BODY: A CAR seemingly from Lilliput has come to
America, land of the giant S.U.V.
The Mini Cooper
springs from a nearly half-century-old British car line that peaked in
popularity during the 1970's. Over the years, its drivers have included all four
Beatles, Clint Eastwood, Peter Sellers and Kate Moss -- and its name is said to
have been the inspiration for the term miniskirt.
But
can a car smaller than a Volkswagen Beetle play in Peoria?
One would think the odds of success for such a vehicle would not be
promising, and it may well flame out in a market where vehicles like Chrysler's
gangsterish PT Cruiser and the new Beetle seem like passing flavors-of-the-year.
After all, people in America are less likely than ever to forgo S.U.V.'s,
pickups and minivans to buy a car -- let alone a small car.
Still, B.M.W., which bought Mini's parent in 1994, has stuck cautiously
to the big cities since it started selling the car here last month, and its
modest success (the car is currently back-ordered) suggests there might be some
sliver of appetite left in America for small cars.
B.M.W. is pitching its line of Mini Coopers, which will start at just
under $17,000, as the anti-S.U.V. by harnessing one to the top of a Ford
Expedition and piggybacking it around cities. More conventional, if cheeky, ads
are appearing on the Internet ("Goliath lost" says the Mini Web site), and on
billboards like one in upstate New York that reads: "Soon small will mean huge
the way bad means good."
Some people are listening.
Last month, Nathaniel Pearson, a 30-year-old Web designer,
and his wife, Michelle Courtois-Pearson, a 29-year-old accessory designer,
turned up at the Manhattan shop of the British furniture and housewares designer
Terence Conran, where B.M.W. was hosting a Mini party. The Pearsons had ordered
one of the tiny cars.
"I'm a non-S.U.V. guy," Mr.
Pearson said, adding that he has started gauging the length of open curbs
adjacent to fire hydrants to determine if his Mini could forge a parking space
where no bigger car dared legally tread.
Of course, the
utility of small, fuel-efficient cars like the Mini in places like New York City
is similar to that of small cars in Paris or Rome, where heavy taxes also make
gasoline expensive and where, well, one couldn't really park a Suburban. But the
introduction of the Mini in the United States comes at a time when truck mania
has reached the point that even Cadillac is now selling pickups and Porsche,
known for its sleek speedsters, has an S.U.V. in the works.
In July, General Motors will start selling its Hummer H2, a slightly
narrower and more mass-market friendly version of the Hummer H1, G.M.'s take on
the Humvee military transport. (H2, unlike H1, "is garageable," said Alan Adler,
a G.M. spokesman.)
The question is, do Americans really
want to drive something called a Mini when the Hummer lurks? Put it this way:
one H2 weighs as much as two and a half Mini Coopers. And if the Hummer says
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Mini says Austin Powers. (The car is expected to make
an appearance in the next installment of the film series.)
"I am much more enthusiastic about the miniskirt than the Mini car,"
said Leonard Evans, a British-born safety researcher who spent 33 years working
for G.M., implying the fear of some potential car buyers that the Mini might
easily be squashed on the open road. Mr. Evans, however, believes driver
behavior is a far more relevant crash factor than vehicle type and drives a
small car himself, though his Pontiac is certainly not Mini-sized. B.M.W. says
the Mini is built with advanced safety features and has six air bags.
It may need more than crash protection.
Last month, at a Senate hearing on raising fuel economy
standards, Trent Lott, the Senate minority leader, held up a picture of a
purple Smart -- another tiny, golf-cart-sized car popular in Europe. He hailed
it as the terrifying European vision that tougher fuel economy regulations,
since rejected, would impose on America. "This may be fine in Boston or
Chicago," Mr. Lott said, "but it's not fine in Lucedale, Miss., or Des Moines or
a lot of other places."
PIERRE GAGNON, the president of
Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, said "I think there's going to be some
appeal." But his company also plans to double its S.U.V. offerings from two to
four by next year. "I just don't know if Americans are ready for that size of
car in the long run," he said.
Still, the Mini does
have some boosters.
"I think it's absolutely
fantastic," said J Mays, head of design for the Ford Motor Company, one of the
largest makers of S.U.V.'s. Mr. Mays designed the retro Thunderbird and, when he
worked for Volkswagen, the retro Beetle.
"I like cars
with stories behind them and the Mini certainly has got a story," he said. "You
get transported right back to London with Twiggy."
http://www.nytimes.com
GRAPHIC: Chart/Photos: "The Size of Things" B.M.W.
is hoping to popularize its tiny Mini Cooper at a time when Americans remain
enamored with gigantic vehicles like the Hummer H2 (due out this summer). The
following reference chart is provided for potential buyers whose sense of scale
is overwhelmed by such extremes.
M1 Battle Tank
(General Dynamics)
VITAL STATS
HEIGHT: 8 feet WEIGHT: 120,000 lbs. LENGTH: 32 feet WIDTH: 12 feet MILEAGE: About 3
gallons per mile TIME, 0 to 60: Can't do it; 45 m.p.h., tops COST: About $4,000,000
Multi-purpose The ultimate all-terrain vehicle, but parallel parking can be
difficult.
Hummer H2 (General Motors)
VITAL STATS
HEIGHT:
6.5 feet WEIGHT: 6,400 lbs LENGTH: 15.75 feet WIDTH: 6.75 feet MILEAGE: Miles per gallon: low teens TIME, 0 to 60: 16.5 seconds COST: About $50,000
The Big'un Nothing screams respect me!
louder. Downside: tends to conjure Freud.
Mini
Cooper (General Motors)
VITAL STATS
HEIGHT: 6.5 feet WEIGHT: 6,400 lbs LENGTH: 15.75 feet WIDTH: 6.75 feet MILEAGE:
Miles per gallon: low teens TIME, 0 to 60: 16.5 seconds COST: About $50,000
Mini Cooper
(B.M.W.)
VITAL STATS
HEIGHT: 4.5 feet WEIGHT: 2,500 lbs. LENGTH: 12
feet WIDTH: 5.5 feet MILEAGE: 30 miles per gallon TIME, 0 to 60: 7 seconds COST: $17,000 (base price)
No Shrinking Violet It has the B.M.W.
imprimatur, which can score points, but a fender-bender with a Hummer could be
messy.
Big Wheel (Empire Toys)
VITAL STATS
HEIGHT: 2
feet WEIGHT: A few pounds LENGTH: 3 feet WIDTH: 2 feet at rear MILEAGE: No gas required TIME, 0 to 60: Can you imagine? COST: About $30
Sunroof Economical and a head-turner on
city streets. Downside: room for just one.
Vin
Diesel (movie tough guy)
VITAL STATS
HEIGHT: 6.2 feet WEIGHT: 170-180 lbs. LENGTH: see height WIDTH: Strapping MILEAGE:
Self-powered TIME, 0 to 60: Untested COST: Reportedly
$10 million for next picture.
A Gamble Good mileage from hit car movie The Fast and the Furious,but could
stall out.
(Sources: Federation of American
Scientists; B.M.W.; General Motors; Internet Movie Database)
Document 207 of 803. 