The whole point of a Mini is to be a fun, affordable pocket rocket to romp around on tight roads and through cities in. A Mini is thus a prime candidate for electrification, which is presumably why Mini has formed a partnership with China's Great Wall Motors to produce an EV model by 2019. We assumed Mini would show off some kind of new EV concept at the 2018 New York Auto Show, but instead the company has decided to show off something a bit more special: what it calls the Classic Mini Electric.

This one-off model combines the unmistakable design of the classic Mini Cooper with a futuristic EV drivetrain. With this model, Mini shows its commitment to "retaining the brand's unmistakable character whilst embracing innovative zero local emission technology." Unfortunately, the car will not enter production, so this is more of a design statement. Perhaps this is why the company didn't bother giving any important details on the car. It's easy to see why Mini isn't putting the Classic Mini Electric into production. Rather than go through the trouble of building a new body to look like the old car, Mini simply took a restored example of the original and retrofitted an EV drivetrain.

Not only would this be expensive to do on a large scale, but we doubt it would pass US safety regulations. It's a shame no one will be able to drive this car, because it looks like a hoot. Then again, we have grown accustom to the BMW Group building concept cars we can't have.