14Despite taking part in the World Rally Championship and the Dakar Rally, the MINI Countryman is not really associated with rugged, go-anywhere ability, but that could change with the new Countryman Edition. We’ve seen off-road-focused takes on the Countryman recently with a Dakar-inspired concept last year and MINI’s own ‘Vagabund’ concept a few months ago. While the Countryman Edition might have a slightly underwhelming name, MINI says the new model is being developed to embrace ‘the spirit of exploration that has been part of MINI’s character for generations’. These official images from MINI give us our first look at the Countryman Edition, which is still under light camouflage. The next stage of the model’s progress will be the full unveiling in October. With a ‘distinctly adventurous interpretation of the MINI Countryman’, according to MINI, the new car won’t feature a huge amount of visual tweaks, judging by this test car. There’s a roof-mounted tent, knobbly tyres and what looks like jacked-up suspension, but other than that the modifications look slim – think along the lines of the mildly beefed-up Volvo EX30 Cross Country rather than Ariel Nomad. 14We can see the grille is open, rather than the blanked-off unit found on the pure-electric model. Rather than the 168bhp 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo motor which is solely available with front-wheel drive, the Countryman Edition will almost certainly get the ALL4 four-wheel drive system powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine with 296bhp or 312bhp outputs. Jean-Philippe Parain, head of MINI, said: “MINI has always been about turning every journey into an adventure. True to the MINI spirit, it combines capability with character and will open up even more opportunities for unforgettable adventures.” The Countryman Edition’s first adventure is development in the Rocky Mountains, which MINI says ‘serves as the backdrop for the ultimate test of character for a specially engineered, all-road-capable MINI Countryman’. The manufacturer also claims the Countryman Edition will be ‘equally at home on scenic mountain roads as it is on more challenging routes’. Having been on sale for a few years now there are loads of excellent used, current-generation MINI Countrymans available on the Auto Express Find A Car service now.
