MINI Cooper All4 Hybrid Spied

A MINI Cooper All4 Hybrid - complete with 'Hybrid Test Car' sticker

What? You thought MINI had come up with every possible permutation of bodyshape, drivetrain and powerplant? Don’t be silly; not by a long way.

What we appear to have here is a regular MINI Cooper with 4WD. Which is a new one as so far we’ve only seen the Countryman All4 on the road. But it gets more interesting.

This MINI in fact appears to be a hybrid MINI. Which we have to be honest, we didn’t even flag up as on the cards. We should have done – MINI aren’t going to miss out on a sales trick – but we’ve had no indications a hybrid was in the offing – until now.

Mind you, MINI has made it easy for us by putting a sticker in the window of this MINI Cooper which says ‘Hybrid Test Vehicle’. Which sort of gives the game away.

What we don’t know is what exactly is powering the Hybrid. We’re guessing a 4-pot something driving the front wheels and an electric motor the back ones. But whatever the configuration is we aren’t likely to see it until the new MINI arrives in 2013.

After all, MINI has to get some unsuspecting punters to pay to test it first.

By Cars UK