Mini Concept hints at future 4x4 styling

Mini has released pictures of a 4x4 concept that hints strongly at the styling of the firm's upcoming small SUV, the Countryman.

The Beachcomber is by no means the final product though – it has no doors or roof and is inspired heavily by the last Mini SUV, the 1960s Moke.

Unlike the Moke, which only had a flimsy canvas folding roof and doors, the Beachcomber has a series of more robust plastic panels that can be slotted in to act as doors and a roof when the weather turns bad.

The concept will appear in the flesh at the Detroit motor show in January, while the production SUV, to be assembled in Graz, Austria, will go on sale in the autumn of 2010.