Roewe E1 Concept Car – is the Rover Spiritual back from the dead?
The Rover Spiritual was set to be the car that would take over from the ancient Rover Metro and take Rover back into the heart of mass producing small cars, which was essentially its bread and butter. The Spiritual concept broke free at the Geneva Auto Show way back in the spring of 1997, Rover were eager to go for something radical and new, whilst Rovers owners at the time BMW were aiming to remake the mini in modern form. Ultimately Rover changed hands, and BMW took the MINI concept with them, but the Spiritual concept stayed on, probably in a dusty corner of Longbridge under two inches of dirt.
It appears that Spiritual concept seems to have come back from the dead in the form of the Roewe E1 concept sedan, although the Spiritual was going to have its engine under the drivers seat, the E1 is going to have an electric motor in roughly the same place. The Spiritual and the E1 do share a common element, they are both attempting to redefine the way we drive and assert bold new designs into a new era of automotive. The Spirtual was going to be a 21st century car with a focus on it being light weight, yet roomy and a good drive as the original mini, the E1 is focusing on being an entirely new electric car which from what we hear is not actually all that far from being put into production.
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It’s a credit to the Chinese industry that the Beijing Auto Show has become a “must cover” event. Just a few years ago, many American suppliers to the auto industry did not bother to send representatives to the show, choosing to simply read a press review on what happened. Today, you a not a player unless you attend the major Chinese shows. We may complain about the style of some of the vehicles sold in the Chinese market, but there is no doubt that today the world rushes to participate in the workings of the Chinese automobile industry. This is where it’s at, whether the western auto media likes it or not. Designs like SAIC’s E1 clearly show why they all come to China now.
Australian motoring print media has almost completely ignored the growth of the Chinese car industry, thus ensuring their own irrelevance and eventual deserved death.
Looks great, as does the MG Zero.