Here’s what Mini’s new design boss thinks of flush door handles and giant touchscreens

Holger Hampf is now the big boss of shapes and colours at Mini, but the former president of BMW’s Designworks consultancy doesn’t come from a traditional car design background and actually first trained as an industrial designer. 

So, after he told us all about his vision for the future of Mini, TG decided to put to Hampf some controversial car design tropes to see where he stood…

TopGear.com: Pop-out door handles.

Holger Hampf: My Mini answer would be proper door handles, for sure. I like to cook; I like to be in the kitchen. I hate kitchens without door handles. It’s also very fitting to Mini, because a function needs to be obvious. A door handle can be a piece you really love to touch.

Full-width infotainment screens.

Not Mini. Mini has to strike a good balance between an analogue feel and a digital offering. That’s reason number one. But number two would be that it’s a small cabin and I find it overwhelming if there's too much digital surface in a Mini.

I'm very happy with the round display. I think that was the right step. It's the first and still the only in the industry. So far, it hasn't been copied. Maybe others are scared of a round interface? I'm very proud of it.

Buttons.

Buttons are important. We have a good starting point at Mini. Here our history gives me a good foundation to start with. Is it the end of the toggle bar? Hmm, I’ll leave that out. But I think again, analogue means physical buttons, digital means display. We need to strike a good balance between the two.

We are also experimenting with information in front of the driver. We find that that remains very important. A central display very often is distracting. The right information in the right place at the right time in a car makes it a safe environment, and I'm very committed to that.

Super streamlined EVs.

[Long pause] Hmm. At first I wanted to say, ‘not my cup of tea’, but there was a car from General Motors in the 90s, the EV1, and I really loved that thing. That had a teardrop shape and was super aerodynamic with a drag coefficient of zero point something.

So, I wouldn’t want to say that I hate this stuff or that it’s not Mini. With the electric Cooper we even tried to give it that feel of efficiency, smoothness and cleanliness [by blanking out the front grille and removing the wheel arch spats]. I like some of these things.

Deleted rear windows.

Replaced by a camera? Difficult. Speaking as a form and function type of person – and maybe it’s me and I’m too dumb for it – but I like the analogue. Digital rear-view mirrors and side mirrors are not necessary.

Oversized wheels.

Maybe it’s the automotive designer in me, but I like big wheels. Everyone likes big wheels. But again, there is a middle ground. Sometimes I look at old 13in or 14in Mini wheels, and I think they’re really cool but only on a very small car. Today they wouldn’t work. If a modern car comes with too small wheels, it looks really dorky. But too large is also not good, especially on concept cars, I sometimes think ‘oh, come on guys’.

Illuminated badges.

My answer would be ‘a sea of sameness’. You see this once and a week later you see it five times. To me, these things are very dangerous because everyone seems to have the same idea, and then everyone has a lit-up logo and front light bar.

And look at some of the brake lights on cars right now. I think it’s very important for Mini to keep the signature that it is known for, that every five-year-old can differentiate from other cars; the two round headlights, the grille and maybe auxiliary lights.

I do the test with the design team when we talk about a new design or the next generation of Mini. I have them sketch something as a proper car design sketch, and then the same thing on a dark piece of paper just with the light signature as it would look during the night.

I want to see the Mini. Some of these things like light bars and lit logos – as a personal answer – I’m not a fan.