If there’s one thing antithetical to the Mini ethos, it’s SUVs. But the company is committed to such blasphemy and these photos suggest that it isn’t wavering much from the shape of the concept crossover shown at the 2008 Paris auto show. We had some unkind things to say about the concept, mainly that we thought it was ugly. We’re sorry about that, but mostly because the preproduction mule looks a lot like the homely concept.

Like the concept, the mule seen here is upright and narrow, exactly what you’d picture if you tried to imagine a Mini stretched to accommodate the SUV moniker. The scowling, forward-canted grille remains proud of the headlights as on the concept, though the lights themselves appear to have grown, now resembling neither the concept’s nor any from the rest of the Mini lineup.

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