Rumors have been swirling for over a year now that MINI has something special planned for the Countryman. We’re hearing it’s a mix of the WRC race car with a dash of Cayenne Turbo thrown in for good measure. The result, while vague at the moment, sounds fantastic to us. Imagine a road going version of the wide-body MINI Countryman WRC with more power (something a little higher than the 211 on the current JCW MINI) and performance oriented all wheel drive. Oh and a wide body kit that will make you drool.

We’ve talked about this before as MINI’s next GP. Ideologically it would be quite different from the GP. But our sources have been telling us for quite awhile that MINI wants to create something very performance oriented to help sell the idea that the Countryman as a performance vehicle.

We’ll have more as the plot starts to thicken. Until then, sign us up.

http://www.motoringfile.com/2011/01/26/rumor-mini-to-release-wrc-edition-countryman/