Holger Hampf on Why the Countryman Untamed Is the Right Amount of Off-Road

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MINI’s head of design never intended for the new Countryman Untamed Edition to be compared to SUVs like the Ford Bronco or a Jeep Wrangler. Last week at a roundtable at Lake Tahoe, Holger Hampf spent almost an hour explaining what the Untamed is, what it deliberately is not, and why MINI treats “adventure” as the next pillar of the brand alongside John Cooper Works.

The short version: it is a weekend car, built for the 80 percent of driving that happens on tarmac, with enough lift, rubber and protection to make a gravel road feel like an invitation rather than a risk.

The MINI Countryman Untamed Edition at a glance

• ALL4 all-wheel drive in the US, on the Countryman S and the electric SE
• A 15 mm suspension lift, adding roughly three-quarters of an inch of ground clearance, with ABS, stability control and steering recalibrated (availability depending on marketing)
• 19-inch wheels with Pirelli Scorpion all-terrain tires, standard in North America
• Frozen Nomad Blue, MINI’s first regular-production matte paint, plus Nomad Blue and Hideaway Grey
• Underbody protection front and rear, a restyled grille, and a mountain-range Untamed logo
• In the US, a $1,600 Untamed Edition package that requires the $3,400 Iconic Trim
• Production in Leipzig from November 2026, with US deliveries expected in the first quarter of 2027

Balance first, rock crawling never

The obvious question for any lifted crossover is how far MINI was willing to go. Hampf’s answer was that the limit was never technical. It was brand.

“Most important to me is to strike a balance of retaining MINI, making something essentially MINI that feels very right as a brand, and then branching out and offering a slightly more extreme character. But that has to be in balance.”

He was blunt about the competition. A Countryman built to out-crawl a Bronco would be a worse Countryman, and a worse MINI.

“Making something that people would compare to a Bronco or a Rubicon doesn’t feel very meaningful. It also comes with sacrifices in comfort.”

His reasoning is about how people actually use these cars. Oversized tires look the part, then show up in noise and vibration on every commute.

“Still 80 percent road use, maybe 20 percent or even less off-road.”

He had a line for the other end of that bargain too. The Untamed has to be believable when the pavement ends.

“One thing that would upset me is if you take it on a gravel trail and it would perform badly.”

The hardware reflects that. A modest lift, all-terrain tires, recalibrated stability and steering systems, and underbody protection add up to a car that handles forest roads and trailheads, not a low-range trail machine. Hampf was happy to say that other vehicles at the Tahoe event were more capable.

A weekend escape, not a build sheet

The Untamed’s job description, in Hampf’s words, is almost domestic.

“I want this to be a weekend escape. I want this to sit in your driveway, ready to go Friday afternoon, two, three nights.”

That framing explains the accessories. MINI developed a roof tent with Autohome and a camping collection with Helinox, and the roof carries 165 lb in motion and 661 lb stationary. It also explains why he is relaxed about owners taking things further. He pointed to the way Mercedes Sprinter vans are customised in the US, often into something unrecognisable from the delivery van underneath.

“Could you go more extreme? Yes, always. But I also leave this to the customers.”

For Hampf, individualisation is already part of MINI ownership. The factory car does not need to start at the extreme end.

A new segment: the family weekend away

The Untamed also opens a door MINI has not really walked through. Hampf described the buyer as a family with a dog, two bikes and a plan for Saturday.

“The family’s weekend escape with your dog, two bikes and a bike rack. That is interesting to me, because MINI so far had its limitations.”

Historically, he said, a MINI was the second or third car in the household, with something bigger taken on the weekend. The Countryman Untamed is an attempt to be the only car that makes the trip, while staying “small and authentic MINI”. It sits alongside the brand’s other lanes: rally and JCW performance, and the lifestyle and fashion world of the Paul Smith edition.

The short-lived WRC MINI Countryman

What about the rally history?

It is tempting to draw a line from the Untamed back to the first-generation Countryman’s WRC years. Hampf did not see it that way.

He said he sees the car as more about light off-road activity than competition. Rally heritage, for now, belongs to John Cooper Works. He added “never say never” when pressed on top level rallying, but asked that it not be read as confirmation of anything. A MINI spokesperson added that the brand not only supports the MINI JCW Team in the American Rally Association and the team currently racing in the Rebelle Rally in an Untamed.

The Countryman Untamed prepped for the Rebelle Rally.

What he did describe is a broader brand structure. MINI stands for fun to drive, performance sits under the JCW roof, and adventure is a pillar growing in importance next to it.

“It’s not one or the other. It’s both.”

We’ll have more from our time with Holger Hampf later this week. But in our time with MINI’s head of design, two things are clear to us. First, the Untamed Edition is designed very purposefully to be a light off-roader, with added capability and without losing what makes the Countryman fun to drive on tarmac. Second, MINI’s head of design is looking at the big picture, and he spoke at length about the brand as a whole. How MINI will choose its collaborators, and why he thinks too many special editions can do more harm than good. How the brand will balance its rally and John Cooper Works performance roots, its lifestyle side and a growing adventure pillar. And how MINI plans to keep the current range fresh while the studio works on what comes next. That conversation is coming soon.

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