Mini is looking at reviving the Rocketman – as an electric vehicle.

The ‘mini Mini’ concept from 2011 was originally dropped as a production model as the engineering hurdles were high enough to prevent a business case being made for it.

But Mini also launched another small concept car in 2014, in the shape of the Superleggera Vision. This two-seat roadster proved massively popular – so much so that Mini says it is also ‘playing a role’ in its plans.

‘The Rocketman is inspiring us, especially as an EV,’ said Mini product boss Ralph Mahler. ‘It was ahead of its time but is still inspiring. With a smaller car, it’s a bigger challenge.’

Does that mean production is a possibility? ‘With Rocketman,’ says Mahler, ‘and talking EV in the future, as the EV engine gets more portable, it’s give and take.’

With BMW’s EV technology available to Mini, smaller vehicles start to make more sense as an electric powertrain can be packaged into less space than a conventional one.

‘We’re smallest in segment with our three-door hatch, but there is a segment below that,’ acknowledged Mahler. The small roadster market is declining, so a production version of the Superleggera is less likely – but in Mahler’s words, Mini is still evaluating whether a vehicle similar to the Rocketman ‘can be a possibility or not’.