For those of us who want summer to go on for just a little bit longer, here are some tiny teardrop trailers that exemplify the ease of summer camping. MiniTears are beautifully designed and built by Kurt Bowden in Northern California for MINI Cooper enthusiasts and other small car owners. They are custom made for each MINI that tows it and feature a spacious sleeping compartment with handcrafted cabinetry and LED lighting and a full-size galley with a stainless steel sink, lighting, and a 12 volt battery pack. Each MiniTear only weighs about 876 pound and they start at about $7,995. Additional options like a 12 volt video screen, custom paint, a variety of cabinet options and 120 volt plugs are available.
Since 1985, Kurt has owned and operated Fine Line Design, a custom home design firm located north of Redding, California. The recent downturn in home construction allowed him the free time to get back to his woodshop where “MiniTears” began to take shape in 2008. Kurt’s background in home design and construction, along with the fabricating skills his father passed on to him, gave him everything he needs to build these beautiful Teardrop Trailers.
You can see a video of Kurt’s MiniTear here.
Photos courtesy of MiniTears
By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]
Amazing work! I love the little kitchen!
Oh, God, they make even tinier teardrops, too. Love it!
Ooooh, shiny! Love the woodwork.
The craftsmanship is unbelievable. The use of different woods really makes it a work of art.
I’m so happy someone has addressed the “what could I tow with my little car” question. Had a Prius for years, and just slept in that. Thanks!
This would be perfect with my New Beetle. I’ll be in the market several years from now.
Wow, this one’s stunning!
The interior woodwork is incredible! Great job by somebody!
I have seen the web site and they make really nice little teardrop campers.
I have seen similar little tear drops from Go Little Guy. 🙂
http://www.golittleguy.com/teardrops/
The Rascal can be towed by a Smart car (they have a photo of one towing a Rascal.
http://www.golittleguy.com/teardrops/models/rascal/
It is not as fancy as the Mini Tear.
OK that is a very nicely staged photo 🙂
The problem is that on that 2005 S cooper you can’t put a hitch LOL, I know i own one LOL. The dual exaust makes it impossible.
Would be nice if the proposed idea was doable:)
But we can drem can’t we 🙂
I guess this company thinks they have a product that doesn’t actually work then:
http://www.minidomore.com/
Took me all of two seconds to find. I guess you didn’t look very hard if you were trying to find a hitch solution for your Mini Cooper.
great info josh…jarek should go to that link and expand his horizons….
Can you possibly respond to anything in a pleasant helpful manner instead of snarky, negative, and, sometimes, downright nasty?
Let’s see, the poster 1) suggested it was a staged photo, 2) proposed that you can’t put a hitch on one, and he knows because he owns one (laughing out loud about the whole concept), and 3) suggested that the whole proposed idea was not doable, seemingly implying that the whole idea was a fraud.
Considering these elements of the initial post, I don’t consider the tone of my post to be inappropriate. I have little tolerance for people who don’t even bother to research a subject before opening their mouths; as I said, it took me all of two seconds to find the website for the product that allows you to install a hitch on ANY Mini Cooper model.
But I guess you haven’t done your due diligence either, because I make plenty of comments that are not snarky, negative, or nasty; but I guess some people only focus on the negative!
Anyone ever think of calling the company and asking them how they hitched up the trailer?? Or is that to logical for cooper owners? Maybe they have a custom solution that is not on the net.