We’re starting to get the impression you can’t go out in the UK now without bumping into a semi-clad MINI Clubman driving about. This time, Richard22b caught and photographed this Lightning Blue example, managing to photograph both sides, one with two doors, the other with one.
Keep up the good work folks, and if you find and photograph a Clubman (or any other future MINI for that matter!) be sure to send them in or post them on the forums!
MINI2 members have been out and about and on the prowl with their cameras lately!
While this (extremely) short video was caught on a camera phone by BristolMini:
Gold Spotters Badges to them both we think.
So there’s been several MINI Clubman sightings recently, more and more are crawling out of the woodwork as we await official press imagery and specification details.
Not many outside of BMW and it’s partners would have had quite as close an encounter as MINI2 member Harpo, who struck Clubman gold recently, and has shared his experience right here on the MINI2 forums.
According to his first hand report, the boot is not significantly larger than the regular MINI Cooper, but he believed that the extra rear leg room, combined with improved storage should make the MINI Clubman ideal for a young family. Harpo continues:
The suicide door is very impressive in operation and is a substantial component. Equally the rear doors are cool too, they are on horizontal gas struts and self open after a certain degree.
Who knows what state of completeness this particular MINI Clubman was in, or what model variant it was, but it’s great not only to hear of such a fortunate and close quarters encounter, but also to hear such positive sounds coming from someone outside of the BMW Group who’s been “hands on” with the new Clubman.
Have you seen the MINI Clubman? Have you touched the MINI Clubman? Have you even driven or been driven in the MINI Clubman? If so, share your experiences in the MINI2 MINI Clubman forum, there’s an eager fan base hungry for more information waiting out there!
More MINI Clubman have been spotted on the streets of the UK recently.
Although amateur spy shots show us nothing compared to the Undisguised Blue & Silver MINI Clubman Photos seen recently it’s good to know it’s not just die-hard MINI2 members who are seeing the Clubman out and about and snapping them with their mobile phones, as shown on this blog when James Lloyd was buzzed by a MINI Clubman on the M4 motorway recently.
That’s not to say MINI2 members are not doing their bit for the amateur MINI spotters association, MINI2 forum member Jordan210 captured this Pepper White and Black MINI Clubman on his camera phone.
Another rumour has now begun. Apparently dealers (in the UK at least) will be able to place their MINI Clubman orders with the factory in Oxford as of July 24th 2007. So it’s more than reasonable to expect more official details before that date.
The scant amount of confirmed information has not been enough to put many off placing their orders already, as you can see in this thread on MINI2, where the 24th July rumour began.
Maybe this comes as little surprise to some, but there have been some negative remarks regarding the design of the MINI Clubman.
Key criticisms of the new MINI Clubman have included the simple fact it’s too big to be a MINI, the quirk that it only has one suicide door rather than two, and that it’s just not like the MINI (Traveller) Concept. However none of these criticisms mean that people are flatly against the introduction of the new model to the MINI range or even dislike the way the Clubman is shaping up.
In this poll on the MINI2 forums, asking the simple question “like it or not”, the results at the time of writing are a pretty conclusive 75% to 25% in favour of those who like the MINI Clubman. Obviously this is a completely different question to “would you buy one” or “do you prefer it to..”, but the results must be encouraging for those at MINI none the less.
An eagle eyed MINI2 member spotted these photos of a Lightning Blue and Silver MINI Clubman Cooper S out “in the Wild” on the web and posted them in our MINI Clubman forum.
The photographs very clearly show the exterior design of the new MINI Clubman in all it’s glory and in great detail. There’s no surprises here thanks to previous leaks of information, spy shots and design sketches we’ve already seen, but these are by far the clearest photographs of the MINI Clubman yet.
Of note and interest to many will be the rear window and panel split on one side only for the single suicide door, to see the interior configuration in photographs check this previous MINI2 news story. How well this works is certainly an issue of debate. At this stage we cant help feeling we’d rather they’d gone all (a matching pair of doors) or nothing (as with the wonderful MINI Traveller Concept vehicles). But time will tell how well this works in real world driving conditions.
Continue reading Undisguised Blue & Silver MINI Clubman Photos
For this Dutch seaside town, summer has never begun quite like it did this year!
Over the course of three days, more than 8000 MINI fans from 50 different countries flooded the Circuit Park on the North Sea coast for the MINI United Festival 2007. Under the banner of ‘Friends. Festival. Challenge.’, the worldwide community of MINI fans enjoyed a unique mixture of racing atmosphere, party and lifestyle. It even exceeded the resounding success of the MINI United premiere in 2005. The event underscores the growth of the MINI community and the enjoyment of the MINI brand, lifestyle and sense of community seems to be limitless.
With the North Sea on the one side, and a sea of 3000 MINIs on the other covering the town’s roads and car parks, Zandvoort was certainly the perfect location for the biggest MINI festival ever. Many of the guests had travelled a long distance to be there and join in the action of the MINI United 2007. The longest journey of all was undertaken by Yuliya Tkachenko from Krasnodar in Russia: She left her home seven days before the festival began, travelling some 4200km in her MINI to be sure of arriving in time for the event.
Continue reading 8,000 MINI Fans from 50 Countries Invade Zandvoort for MINI United
Hot on the heels of photographs of a fleet of MINI Clubman at the Zandoort Circuit that hit the web Yesterday, Autogespot.com has what can only be described as a most excellent series of photographs of the new MINI Clubman, including some very detailed interior shots showing the rear door split, cup holders and trim detail.
A couple of the photographs (shown above) reveal the rear seat and trim configuration in great detail, including just how the suicide door cuts into the rear side panel trim and it’s ellipse. These mimic the front door card ellipses we’re all familiar with from the hatchback MINI.
From these photos you can also see how MINI have replaced the tiny and impractical stowage “pockets” (more like trays) with an even smaller tray and a cup holder each side. Personally we shudder at the thought of someone drinking in the back of our beloved MINI. That said, it wouldn’t be so terribly British if you couldn’t sit down and have a nice cup of tea after exerting yourself setting up your over-sized four man tent that’s been in retirement since you fell in love with the MINI six years ago!
We strongly encourage you to go and check out the rest of the photographs, they’re the best we’ve seen yet.
How could MINI be so careless, leaving all these new MINI lying around just before such a big MINI event as MINI United at Zandvoort? A cynic might say they actually WANTED these spy shots to get out.
Autovisie have some great shots of the MINI Clubman on the website, taken at the Zandvoort Circuit in the Netherlands where, apparently, MINI employees were getting familiar with the “Other MINI” ahead of it’s full launch to the media and public later this year.
Zandvoort was also the location of the Driving Dynamics Workshop held by MINI in July last year for a select group of Motoring Journalists where MINI2 took footage for several photo and video exclusives of the second generation MINI.
This weekend Zandvoort also plays host to MINI United, however according to Autovisie the cars where taken back to Munich on a trailer when play time was over. Full report and photographs are available on the Autovisie website here.
Update: By an incredible stroke of fortune it appears Autoweek also had a photographer on the scene to capture some very good shots, including the Clubman in the new metallic brown, aka “Hot Chocolate”. We’re till not convinced by the colour, but with so many good shots of the new MINI Clubman taken in one day, it really could make you “Believe in Miracles”. We have to say though, the black tape over the MINI badge. Not really working if they thought it would throw hard nosed motoring journos off the scent.
Children of the 70s and 80s may come over all fuzzy while watching these rather offbeat commercials for the “Other MINI” (that’s MINI Clubman to you or I) which appeared on Google Video last week (while were were buried in site recoding work, sorry!).
You can analyse these all day, but it may be safer to NOT delve into the minds of the creative team as it could be a strange, faraway place indeed. The message is certainly getting around though, and that, at the end of the day, is what it’s all about.
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