Quote: Originally Posted by zyo (original)
He omitted to say in his comments about the clubdoor that the door couldn't be opened unless the drivers door was open. If he kept cutting people up because the car is 24 cm longer then he really doesn't give other cars much room
and regarding the stop start system...he said.."i've stalled it" well that's not the same as it stopped on its own..and then he commented that it had started on it's own ...isn't that the point.Some people won't like the stop start facility but personally I've found it works fine. The only thing I found with any BMW car with the start button is that if you do happen to stall it the start proceedure isn't second nature when you are trying to get it started while sat at the lights with a queue of traffic behind.
I think he was determined to make some negative points to be honest, I don't think they were particularly justified but the problem is some people might have taken his comments at face value - well I know they did because someone I know from a classic club commented straight after on the 'stop/start' issue suggesting it was more trouble than it's worth!
Quote:
..and Vicky suggested it was a "shocker" that the clubman name was used when the original 'cluman 'referred to the upmarket mini with the different front ...apart from the fact that they don't own the rights to the Traveller or Countryman names BMW/MINI would have probably picked the Clubman name anyway because it sounds more upmarket.They said it didn't wear a 'Clubman' badge but neither did the original traveller or countyman so at least that's authentic
My impression is there's a confusion in as far as some people I've spoken to seem think in the classic Clubman means estate, which it didn't/doesn't, it simply referred to the Mini with the alternative, squared off, nose that was offered on the Mini in the 70s (well 1969 to 1980 to be precise). I just wonder if BMW/MINI were under this impression too and just got it wrong on this one as a result.
One version of the Clubman was, of course, the estate but there was a saloon version too, in classic terms though the use of Clubman to describe an estate version of the MINI which has the standard nose, is strictly speaking highly inaccurate historically. If you are referring back to Mini history (and they are because a significant portion of the Power Point presentation we had last Saturday at the factory was on the 'authentic' history of Mini estates) it's far more accurate, and authentic, to use Traveller, Countryman or even just MINI estate.
However from a marketing point of view I can see their point, it's a far more effective name. There was also the well known practical issue of MINI not owning all the possible names which I guess was an insurmountable issue. Additionally for me both Countryman and Traveller conjure up an image of sedate 1950s/60s travel in tweed suits, an image I guess MINI don't want attached to their new MINI estate!
That aside though we have to accept that Clubman as a name for the car is historically inauthentic despite MINI's claims otherwise.
