When I think of the MINI Clubman it reminds me of seeing a Countryman drive slowly past in the village where I grew up, I still remember being startled by seeing actual wood as part of the structure.
Things have come a long way since then and I bet many current MINI owners don’t even connect their shiny rust-free modern vehicle with those vehicles we see on TV each Christmas in The Italian Job.
But progress moves steadily on and MINI have just announced that we will be able to take a first look at the MINI Clubman 2014 concept at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.
One thing to note in comparison to the older heritage model is the ever-increasing size of this car; soon ‘mini’ will become a bit of a misnomer if it isn’t already..
The 2014 Clubman has a longer wheelbase than the current model, 260mm in fact (that’s about ten inches if you’re old enough to remember the original MINI) as well as being 187mm wider. That’s actually quite a lot all things considered.
One of the reasons for the increase in size though is due to the fact that the quirky lop-sided rear-hinged “club door” aspect of the Clubman has been forsaken for a more traditional twin rear door arrangement with front hinges. MINI says that this model can seat 5 adults.
The MINI Clubman is a technically a six-door vehicle due to the two rear barn-doors allowing access to the boot. It’s a good-looking vehicle.
Part of the good looks come from a subtle backwards slope to the roofline which gives it a bit of a go-faster look to it.
The good looks go deeper too as the interior is pretty plush and you can almost smell the wood and the leather as you open the (tuned to a deep note no doubt) door.
It looks like we will have quite a wait for any production models to appear though as MINI are saying that the five-door hatchback will be making an appearance first.
The MINI Clubman 2014 concept looks to be an exciting prospect for MINI lovers; the significant increase in size and the introduction of decent rear doors will most certainly take sales away from its rivals as potential owners no longer have to deal with the shortcomings of that ‘club door”.
For more articles like this, receive our weekly e-newsletter, including partner deals and all things motoring, register your email below.
Please note: You cannot subscribe to Smart-Motoring unless you put a tick in the checkbox below to indicate have read and agreed to our privacy policy.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.