The MINI CLUBMAN. The other MINI. MINI to the 1oth power. MINI with room for more stuff.
Well, before we get into this week’s Dissection, our GIVEAWAY goes like this…
See this lil’ 64th scale TOMY Cooper? Super hard to find and I found this in Switzerland. It’s yours. IF, you can give the Clubman at the top an appropriate NAME. Post your suggestion and the winner will be revealed this Monday. PLUS, they’ll get an extra Fireballed surprise! But, you have to post your comment only at the home blog HERE. This Dissection gets posted in 30 different places!!!
Ok, the CLUBMAN…. Since I’m into to MINIs, you’d think this was a given. So, I should like the CLUBMAN. Well then, you’d be wrong…
I don’t like the CLUBMAN… I adore the CLUBMAN. It’s all the things that MINI is, plus a wee tad more. Actually, a lot more. There were many ways to do this car, but the designers chose to take the road of uniqueness. 5 doors, placed in a unique formation. Two front, one extra on the passenger side, and two suicide style in the rear. When I went to see the boys at MINIUSA at the LA Auto Show, Prez Jim McDowell did a great job at expressing how fun the rear doors were to open. “I could do this all day,” he said.
But all the reasons that MINIS are fun to drive, beautiful to look at, ways to modify and personalize, there’s one one reason to have this car. Because it’s different. And while other cars are suffereing during the gas hike, the MINIS are flourishing.
The tagline for this car should be, “GET ONE, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.” ‘Cause things do… This is not a commercial, but this is my honest opinion of a successful design enhanced to broaden it’s appeal. Much like a movie, this could have gone wrong in a thousand different ways.
But, as cool as it is, it’s not perfect. It has flaws and many of you who have bought this car agree that there are slightly subtle things that come to mind. But, even with those flaws, they are personal choices. Example: The center cluster is big enough for the people 2 cars behind you to see how fast you’re going. But, none of these issues are quality relate. The car is just solid, like a MINI should be. And with 7 sextillion options to go along with it, it will take you 12 years to put your car together (slight exaggeration).
If you’re weird, different, unique, inspired, funny looking or just plain nuts, then this is the car for you. And if you want to see a whole host of them in one place, then come to the Rose Bowl on August 1-3. MINI TAKES THE STATES will be in LA. And so will EVERY MINI west of Texas. Come by and say “hi.”
Design Enhanced. That’s the new CLUBMAN. Check out the R60 SUV coming, too! AN SUV!!!??? Well yea, duh. You gotta have something to pull your MINI outta the mud at the race track….
I’d call the MINI Design Language “Fun Surfacing.” As in, the elements that make up the components of the car are round, bulbous and funny looking. All adding up to one hellava good time. Just be careful how you park it….
4 Responses to “Auto Dissection #002 MINI CLUBMAN”
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July 4th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Let’s meet the some of the MINI’s family,
here we find his Bigger Brother, Clubman .
Yes this one has got a West Coast styling
theme going on with it,and with that carrier
deck top side ,it’s a perfect way to haul
them Surf Boards , A sort of a throw back too
the Woodie Station Wagons, but without wood
trim accents. Maybe a future Clubman’s might
enjoy a wood theme accent from the past.
Yes, things have a way of coming back around
again, Like Bellbottom Jeans.Now for a name
for MINI’s Big Brother, Hmmm…instead of
Clubman, How’s about the SURFCLUB - MINI . Now
that it can be upgraded the following years by
the SURFCLUB II,and a limited edition SURFCLUB Woodie and then the Woodie I, folowed by the
Woodie II . when that name get’s play out,
switch to the Golf Crowd, by offering the
The CLUBGOLF - MINI
July 5th, 2008 at 12:15 am
I say; Call it what it is.
It’s a wagon therefore call it The Red Dragon.
July 6th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I suggest the name Aztec Fire.
July 6th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
My vote for a name would be “Wild Cherry”.