1 Mar 2008
A not-so mini Mini, the Cooper Clubman is a stretched model aimed at those who just can’t quite fit into a regular Mini hatch.
It has been developed to hark back to the Mini Clubman Estate and Austin Mini Clubman that sold from 1960 to 1982 and uses the same style ‘barn doors’ at the rear.
The Clubman also features one, not two, rear passenger door which is rear-hinged and is located on the left.
It is 244mm longer than the standard hatch for a total of 3973mm, with an 80mm longer wheelbase, while it is also 21mm taller.
The Clubman features 77.5mm more legroom for the rear passengers along with 16mm more headroom.
It is a four-seater as standard, but a third rear seat can be ordered for an extra $500. Just like the regular hard-top, the Mini is offered as a standard Cooper and a red-hot Cooper S turbo model.
The Cooper runs a 1.6-litre four-cylinder with 88kW, while the Cooper S runs a boosted version of the same engine that pushes performance up to 128kW.
Transmissions include the standard six-speed manual and optional six-speed automatic.
Clubman models attract a premium of around $3300 over their hard-top equivalents.
