I am a newbie considering getting a mini. I noticed each version has a different rear end cargo boot access design. Anyone tried to modify their mini so that you can....

1. throw a longboard (7 footer and up) THROUGH the back window like an old woodie?
2. modify the rear windows to power up and down like the old suburbans/station wagons.
3. Modify a fold down rear tailgate (like a truck tailgate) so you can sit on your rear tailgate at a tailgate party/sit on your tailgate and change into bike shoes/wetsuit/running shoes/hiking boots? (with a powered full car width window inside, that goes up and down? )
4. modify the rear compartment by ripping out the rear seats and turning the rear compartment into a lounge so you can park at the beach, watch the waves through a sideways couch in the rear of the car facing the beach and get to the couch through the rear door or the club doors?

 

We just bought a convertible Mini and noticed today that the tailgate has a 176 lb. limit. Meaning it looks like if you're tipping the scales at a buck-fifty you're cool. Knowing that, seems as though a mod to handle more weight would be fairly straightforward.

Both back seats fold down and you can put the tailgate down, so maybe you could turn the board on edge between the front seats? It would hang out the trunk a bit and you'd have to have a red flag attached - it may be worth taking the board with you and checking out a convertible.

Good luck!

 

thanks... thats a mini load for sure.I really like the design of the fold down tailgate.

 

Those are not just modifications you are talking about. You are talking about full redesign and retrofit or at the very least extensive modifications of the rear hatch or doors.
Note that all rear windows on the MINI are fixed and open with the hatch or doors, and not independently. I don't see how the existing could be modified to open at all let alone be motorized.

Some like the Clubman rear design because you can put boards and such on a roof rack and still have access to the boot.

 

thanks. I was trying to avoid a roof rack, destroys the mileage advantages.

I know its a major deal. I was thinking of a west coast customs/pimp my ride kind of back seat lounge for a tailgate party, with a sideways facing sofa, fold down flatscreen, and space to put a couple surfboards inside out the back window without losing the passenger seat.

It might work if I bought a factory made convertible tailgate and started there with the machine work, then tacked it onto a clubman.

the other way I could see it working is to take off the clubman doors, weld them in the middle, hinge the bottom, cut a hole for the glass and then motorize the glass.

 

You're killing the MINI...

 

Why don't you wait for MINI to produce the Beachcomber concept car, other than that risk the mileage penalty and put the board on the roof where it belongs!