Looks like you Clubman fans are a little slack right now.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...cleId=121860#2

Pics are official, though the press release isn't out yet.

 

That's because there's an embargo on all the images and information until Sunday at 12:01 am. Edmunds apparently didn't get the memo. Looks like there will be an extra spot at the Clubman US launch now.

 

Wish i could take their place. Well edmunds loss is Clubman fans gain

 

Hmmm - don't really care for the way the roof colour is carried down the C-pillars, through the taillight area and across the top of the bumper. I wonder if they'll all be like that if they have a contrasting roof/body colour scheme?

 

according to mini.com ... you can have the roof in body color ... but the rear will either be silver as in the photos or black ... so NO Clubman in all one color

 

I like the way they did the tail pipes,I wonder if theres room for a spare now.

 

Unless of course, you order black or silver

 

yeah, I am not sure how they are going to handle that ... a it seems MINI is "insisting" on the rear contrast.

The silver trim is not really the same as any body color ...

Maybe all black car / silver rear

And silver "tone" cars only available with black rears.

I think it will be something like this ...

 

Even more pictures here:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/mini-clubman.html

 

I think it looks great, especially the back end!!! The taillight size makes perfect sense considering the functionality of those rear doors!!

 

I kept hoping the contrasting rear end was part of the disguise in the spy shots. I kept thinking they wouldn't really try to sell it looking like that. Sadly I was wrong.

Some people seem to like it, and more power too them. I planned on ordering one, but not now. I'll stick with the regular coupe.

Contrasting roofs are part of the Mini heritage, but I grew up in England and I don't remember seeing any of the old Mini Travellers that looked quite that ridiculous.

 

FYI - the official pics are up at MF as well: Official MINI Clubman Photos

 

www.MINI.com/clubman (International website)


Most interesting -

LxWxH - 3958x1683x1432mm

 

Dang, the third brakelight extends all the way from one side of the back end to the other!!! Nice!

 

That's

156 x 66 x 56 inches compared to
144 x 66 x 56 for the regular 2007 Cooper -

I'm really curious to know how much of the extra foot is beteeen the front and rear seatbacks.

 

The Clubman section of the UK website is also now live. There isn't much there yet except a kind of nifty flash animation of a blue Clubman (with Argentine plates!) that you can rotate and look at, etc. (Be sure to check out the Hot Chocolate interior...great-looking seats...)

note: because it's not at all clear -- to get to the actual content you have to click on the "Get Going" button and watch the Clubman do about 30 laps before you can click on the "Product Detail" button.

 

After poking around on the UK site, the most interesting thing I discovered (other than how great the Hot Chocolate paint and seats are gonna look) is that the taillights, like the headlamps, are body-mounted, and that the rear doors have holes that fit over the stationary lights. (Maybe this was obvious to everyone else but it's news to me.)

Whether its rational or not, the arrangement makes me squirm a bit at the thought I having my fingers pinched.

 

"the arrangement makes me squirm a bit at the thought I having my fingers pinched."

tHAT'S another reason why most states have a minimum age requirement to drive!!

 

Your understanding of the geography of an automobile is rather lacking if you think that the driver is the only one who could get his fingers caught in the tailgate.

Your understanding of human foibles is even more lacking if you believe that only children make clumsy or poorly thought-out physical motions. (As evidenced by, besides the thousands of observations one makes in daily life, the recent thread listing everyone who burned themselves on their Cooper S tailpipe.)

 

Thanks Radiospace!

I just checked out the UK site and had a blast taking the clubman "out".... did you find the Other Road option while it was doing laps? Fun site, how does MINI get the time and MONEY to do these quirky online ads?

For our second MINI its now going to be a tough choice between the R56 and the R55....

Sir M.

 

I want one!

Don't really like the silver pillars in the back but it said (I think) that they would be color coded to the roof, so going with a black roof may solve my issue. (Otherwise there is always paint ) I think the black roof would also not highlight the "tallness" of the roof line as well, which I think would be a plus. The Chocolate interior is very cool. I wonder if you will be able to get it with a different paint color or if it will be tied to the Chocolate exterior exclusively.

(edit: I actually saw in one of the pictures the Chocolate interior in a silver car.. so that answers my question. On the international site it shows that you can get either a two person or three person rear seat. I just hope they have the three avalable here as I need a place for the three kids (I can't get them all in the classic...)

 

I saw one of these in person last week while on vacation (Wednesday evening in Stratford-upon-Avon, England) when it drove through a crosswalk I was at. Actually it was the same color scheme as the blue/silver one on the international MINI site. I don't like the silver contrasting rear pillars, but it does look better in person than in the pictures. It looks noticably bigger than a normal MINI (my mom saw it and instantly knew it was the "new, bigger MINI" I had mentioned to her before because it looked off compared to her MC). FWIW my mom liked it.

 

I'm not sure what to think of the tailpipes. It would look a bit funny with centered duals, or non-centerd duals....but it seems like every car has duals (one on each side) these days...

 

There are a few new videos out there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Td2UpQcGI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWgBxm3oZ54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X91rq9h6Rz8

 

FYI - you can see all the vids here: http://www.motoringfile.com/2007/07/...lubman-videos/