I checked out the MINI UK configurator for the Clubman (http://www.mini.co.uk/html/ecom/ecom.html) and found that the C pillars have to be black or silver - body color pillars are not an option. That's not real surprising, but you can't get a black car with black C pillars! If you select Astro Black paint, you have to accept silver mirrors and silver C pillars. Maybe the black pillars aren't metallic, so they wouldn't match Astro Black. I think that's a bummer - an all black Clubman, lowered with a JCW aero kit would look sweet!

 

I know , that sucks !

 

Pepper White with black roof gives you the black C pillar option and with black bonett stripes it ties it all together pretty good .

 

There's always paint.

So, can you not get a body-colored roof on the Clubman? Or does ordering a body-colored roof mean that they choose the black or silver contrast that they think is appropriate for your chosen color?

 

On the UK site you can have black, white or body color roof just like on other MINIs. All roof colors come standard with black pillars with silver as an option.

 

I tried to do all black and it would only let me have silver pillars .

 

Like Toyota did with the Prius, they want to make sure it's ugly enough to be cool.

 

So, what does it do if you choose Astro Black with a White roof? Isn't the pillar/rear bumper stripe only available as black or silver?

 

Of course, that tactic can backfire, as Pontiac knows...

 

You cant have astro black with white roof only silver or black .

 

The plot thickens...

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

prius looks good in black .

 

Ugly yes, cool well I wait to I can see it in person.

Someone has probably said this already, but I bet MINI changes their policy on those C pillars before to long. Many people will refuse to buy the Clubman with them. They are pretty icky. With my luck they'll make them a $500 option.

 

I asked about this at Frankfurt. Apparently, the idea is that the roofline looks too long unless it contrasts. Also, the configurator is supposedly wrong where it allows you to select different body and c-pillar colors. The Clubman product manager was pretty insistant that the roof and c-pillars must be the same color Naturally things can still change, but that's the word I got as of 12 September

 

Thanks for the info. Guess MINI won't get my money for a Clubman.

 

Well, it would be more expense, but I'm sure the pillars and taillight surrounds could be swapped out for black pieces at the dealer. If the rear bumper is actually masked and painted, then that would have to be painted, but the silver area might be a separate piece which could be swapped too.

I agree - an all black Clubman with a set of springs and wheels would look great.

 

That was my guess. Visually it tricks the eye to make the Clubman look about 6 inches shorter in length.

 

Eh, go with the long look, and get plates that say FR8TRAN.