In response to this comment:
There are several important points to the Clubman.

1) To pave the way for Hummer-sized MINI SUV's while diluting the brand image There is not going to be any hummer sized Mini cars given that the brand name is MINI! This is not a dilution of the brand name as any additional sales only help the brand name and expand its appeal.
2) To further anger and incite the R50/R53 purists The only offense to the purists is to give them another reason to change.
3) To appeal to a mass market that is not as cool and special as we are.
Agreed

One big threat to Mini sales will be the BMW 128/135i but the forum does not talk about this very much.

 

I don't know where you've been....tons of the MINI forums are talking about that.

 

So you're saying it's even more of a gay/chick car then the SWB MINI? Wow.

 

It's all about finding new customers. The Clubman will appeal to a group of people that think the current Mini is to small/impractical. I think handling and performance will be similar to the current Cabrio.

 

Here Here! My Mini is my only/primary car

(But I am kidless and plan on staying that way )

I will go and test drive a Clubman when they come out though... might be fun...

 

Same here, but then again I am a College student, that only needs room for a beautiful young lady in the passenger seat, and a book bag in the back

 

The point for me to eventually get a Clubman is space. I love my 2003 Mini, but over the years I realized that I need just a tad more room. Mostly for camping gear and the dog.

The Clubman offers me everything that a Mini can offer you - just in a slightly bigger format. I think the Clubman will be very appealing for first-gen Mini owners who love their Mini, but in the meantime have gotten kids, dogs, etc. and need a little bit more room. For me it seems to be the perfect vehicle.

 

+1

 

I don't see the 135i taking much Mini sales away. It is significantly larger, heavier, and upmarket. Base price is significantly higher than that of the Mini.

It's not in the same realm of fun-to-drive.

At least, it doesn't appear that way to me. I have a 330i and it is much heavier and much bigger than my mini. The 1-series will be what, 600 pounds heavier than the Mini? That's a HUGE difference.

 

Yeah, same... I drive my car more to DRIVE, less to get somewhere.

 

I agree. The base price of the 1 series was much like the 3 series years ago: but still >$30K! Pretty soon that price will increase too and they will introduce the "0" series.

I think the Clubman has a good price point. Before options, that is...

 

Wagons are definitely cool, and a MINI wagon-way cool! When the time comes, it'll be a perfect garage mate for my '57 Chevy Nomad 2 door wagon, and the '02 Ford Explorer which hauls the beeg stuff and tows. Meanwhile I'll endure driving the 98,000 mile '05 Cooper/automatic. I sell machinery and, as you can see, I drive "a lot". I replaced a Lincoln Town Car with the MINI and now that gas has officially gone crazy, the MINI is absolutely "The One". Anxious to see the Clubman in the flesh, er, metal. I'm sure they'll be at the Detroit International Auto Show (Jan. 19 to 27) so I'll probably get my first view there. The Clubman just gives potential MINI owneers more options. Motor on!

 

Nope, not at all.

But I am saying that we could use a little more cargo room in our household but I personally do not want to give up one bit of cornering performance or acceleration that comes with the added weight and wheelbase.

And by the way, my wife is not gay.

 

MINI as a family car. We a 2007 Cooper S, three children and a dog and our Cooper is very pratical. As the parents of teenagers we rarely all travel together but we have fit 4 in our Cooper on a regular basis. I am trying to convience my husband to order me a Clubmas site unseen so that I have the extra room for the dog. It has saved us an enomorus amount of money running all over town. We ordered our Cooper and accepted delivery the end of July and we have already put 13,000 enjoyable miles on the car. I would say that it was the most pratical car we have ever purchased.

 

I was in a Mini yesterday. There was barely enough room for both our PC bags and sales crap in the 'trunk.'
Today we took my Clubman with plenty of room to hide and store valuables.
The Clubman offers more room for storage. That's the selling point.

The MC and MCC both look great.

 

Wow - I entered a time machine with this post.....

 

How do I get back to 2008?