As long as they're giving us this, who cares about the X6?

 

OMG! A Mini on steroids!

 

I believe those were the original mockups for the clubman. Correct me and feed me to the wolves if I'm wrong.

 

A the risk of alienating myself from the rest of you...I like it!

It really looks like a bulldog now - much more than the Cooper or the Clubman do.

As long as tey don;t mess with the vehicles they already have I see nothign wrong with expanding the line.

Cadillac makes trucks and SUV's now and yet they still make the kinds of vehicles that made them famous.

If GM can make some extra money off of folks who normally wouldn't buyy a Caddy then maybe BMW/MINI can do the same.

 

When I think of the Crossman I think of a 4wd rally MINI. I do think it will get over 20 mpg and I do think MINI will do a good job with it.

 

mini sav: f'n disgusting
bmw 1 series: disgrace to the brand
bmw x series: nasty mcnasty
porsche cayenne: vomit

expanding markets by whoring the brand.

 

Hey! Don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel!

 

 

You don't like the Clubman???

 

the clubman is stomachable for me.....what i was refering to by that was this suv monstrosity

 

I resemble that remark.

 

Well, none of these pics are pics of the Crossman so we'll have to wait and see. The pics are of a pre-R56, pre-Clubman concept vehicle from 2005, nothing more. It made the rounds at the auto shows. MINI has stated a maximum length for any MINI and so I think they have their eye on the ball. In any case, a 4wd Clubman (which is essentially what I expect the Crossman to be) might be a big help for folks who live in wintery climates or travel less improved roads. I do expect mpg to be good, too.

 

I'm going to wait until I see it for myself before I start bashing or loving it. You never know. People hated the Clubman before it made its debut (I know some people still do). It just takes a little while for the idea to grow on ya.

 

i just know that the people who are deciding to expand in teh suv/crossover markets are some big rich blah blah's at the very top who are only looking at the margins and not teh brand....thats ultiimately where the bashing stems from....

ill wait till i see the models to bash i suppose.....

 

but seiorusly lol, how would it be if u saw a lambo suv or a maserati stationwagon, or worse, a ferrari 4 door sedan...i mean, it diminishes the name to a general sense....rather than specializing in performance cars, they now offer utility vehicles as well, im not saying dont expand ur market, but dangit, give a new brand name or soemthing, stop capitalizing

 

Lamborghini made SUVs in the 1980s and they were pretty trippy.

 

wow i never knew that (it looks nasty...)

well considering i was born in 86 and that im not much a lambo buff

was it a production model? or just a couple hundred were made as a promotion or something?.....

 

whut.

i'm a fan of the MINI being well... MINI... SUVs and MINI should not be used in the same sentence.. unless it's something along the lines of "Hot damn, that MINI is so much nicer than that SUV"

 

 

The lambo SUV had seats in the bed. It something different than today's SUVs.

 

Well, we'll have to see....but I keep remembering that BMW's brass for some unexplainable reason have this crazy devotion to the Mini brand and Mini heritage that (making money aside) is hard to fully grasp. They have gone above and beyond in my view...first, taking the risk in designing and building R50/53 from scratch...and then turning around and doing it all over again w/ R56!!! Add to this the massive plant expansions in the MINI Production Triangle. Pretty crazy stuff!!! I think they know by now they have a winner, although there was a time when that might have been less certain, especially in the US market!

I won't deny that I'd be saddened by a bigger MINI, too, but considering all the (understandable) angst that seems to come about w/ every MINI variant, along w/ the collective sign of relief that follows the new model's arrival (for most), I think MINI has hit the mark pretty well all along and we should give them some slack on the Crossman. I plan to.

The other thing that is interesting is that MINI really does, on some level, listen to the "enthusiast voice" out there...so hopefully by the time we see something real from them on the Crossman, it won't be too foreign to our eyes from the Clubman and that it'll fit right in logically w/ the rest of the lineup.

What I might be more curious about...once the Crossman is built, what what-trick might MINI have up it's sleeve for the next big-MINI thing?!?!?!

 

didnt answer my question tho....production model?

 

This was not a concept. There used to be one in the city where I live. It was a production vehicle.

 

wow, that totally killed it a lil bit....but at least they didnt go forward with it, i dont see any now.....