http://www.autoblog.com/2015/01/06/m...shots/#image-1


Looks pretty cool. Interesting change on the center console vs the normal car. But, the Clubman lives on!

 

I don't know man. That looks really long in length. Looks to be four doors with the barn doors in the rear. I am not feeling it at all. Nasty.

 

What's up with the hideous paint job?

 

Camo

 

I'm not crazy about the interior. It's starting to look like any other car.

Avro

 

They could easily have pasted on fake rear door handles to make it look like a 4dr. Hard to know what the actual configuration is. Barn doors look real for sure

 

That interior is awful, looking to much like the BMWs.

 

Have you sat in the new mini's? The interiors definitely still have the mini vibe but now feel worthy of the price. I like my car a lot but the interior materials are a step below what you would find in a GTI. The F56 narrows that gap a ton

 

ive loved the concepts of the new f55, cant wait to see what else is happening, this will most likely be my next mini so long as the awd and the diesel motors come to the US

 

It has an electonic parking brake

 

Did you look at the photos linked to above? That center console looks nothing like the F56 interior.

I do feel the F56 interior brings back some of the Gen 1 "MINI" character lost with the Gen 2s, but the above photos of the supposed F55 look like a BMW with a large circular dash insert.

 

It looks like if Dodge and MINI had a baby. MINI Magnum

 

I see this more as an evolution of the clubman idea. The clubman was a cooper+, countryman-. It looks like a long wheel base version of the 4dr that would fill the gap between the cooper 4dr and the upcoming UKL based countryman(aka new X1 in MINI clothes). As for the center console, it definitely looks pre-production if not tacked on just to hold buttons. Who knows what the final design will be.

 

I would imagine the center console will be nearly identical to the f56, just seems logical. easier to manufacture, similar parts, all lowers the cost, whereas the new countryman maybe more similar to the x1,


however I will not be ok with an E Ebrake... =(

 

I don't see how you can say this as the center speedo has been eliminated in the F56.

 

Could it be they made the rear barn door windows even smaller? My biggest gripe!

 

I was at South Bay MINI yesterday and saw a car badged as a F55 and it looked pretty rad. Brake ducts and proper interior etc... Very well appointed and only 25k

 

I don't know what it was but it wasn't a F55. As you can see from the photos its still in development. It hasn't even made a concept appearance at an auto show yet.

 

I'll give you the center speedo, but the rest is much better.

When I first sat in a loaner R56 I was all ugh, what are they doing. The center console was simplified; going from an interesting stack of switches, all framed by those two pillars to a single black pillar of ordinary blandness.

I regularly drive a R59 and a R53, and every time I get into the R53 everything just feels right.

When I got into a loaner F56 I had a similar feeling. Different, full of character, close to being right.

Of course this is all personal preference...

 

What I saw had a badging of F55 on the side. Never seen one before. So much so I walked over to it and looked it. Kicking myself for not taking a photo

 

I'm not digging the styling at all. Hopefully if they make a JCW version it will look better.

 

No, you and the MINI dealer are right. The F55 is MINI's internal designation for the "4 door F56" 5 door hatch that was recently released.

The spy shots shown here are of an F54, formerly known as the Clubman Concept (you can Google both).

In short, the thread is titled incorrectly.

 

More photos
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/01/28/n...shots/#image-4

 

seems a bit longer than the concept, and no split spoiler? tail light still look just as sexy

 

Our Clubman has turned out to be very practical- lots of headroom, even in the back, and you CAN fit an entire drum kit (and the drummer) in the car.
The fact that it's cool and quirky is a bonus. Any car we got had to be fun to drive. That's a given.

The new Clubby with 4 doors is looking less cool & quirky, and more practical. I think it's looking more station wagon. Estate, if you still want to sound cool.
At least it ain't no minivan or SUV.