insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 15 - May 2016 | Page 89

MOTORS

The first thing people tend to spot, and in the
case of those tiresome “things were so much
better in our days” cynics, berate, is that the
latest rendering of the Clubman is quite a bit
bigger than the previous one. Does this mean
it's “not a MINI?”
This is an accusation that has been levelled
at BMW's creation since the turn of the
millennium, and frankly, to those of us who love
cars, and especially MINIs, it's become a bit
boring and silly...
Yes, the new Clubman is every bit a full-size
British car, that fills an entire British car-sized
parking space. But so what? MINIness, I would
suggest is a feeling, not a size. It's not how big
it is, it's what you can do with it, and BMW's
motoring genius means that they have always
managed to capture the essence of that
wonderful driving feel, the “go-kart handling”,
and the idea that whenever you go out for a
drive in a MINI, just as it was way back in the
60s with the original, you end up with a grin on
your face. All of this still rings utterly true with
the Clubman D.
What I've always appreciated, having tearfully
sold my original Mini Cooper years ago when
we started a family, is the fact that MINI
endeavour to cater for different markets;
people with different lifestyles, however
adventurous or practical they may wish to be
in their car purchase. A wide range of different
models of MINI, such as the Roadster, the
Coupé, the Countryman and the Paceman, not
to mention of course the Clubman and the Mini
Van, means that whatever your situation, you
don't have to sell your soul and go all boring.
There is a MINI to suit you.

And, rather than just improve upon the
previous version, the new Clubman adds a
brand new species F