RE: Mini Reveals Clubvan concept

[suffolk009]

My dad bought a mini-van back in the sixties. He cut some windows into the sides, then put some seats in the back. All to get around having to pay VAT on the purchase price. Don't suppose you can still do that now.

[pistonpie]

that looks excellent! that traditional look works really well with the modern Mini design...

[PetrolAholic]

mrdelmonti said:

Looks quite good, but it's pricing that will dictate if it cuts it as a van or not.

You sir, are a genius. At least it wont be as ridiculous, as lets say a 40 grand Audi A1!

[FWDRacer]

John Cooper S-works Turbo variant?

That is where my money would be going...

[kambites]

I wonder what they'll do with the suspension - I can't imagine the standard MINI stuff can handle a great deal of weight or is set up for particularly rear-biased loading. The ride is terrible enough on the standard MINI so I don't think they can afford to stiffen it much and any kind of self levelling system will push the price up.

[Stu R]

I'll be buying one if the pricing works. Works very well IMO, and depending on the dimensions of the cargo area, should do what I need it to perfectly.

[Six Fiend]

Load space is around 920 litres, so bigger than the C2 and KA vans, same as the Corsa and 80 litres short of the new Fiesta.

If similar to the Corsa expect a 550kg payload, less driver and fuel and copies of The Mirror. Load length on Corsa is around 1.2m.

Well packaged and with sensible wide opening barn doors. VAT reclaimable so going to be a hit with small businesses who want a bit of image (yeah I know) and some useful load capacity.

People would be surprised how many of the small car based vans there are on the road.

I like it

Edited by Six Fiend on Monday 20th February 12:05

[kambites]

Six Fiend said:

Load space is around 920 litres, so bigger than the C2 and KA vans, same as the Corsa and 80 litres short of the new Fiesta.

That's actually better than I'd have expected - I thought it would be a fair bit smaller than the Corsa/Fiesta vans. The Fiesta and Corsa seem to both start at around 13 grand, so I guess they'll be aiming to keep this under 15 if they want it to sell?

Edited by kambites on Monday 20th February 12:06

[Six Fiend]

kambites said:

Six Fiend said:

Load space is around 920 litres, so bigger than the C2 and KA vans, same as the Corsa and 80 litres short of the new Fiesta.

That's actually better than I'd have expected - I thought it would be a fair bit smaller than the Corsa/Fiesta vans.

Actually I'm wrong! The Clubman has 920, the van has a lowered floor (no folding seats in the way) and should be nearer 1000-1100 making it possibly the largest in its class.

Being very square will also help as while some vans have larger capacities the useable space can be limited by sloping bits and sticky outy things

In all it should be about 1/3rd smaller than a Focus estate.

[kambites]

Six Fiend said:

Actually I'm wrong! The Clubman has 920, the van has a lowered floor (and no folding eats in the way, and should be nearer 1000-1100 making it possibly the largest in its class.

It looks from the picture in the original post as if the floor is actually raised up level with the boot opening, which would actually give it less space than the Clubman. Or is that a false floor with more storage space underneath?

[Skater12]

Seriously Mini, get rid of these pointless doors !

[12gauge]

Florist's and mobile doggy groomers up and down the country will be pootling about in these in a year or two, mark my words.

[Six Fiend]

kambites said:

Six Fiend said:

Actually I'm wrong! The Clubman has 920, the van has a lowered floor (and no folding eats in the way, and should be nearer 1000-1100 making it possibly the largest in its class.

It looks from the picture in the original post as if the floor is actually raised up level with the boot opening, which would actually give it less space than the Clubman. Or is that a false floor with more storage space underneath?

Looks like a false floor given this pic from Autocar. Could be a useful idea although where to put it when you need the extra space is another question :

[MarJay]

The load area looks tiny. Might just as well not bother IMO.

[va1o]

I really like it! Should have come out with this at the start.

[markh450]

paulmon said:

Of all the Mini spin offs I think this one actually works.

Same here,don't like the others but this looks good and fits in.

[Chrisw666]

I like it a lot. I'm going to have to start some kind of business that needs a van now.

[Justayellowbadge]

Six Fiend said:

Looks like a false floor given this pic from Autocar. Could be a useful idea although where to put it when you need the extra space is another question :

That's the same as a clubman - it's a lift up panel with more storage underneath.

[Munich]

A Cooper S JCW version I could image as a second car. I would be able to stick my bike and skis in the back without any problem. I had one of only 2 petrol Golf MkIII vans when I was at uni. White with white metal panels instead of rear-side windows. I bought it off a mate's dad who had used it as the company run-about and by the time I sold it on, it had covered enough mileage to travel past the moon.

[Six Fiend]

Justayellowbadge said:

That's the same as a clubman - it's a lift up panel with more storage underneath.

Ah, I see, thanks So Autocar talking of the lowered floor for this model as if it's a new thing could be talking cobblers once again. No real shock there then!