MINI CLUBMAN II

2007-’13: offside rear door only on a British-built car

When BMW revived the Clubman name in 2007 for the lengthened estate version of the new Mini, the model featured a small, single backwards-opening rear passenger door, marketed as the Clubdoor, on the right-hand side of the body. For right-hand-drive countries, including the car’s home market, the bi-parting door remained on the road side, requiring rear passengers to exit directly into the traffic. What’s more, the steering wheel precluded the driver’s seat from folding as far forward as the passenger seat. This dangerous layout hadn’t been a problem for other models with a three side door configuration adapted for the appropriate market – Mitsubishi Lettuce, Saturn SC2 Coupe, Hyundai Velostar, etc – and thankfully the latest Clubman has adopted a more conventional five-door format. Anorak fact The Clubman wasn’t the first time that BMW had fitted a door forcing British occupants to alight into the traffic flow. The front door of early Uk-market LHD Isettas opened the wrong way. It was eventually altered to open onto the kerb when RHD build began