Our Mini meets its maker
For all its practicality, the Clubman stays true to 60 years of Mini heritage. By
The last time I came to BMW Plant Oxford, way back in 2001, I was young, free and single. So was the three-door Mini hatch, the only version then available.
Almost 20 years later I’m playing at grown-up as the nominal head of a four-strong family, and the Mini has a family of its own to enable people like me to stick with the brand. One of those cars is the Clubman, and it’s built right here in the UK, just across the road from the original Morris factory in Cowley where the Issigonis prototypes were assembled 60 years ago. We thought we’d see our Clubman off by sending it back home.
Modern car factories are fascinating. Bright, clean, quiet and spectacularly ecient, Plant Oxford pumps out a hatch, cabrio or Clubman every 67 seconds (the Countryman is built in Holland). Soon it will build the electric Mini too. Engines come from Hams Hall, 80 miles north; body pressings from Swindon, 35 miles south-west. Wheels, doors and dashboards arrive on conveyors in the correct order to match the VIN of the car on the mile-long production line where they meet. Our long-term-test Clubman rolled down this line almost exactly a year ago, a very different car to the 2007-14 previousgeneration Clubman, a small estate that was big on the small and small on the estate. Current Clubmans still get the funky retro rear doors instead of a hatch, but they have conventional rear side doors and enough space to stand comparison with the small family cars they’re gunning for, including the VW Golf.
A 1.5-litre petrol Cooper, the most popular engine and trim combo available, ours was finished in Moonwalk grey and equipped with a smattering of options that lifted its £21,085 base price to almost £30k.
The biggest of those options was the Chili Pack (£3500: leather trim, keyless entry, LEDs), a Mini staple since 2001 but recently axed following a range rejig to make homologation for WLTP fuel and emissions regs simpler. Now you choose one of three Minis: Classic, Sport or Luxury.
Choosing the right options can only do so much if the basic recipe is wrong. From our time with the Clubman we wanted to answer two questions: can a Mini made bigger and more sensible to compete with cars like the Golf still feel like a Mini? And is it really big and sensible enough to actually cut it as a Golf rival? The answer to both is an emphatic yes… mostly. First impressions were good. They lasted, too. We think it looks great: long, low and wide, and though the boot isn’t class-leading, it’s not far off, and its square shape helps redress the balance.
It still looks like a Mini, and drives like one too. Yes, the handling and performance are dimmed slightly by the longer
It has enough space to stand comparison with the small family cars it’s gunning for, including the VW Golf
wheelbase and extra 185kg of heft versus a three-door Mini, but it feels pointy and poised and the ride is good. While the 134bhp 1.5 is no powerhouse, it’s fairly light on lag and torquey. A good thing, as the gearchange is notchier than Russell Brand’s bedpost. Other gripes include numerous buttons mounted too low on the centre console, a stop-start system that sends so much judder through the car I always deactivated it, and the woeful rear visibility caused by those special back doors. They just seemed like a gimmick too far.
But the Clubman is no gimmick. Underneath that Mini mask is a proper family car that’s great to drive and just about sensible enough to work as family wheels. Perfect for grown-ups who don’t want to. @chrischiltoncar
Count the cost
Cost new £29,085 Private sale £16,586 Part-exchange £15,756 Cost per mile 15.3p Cost per mile including depreciation £1.55