Car question for those that care.

Why does the new Mini Clubman have that stupid little rear door on the
wrong side of the car?

--
Lozzo
Triumph Daytona 955i SE
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Cos it's the right side of the door for most of their markets and they
didn't think it worth spending the money retooling just for the UK,
Japan and Australia etc.

 

Because they routed the petrol pipes down the nearside sill of the car and
can't change that part of the design [1].
Plus they don't give a **** about the european market.
I drove the diesel clubman today and was mightily impressed. I hated it when
it first came out but I must admit its growing on me.

[1] - According to a chap down the pub wot builds em at Cowley.

 

Accompanied by the sound of a chisel on slate

Because the Krauts don't think RHD markets will buy enough to justify
tooling a RHD bodyshell.

Alternatively, they could be doing us a favour by making the offspring of
fashion victims alight into heavy traffic. This I have no problem with.

 

You can just tell this isn't an engineer's car.

An engineer would design it in such a way that the car would effectively get
rid of the fashion victims before they even managed to reproduce.


Geo

 

s/european/insular/

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Ofnuts

Are you calling us Inselaffen?

Ah well, I suppose it's a change from "Rosbifs"...

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

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why have they called it a Clubman? The original Mini Clubman wasn't an
estate version. First car I drove on the road was an emerald green
Mini Clubman.

 

The original Mini Clubman was an uglier, heavier version of the proper
Mini..

This is an uglier version of the current Mini, so maybe it's just Teutonic
humour... "Manfred, zis vil make ze Tommys giggle"

 

Because BMW didn't buy the rights to the "Traveler" name.

 

actually, the original Mini Clubman was the same body shell as the
1275GT, but with the "cooking" engine from the ordinary Mini.

 

darsy says...

Same bodyshell as a normal Mk3 Mini from the bulkhead backwards. The
1275GT was basically a cheaper to produce, but heavier and lower powered
replacement for the 1275 Cooper S. They used the Clubman shell for the
GT to differentiate between the two. About 18 months after the Clubman
was released they dropped the Mk3 Cooper S - I still technically own a
1971 Mk3 Cooper S, but it hasn't been anywhere near a road since
1983ish.

--
Lozzo
Triumph Daytona 955i SE
Suzuki SV650 K3
Honda CBR600 F-W
Yamaha SR250 SpazzTrakka
Suzuki GSX-R750L
Suzkui TS50X

 

Looks that way

http://www.motoringfile.com/2006/04/25/rip-mini-traveler/

though they were thinking of calling it the Traveler

http://www.automotive.com/future-cars/90/0609-2009-mini-traveler/index.html

 

OK - thanks.

So the Clubman existed before the GT? I thought it was the other way
round, but I was only a nipper at the time.

 

it was the one with the 1098cc engine that my mum had, that was the
first car I drove on the road (I'd previously driven my cousin's
husband's stock-car round a field on his farm)

 

with the wooden trim?

 

No. It was a Mini Clubman. Not a Mini Traveller.

 

darsy says...

Clubman Estates had a trashy looking piece of wood effect fablon with a
chromed surround down the sides in the '70s.

--
Lozzo
Triumph Daytona 955i SE
Suzuki SV650 K3
Honda CBR600 F-W
Yamaha SR250 SpazzTrakka
Suzuki GSX-R750L
Suzkui TS50X

 

sure, this wasn't a Clubman Estate, though. No wood effect stuff
anywhere. It had the square instrument dash above the wheel though,
unlike the standard round-clocks-in-the-middle from an ordinary mini.

 

darsy says...

All the clubbies had those clocks.

My god, there's even a register for Clubman Estates like this one:

http://www.clubmanestates.myqth.co.uk/xoops/modules/xcgal/albums/userpic
s/CapesthorneHall2007/IMG_5153.jpg

--
Lozzo
Triumph Daytona 955i SE
Suzuki SV650 K3
Honda CBR600 F-W
Yamaha SR250 SpazzTrakka
Suzuki GSX-R750L
Suzkui TS50X