Category: Superminis 
Price Range: £13,290 to £17,530
Great fun to drive; looks good; fuel-saving tech; it's the latest must-have Mini.
Not particularly practical; expensive; poor rearward visibility; hard ride.
Form over function. Flawed - but immensely desirable.
How does BMW follow up the success of the million-selling Mini hatchback? Easy: revive another body style from Mini history. The Clubman's a retake on the Clubman, Countryman and Traveller baby wagon versions of the original, evoking its predecessors right down to the vertically split pair of rear opening doors. While it contains all the usual Mini magic, it's got a character all of its own.
The Clubman is 24cm longer than the hatch, with longer rear overhangs to create that larger, square-backed boot and a wheelbase stretched by 8cm for increased rear legroom. Access to the rear seats is a little easier than in the hatch, with longer, wide-opening doors on both sides plus an extra rear-hinged 'club door' on the right-hand side. Four- and five-seat layouts can be chosen, the latter with a flatter rear bench seat and a central seatbelt, and there are many options for personalisation, customisation and otherwise making your Mini unique.
Contrived? Oh yes. Neither the pair of rear doors nor the club door adds anything to the car's functionality - a conventional tailgate and a pair of long front doors would have been more than adequate - and it's rather a case of style over substance. Do we care? No. This is a Mini, where normal rules of judgement get suspended.
Like the hatchback, there's a Cooper S (1.6 turbo, 173bhp), Cooper (1.6, 118bhp) and Cooper D (1.6 diesel, 109bhp), with the Mini One version following next year and a John Cooper Works-tuned Clubman at a later date.
The Cooper costs £14,235, the Cooper D is £15,400 and the Cooper S £17,210.
