The Clubman’s 3rd Door (Revisited)

Sections: R55 (Clubman) Jan 29th, 2007 25 Comments

Last summer MotoringFile reported that the new MINI Clubman would not have four doors as many publications hass speculated. Instead we said that the new car would in fact have only three doors up front and a barn door boot in the back where the coupe has a hatch. We also dropped the bombshell that the new “Coach door” (now officially trademarked by BMW) will only be available on the right side of the car.

Now that spy photos have clearly shown the Clubman to be a three door configuration, some publications are theorizing that the car will feature the door on both the right or left side depending on the market. So we’re here to simply reiterate what we first reported awhile back; the R55 will only be available with the coachdoor located on the right side of the car. This will be as true in the UK as it is in the US and other left-hand drive markets. With the US set to become the largest market for the MINI along with the continued popularity of the car in the rest of the left-hand drive world, we’re told the choice to optimize the design for a left-hand drive car was rather straight-forward.

Related:

[ The Clubman's 3rd Door (Part 1) ] MotoringFile

Written By: Gabe

Scottinbend

Gee……… a little to much “I told you so” for me. While I appreciate all you do Gabe, this was a bit over the top.
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabe

GeeÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦ a little to much ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œI told you soÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â for me. While I appreciate all you do Gabe, this was a bit over the top.

I don’t see anywhere here where I say “I told you so”. I’m just reiterating a point that was made months ago. When you get the same emails for months asking you one question over and over again you’d understand.
BRGCooper

Left or right side, it’s still ugly.
Scottinbend

What question was that? I can’t seem to come up with one that would prompt you to state that you were right about some aspects of the design last year and most others weren’t. Sounds like an “I told you so” to me.
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabe

What question was that? I canÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t seem to come up with one that would prompt you to state that you were right about some aspects of the design last year and most others werenÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t. Sounds like an ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œI told you soÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â to me.

What question? Isn’t it obvious? The question that has been asked of us for months is: will the clubman have four doors. We’ve answered it by saying no with our initial story and in subsequent emails. Now we’ve answered it again because people are still asking. Again I don’t see why this should rub you the wrong way.
Scottinbend

Sorry Gabe. I guess it wasn’t clear to me. The only thing that rubbed me wrong was the impression that you were kind of tooting your own horn. I myself understood that the door would only be on one side from several posts here and other sites. Guess I should have realized some were not so sure.

Again, my apologies. I’ll go have my coffee now ;
FrankInMiami

Gabe is only doing a mermory “refresher” regarding an article posted several months ago. I don’t see anything wrong with that at all.

Personally, I still think MINI should have offered a pair of rear doors on each side of the vehicle. Their decision to only add a rear “coach” door smacks me of “cost cutting” above customer convenience. But a MINI with a rear door is better than a MINI with none, at least, for those of us who need to make heavy use of the rear seat quarters of the car.

And people if you don’t like it, don’t buy it!
http://www.deolink.com wirelessdeo

As a family of 4, this is a welcomed design. Now we are just waiting to see if the extra space is enough space to justify 2 MINIs.
Jon

So as long as you’re providing a refresher, Gabe, when will this Clubman be arriving at our dealerships?
http://www.nemini.org PaulGraz

I don’t really agree that putting the 3rd door on the right is the optimal position for a LHD market. 99% of the time I’m the only one in my MINI. My right side door rarely gets used. I tend to use the boot alot because it’s easier than putting items in the back seat. So if I were to make use of this 3rd door, it would need to be on the left. But that’s just me…

Saturn went through this almost 10 years ago when they added a 3rd door to their coupe. The customer outcry was clear – just put it on both sides. They did, promptly. I predict MINI will eventually do the same…
FrankInMiami

Jon, if the R55 follows the R56 timeline release, I would say that the Clubman should be here by February 2008.
Dk

Gabe, you get no respect. All the people that comment on motoringfile are nuerotic. Just stop you crazies.
FrankInMiami

Paul, I agree with you. I think that the decision of not adding a rear door on the left side of the car was mostly a cost cutting decision, nothing else. There was some talk about the need to relocate the fuel filler line to accomodate the door and this will probably prove to be expensive.

I guess if enough people complain, it will eventually be done.
Mark Smith

Well I like what I see so far and I understand why MINI is only doing it on one side. Imagine you made a car where hypothetically 60 percent of them were being manufacturered for one market and the rest for a different market. The majority wins. I think the reason it’s only on one side is solely because of the placement of the fuel tank door.
Greg W

Hmmm…now lets see. MINI, an English evolved car, built in England, primarily designed for the English right-hand-drive market, is now predominately tailored for Europe and USA markets? Old Mini Countryman and Traveller versions had fuel tanks under the floorpan and the filler was on the rear corner. If you are designing a new version from scratch why would you keep the fuel filler in the same place as the Coupe?
http://www.blokspeed.net Eelke

I think the reason itÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s only on one side is solely because of the placement of the fuel tank door.

That’d be downright silly. This’d be because the fuel tank door is in the same location as it is on the R56. The R55 and the R56 were basically developed along side eachother (looks like they started with the R55 which was then overtaken by the R56, basically). If that really is the problem, they could’ve simply taken this into account in the development phase.

Personally, I think there’s two reasons: cost cutting and… gimmick factor. We’ve done the “Oh, look, it’s got two small suicide doors to improve access to the rear seat” a few years ago with the Mazda RX-8. Now Mini gets some more publicity because, “hey, how wacky, it’s only got it on one side!”

I wouldn’t actually be surprised if they already had the manufacturing plans for the version with two rear doors laying ready on the shelf, to switch over production to two doors after about half a year, just like PaulGraz is saying. “Yeah, we know, having it on only one side was a little wacky. We’ve listened to customer demands and we’re putting one on the other side is well.” And hey presto, yet another round of publicity.

Sorry if this sounds cynical, I actually like the R55. I just feel this whole “only one rear door” thing is a tad silly.
http://www.blokspeed.net Eelke

If you are designing a new version from scratch why would you keep the fuel filler in the same place as the Coupe?

Simple, more efficient production. But you’re right, if it means having to take a design decision like not putting in a door, eventhough you actually wanted to put it (because you don’t have any other reasons to not put it in), it doesn’t make any sense.
mad limey

I have to say that I, for one, am very excited about the Clubman and can’t wait to see it and have it. Who knows what it will look like exactly by the time it hits the US market but I do know that it will be unique. I live in the North East and sometimes think about trading my MINI in for a slick AWD Audi, BUT: a) it’s almost February and we’ve hardly had any snow here (I may be eating my words soon…); b) I love driving my car; c) I like sticking out in the crowd on the roads; and d) some of the friends I have here I have met through MINI gatherings, and I continue to meet new people just by having a great car. Finally, as for the rear ‘Coach’ door being on the right hand side – sure, it would be easier if it was on the left so that each time I let my dog onto the back seat, I don’t have to go back around to the other side to get back into the driver’s seat. However, I feel this will be a minor inconvenience, and I can probably let him in from the driver’s side too, in any case. Finally finally, I’m from England and I really don’t think the enthusiasts over there will give two hoots which side the rear Coach door will be on as you can usually park in either direction on the side of the street – unless it’s a one-way street, of course… So if you want to let your little ankle-biters out on to the pavement – sorry, sidewalk – you can choose which way you park and get them safely out of the car and not into the traffic.
Seth L

That picture makes the Clubman look like a tiny little range rover.

I like it!
Vanwall
I think the missing door was probably due to crash-safety problems – it could’ve been prohibitive to re-engineer it to pass the impact tests. It happens to be on the safety side for loading “small units” from the sidewalk into the car-seat, and mebbe some groceries or shopping bags – looks like good planning for the left-hookers, if you’re unaware of the genesis.
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BCNU,
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Rob in Dago
O(=^=)O Capn

If you are designing a new version from scratch why would you keep the fuel filler in the same place as the Coupe?

The same reason that the bonnet release is on the passenger side. So you can say “Oh, it is British” and the rear barn doors? Same thing, “Oh that’s how the old one was.” A little bit of heritage. That is how the relaunch of the r53 was so successful.

I like the looks of it better than the R56, I will take one with AWD please.
Bavarian Racing Green

…barn doors = awesome…

…third door = awesome…

…design compared to r56 = improved…

…i think some of the lovely quirkiness lost in the evolution from r50/53 to r56 is regained in the decision to go ‘retro-esque’…

…though i will keep my r53 until the strategic oil reserves are depleted, this commitment to ‘moderately restricting practicality’ makes me want a Clubman even more…

…you know for the 1.48 kids that i have…

…and they better offer the diesel with the ability for bio-conversion ’cause my neighbor has a mexican restaurant…

…Hot Chocolate that smells like a chimichanga…
http://www.blokspeed.net Eelke

If you are designing a new version from scratch why would you keep the fuel filler in the same place as the Coupe?

The same reason that the bonnet release is on the passenger side. So you can say ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œOh, it is BritishÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â and the rear barn doors? Same thing, ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œOh thatÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s how the old one was.ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â A little bit of heritage. That is how the relaunch of the r53 was so successful. Er, I don’t quite get that one… As a previous poster was saying, the fuel filler on the original long wheelbase Mini’s was not in the same place as it was on the saloon models (that’s the original name for the coupe), but rather at the back. So, nothing heritage about having the fuel filler in the same place as the coupe. I like Vanwall’s theory, that it’s because of safety reasons, could well be that they couldn’t meet regulations with two suicide doors.

BTW, on the R56 (so most probably same for R55) the bonnet release is no longer on the right side of the car, but on the left side (at least in LHD models). So unfortunately, no cheeky reference to the classic Mini in that department anymore.

One thing I’m not too sure about in the looks-department are the ridges along the roof of the R55. Obviously, they are meant as stylized roof rails, but I don’t care for them much. Maybe the roof would be too much smooth surface without it.
http://www.blokspeed.net Eelke

Hey, the comment system stripped out a set of blockquote-tags… No nesting of quotes, apparently (worked in the preview pane)…
Vanwall

The original Mini long-wheelbase cars had smooth roofs, which looked tres chic to me, but they found it needed a little stiffening, so a parallel series of full-length longitudinal indentations appeared quite soon in model run. Most large areas of sheet metal aren’t going to be stiff enough without seams, curves or styling whatnots, as I’m sure the new MINI owners with black roofs found out on a hot day. ;-) The latest railing caprice is the one real BMW siggy on this design – no doubt the rack is designed to fit nice & neat, just like 3-series wagen.

BCNU, Rob in Dago

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