Old school auto writer for the Chicago Tribune Jim Mateja lived with the Clubman Cooper around Chicago for a week and came away with the opinion that it still wasn’t big enough.

>Mini enthusiasts wanted more room to slip kids in the back seat without folding them in half, plus a little more cargo room to carry a change of underwear so they wouldn’t have to turn the pair they are wearing inside out on a trip.

>The added length contributes to more knee and leg room in back while the small access door on the passenger side makes getting into/out of the back seat much easier. The “suicide” door opens rearward, and the release handle is in the cabin.

>While leg and knee room is better, an adult still wouldn’t want to venture cross country in back. And if the headrests are left down they are pure torture.

Of course we can’t imagine Jim really ever “getting” a MINI. It certainly isn’t an age thing since we know some of the most enthusiastic MINI owners are oldsters (yes that means older hipsters). Instead we believe the tell-tale sign of MINI-incompatibility lies in the un-ironic ‘stache he so proudly sports.

+ Clubman is a more maxi Mini / Chicago Tribune