What's the news?
MINI has announced that the Clubvan concept that it displayed at the Geneva Motor Show back in March will go into production, with its public unveiling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that takes place next weekend. To be built at MINI's Oxford plant the Clubvan will become the seventh variant in the MINI line-up when it goes on sale in autumn.
Exterior
Externally the first commercial MINI since the BMW reboot is identical to the Clubman save for body coloured rear side panels and tinted glass in the rear doors. The Clubvan will be available in four colours - Pepper White, Ice Blue, British Racing Green metallic and Midnight Black metallic with the roof, rear side window area, C-pillars and exterior mirror caps body-coloured on all versions. Exclusive 15-inch Delta alloy wheels will be fitted as standard but these can be replaced with 15-, 16- or 17-inch designs from elsewhere in the MINI range.
Interior
MINI is calling the Clubvan the 'world's first premium compact delivery van' and it would seem to fit the claim. As standard it comes with seats clothed in black Cosmos fabric upholstery with Fine White Silver trim strips, but should the customer request these can be replaced with optional sports seats, which are available in Ray Leather, Punch Leather or Lounge Leather.
Being a MINI, trade is expected to be brisk in the personalisation department with buyers able to specify equipment to enhance comfort, convenience, driving enjoyment, safety and practicality with climate control, satellite navigation and parking sensors expected to be popular.
It is what is behind the front seats and not in front of them that will be important in the Clubvan and on paper things appear to bode well. The floor is completely flat for ease of use and features six integrated attachment loops to keep cargo in places. A steel upper bulkhead means that the Clubvan can be loaded right up the roof. In total there are 860 litres of space and a maximum payload capacity of 500kg.
Mechanicals
The Clubvan will be offered with three engines - the 98hp MINI One Clubvan, the 122hp MINI Cooper Clubvan and a 112hp MINI Cooper D Clubvan. A six-speed manual transmission is standard, but an optional six-speed automatic transmission is also available.
No matter the engine all will come fitted with stop-start, Shift Point Display, Brake Energy Regeneration and on-demand operation of ancillary units to reduce fuel consumption and keep running costs - a big factor for businesses - down. The MINI Cooper D Clubvan will offer combined fuel economy of 72.4mpg with CO2 emissions of 103g/km.
Anything else?
Full Irish specifications and pricing have yet to be confirmed, though the starting price will be €17,140 and it hits the market in Autumn.