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Mini Clubvan ready for boutique chic delivery duty from $25,985

The light commercial vehicle market has exploded in recent years. With a too-large full-size van no longer the only option for small businesses looking for an enclosed cargo carrier, options like the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Ford Transit Connect and now this, the Mini Clubvan, are now available to suit every size need.
Unveiled at last year's Geneva Motor Show, the Clubvan will soon be on sale here in the US and we finally have details about what that transaction will cost you. Motoring File reports that the Clubvan's price will be $25,985, which includes the so-called "chicken tax" and a $700 destination and handling charge.
Other questions that were answered include whether or not the Clubvan can be ordered as a Cooper S or even John Cooper Works model, and the answer is no (why do need to deliver cakes that fast anyway?). Also, Mini has confirmed you can't take the shortcut of creating your own Clubvan by purchasing a standard Clubman and removing the rear seats. The factory Clubvan features steel side panels instead of vinyl coverings over the rear windows, as well as a fully flat load floor and a safety cage protecting front seat occupants.

2014 Mini Cooper

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone from Mini refer to 'go-kart-like handling,' I'd be retired, living on a beautiful piece of coastline somewhere in the Caribbean. Perhaps even on the shores of Puerto Rico, where Mini chose to launch its latest Cooper and Cooper S hatchbacks. As with so many frequently used phrases, though, there is indeed some truth to the cliché - while the Mini Cooper has never actually handled quite like a go kart, it has always had a certain directness in its movements, reacting to steering inputs with an immediacy and fervor unlike most any other automobile meant primarily for the street.
Combine those unique driving dynamics with a sense of fun that permeates the entire brand from pre-sales marketing to the actual sales process itself and you end up with a marketplace success. As an ex-Mini owner myself (a 2009 Cooper S Convertible), I can attest to the kinship felt between fellow Mini drivers who share in the knowledge that they are having more fun than the poor appliance-driving masses sharing the highways and byways of these United States. It's no surprise that the style-conscious US continues to be the marque's single largest market year after year.
This enviable brand perception hasn't been attained without its own fair share of flaws, however. Though the quirky design and massively customizable bits and pieces that have made up the Mini brand's interior philosophy since it was reborn in 2001 have proven somewhat endearing, the Cooper Hardtop's ergonomics have always been an unmitigated disaster. Plus, this is a very small car, with a rear seat that's practically uninhabitable by adult-size occupants. While that adjective seemingly goes hand-in-hand with the brand's name, the modern Cooper has never been as ingeniously packaged as its 1959 forbearer, which offered up as much interior space as possible through innovative engineering and minimalist design. Further, parent company BMW has positioned Mini as a premium brand, so the Cooper's diminutive size has never equated to low prices. And for being such a small car, the Cooper historically hasn't been well-known for its fuel efficiency.

2016 Mini Clubman opens its many doors to the world

We've seen the spy shots. We've seen the teasers. We've seen the concepts and the video-game racers. And now the wait is finally over for Anglophile motorists as Mini has officially taken the wraps off the all-new Clubman. Larger than the model it replaces and with more useful apertures, the new 2016 Mini Clubman slots into the marque's new lineup above the four/five-door version of the core Hardtop hatchback. It measures a useful 10.9 inches longer than the Hardtop, 2.9 inches wider, and rides on a wheelbase that's four inches longer. It's also a big larger than the outgoing Clubman, which had been on the market since 2007. In fact, though it sits a few inches lower than the Countryman crossover, the new Clubman is touted as the longest and widest Mini yet. Size isn't the only element that sets the new Clubman apart from its predecessor, though. It's also got a more conventional door arrangement, with four proper, forward-hinged doors instead of the unusual suicide door on the outgoing model that opened onto the curb in countries where they know on which side of the street to drive, but into traffic in its own home market. The split tailgate doors carry over, however, and can be optionally operated hands-free to give access to 17.5 cubic feet of cargo space, or as much as 47.9 cubic feet with the split rear seats folded flat. The new Clubman, however, isn't just positioned as a more utile version of the smaller hatch, but as Mini's flagship model. There are even new interior trim choices available to that effect, including a diamond-quilted blue leather patterned after a classic English Chesterfield sofa. Naturally, it also packs all the technological advancements you'd expect of the latest product from the BMW Group. Though diesel options will be offered overseas, American buyers will be able to choose between Cooper and Cooper S specifications. The former comes with a 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-three with 134 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque, good for an 8.9-second 0-60 time and a 127-mile-per-hour top speed with either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. The Cooper S upgrades with a 2.0-liter turbo four good for 189 hp and 207 lb-ft, to reach 60 in 7.0 seconds flat with the six-speed manual or 6.9 with a new eight-speed automatic, topping out at 142. Despite the added size, Mini promises the new Clubman will offer the same go-kart handling for which the brand has become known.