2008 MINI Cooper Clubman: A Little More MINI

While people often find the MINI Cooper roomier than expected, utility is not its strong suit. So MINI stretched it by about 9 inches, added a rear-hinged “Clubdoor” on the passenger side and dual side-hinged doors out back and dubbed it the Cooper Clubman. In addition to three more inches of rear-seat legroom, the new model expands cargo capacity from a Miata-like 5.7 cubic feet to 9.1, and from 24 cubic feet to 32.6 with the rear seats folded. A modest weight gain of 165 pounds should hardly dampen the MINI spirit—especially on turbo S models. Look for it early in 2008 at a starting MSRP in the low $20,000 range.