I know the folks at Mini like to trumpet the larger footprint of their Clubman, but as this Monster Mini spotted on 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn makes clear, they’ve got nothing on the original. One wonders, if Chrysler Europe offered that color back in the day would they have dared to call it Lime-y Green?
Nice! Looks like a great use for a rolled Suzuki Samurai!
I’ve seen that. The deli across the street has really good egg sandwiches.
Oddly it looks like it has a Clubman front end on a MK1 bodyshell, given the exterior door hinges. Was that the norm in any non-UK markets?
That’s an Australian bodied mini. Clubman front, external hinges, quarter lights and flush door handles. Bit of an oddity them Aussie ones!!?
If anyone slightly less familiar with Minis is confused by the different references to “Clubman”, that name originally referred to Minis with this modernized, boxy front end.
The wagons were “Countryman” in the case of an Austin, or “Traveller” in the case of a Morris, and I’m not sure why BMW decided to confuse things.
BTW, British Leyland had an infamous 1970s colour called “limeflower”, which was a sort of dog puke green, not as bright as this.
Very silly – but they should have used the pick-up truck version!
I choose to read “Very Silly” in Graham Chapman’s military-officer voice.
Also, I always thought they should’ve kept the round front for all Mini sedans and offered the Clubman front on the pickup and van as well as the wagon.
Mk1 front failed crash testing in OZ Clubman front passed all OZ mini had the clubman front from then on.
It’s like wondering why they knocked down lots of Victorian buildings and replaced them with concrete boxes in 60s and 70s (and later).
The round front was presumably considered “old fashioned”, and hence retained for the commercials and the bargain basement 850.
Though in the UK, the reverse happened; the Clubman front was dropped, and the classic Mini kept on going, with the reintroduction of the Cooper sports package. Here’s how:
The theory was that the smart Clubman front replaced the ludicrous Riley/Wolseley finned variants (see pic) in 1969, as the “upmarket” Mini model, and the similarly-nosed 1275GT replaced the Cooper, as Leyland’s Donald Stokes disliked paying third party partners (farewell to Donald Healey for much the same reason).
In 1980, the Mini-Metro (wholly new car) was introduced, nominally replacing the Clubman models, so the “modern” Mini disappeared from the market, while the “classic” kept on rolling along.
By the 1980s, the original Mini, soldiering along at the base of the BL pyramid of wonder, had become retro-cool, both in the UK and in Japan; hence a new Cooper deal, and a further 20 years of useful life.
I assume a point must have been reached when all the original investment had been amortised, and the price tickled up to the point at which Rover was actually making money on Minis. As an involuntary shareholder in British Leyland for a number of years, I’d like to think so.
(Photo – Honest John)
Odd looking but fun at the same time….
-Nate
Reminds me of a car I saw written up in a magazine years ago; a Rover P5 coupe built over a Range Rover platform. It was the brainchild of fashion designer Christopher Bailey (IIRC) for his own use, but I haven’t since been able to find reference of it.
Here’s an allegro on a vitara chassis. Similar idea as well.
Hehehe. Hard to make an Allegro appealing but good on whoever did this.
The odd thing is seeing this in Brooklyn, not a rural area. Though I suppose the Britishness does have certain hipster appeal.
In the late 80s I saw an even more jacked up Vega wagon in Winchester VA. which obviously made quite an impression if I can still remember it. It may have helped that it was parked next to a drive i n theater with a severely damaged screen. Of course the marquis read “Gone with the Wind”…
Well, that’s one way to avoid the slush eating away the rocker panels…
I thought that “jacked” Mini was a Matchbox toy car when I first saw it.
It looks vaguely like a shrunken Lada Niva.