MINI Clubvan Comes to Canada
With two seats, five doors and wall-to-wall MINI style and personality, the MINI Clubvan – the world’s first premium compact delivery van – has it all.
With this groundbreaking model, based on the MINI Clubman platform, MINI is translating the brand’s hallmark driving fun and inherent charisma to new applications aimed at the urban user.
The enhanced functionality offered by the MINI Clubvan is based on a closed-off load area extending from the rear doors right up to the front seats. Cargo can be accessed through the wide-opening split rear door or via the right-side Clubdoor.
With its two-seater configuration, its fixed partition between the passenger compartment and load area, and its opaque, blocked-out rear side windows, the MINI Clubvan is the first commercial-oriented vehicle in the growing MINI lineup.
Based on the MINI Cooper Clubman, the MINI Cooper Clubvan will also share the familiar four-cylinder 1.6-litre engine with the MINI Cooper Clubman and other Cooper stablemates.
With an output of 121 hp and 115 lb/ft of torque, the Clubvan offers typical MINI attributes: crisp performance, super-agile handling and exceptional fuel economy.
The MINI Clubvan’s roots go back to 1960, when the original Mini – just one year after its launch – was followed up by a space-efficient solution in the form of the Morris Mini Van. That van model, with a wheelbase extended by ten centimetres, a closed-off load compartment and split rear door, offered exactly the sort of extra functionality urban commercial users of the time were looking for.
The MINI Clubvan’s functionally minded design has been achieved by taking out the rear seats and adding customized features. The blocked-out, opaque rear side windows are body-coloured, with an interior polycarbonate reinforcement. In combination with tinted glass in the rear doors, this keeps the load compartment well concealed from prying eyes.
Inside, the flat loading floor and the side walls are trimmed in carpet, while an anthracite roof liner runs the full length of the vehicle. 12-volt sockets in the cargo area can be used to power electrical equipment. Six attachment loops recessed into the floor can be used to secure cargo.
Maximum payload capacity is 500 kilograms.
The new MINI Cooper Clubvan will be available as an option package as part of the MINI Clubman model lineup, available in an appealing suite of colors and extensive list of optional equipment, debuting as a 2013 model.
