KEY POINTS:
If you were expecting the new wagonesque version of BMW's Mini, the Clubman, to be a vastly more passenger and load-friendly version of this modern-day classic, you'll probably be disappointed.
True, the Clubman is a tad more practical and spacious than the standard Mini hatchback. Cutely advertised as the "world's largest Mini" on a billboard near you, the Clubman has wide-opening twin rear "barn doors", another 85 litres of luggage space and some extra legroom.
But it's still hardly a family wagon. Carrying capacity is still a modest 260 litres with the rear seats in place, rear passengers get a mere 28mm extra length for their legs, and access is tricky via a rear-hinged "club door", more so because there's only one clubdoor.
And reflecting the fact that BMW is a German company from a left-hand-drive market, it's on the right-hand (the traffic) side of the car.
Moving it to the other side for right-hand markets is apparently too difficult, read costly, in engineering terms.
If any of that worries you, you might be missing the point.
The Clubman is intended to be a larger, cooler Mini that pays homage to the original Mini station wagon.
The local Mini people reckon it'll appeal more to males than the hatch and don't expect many buyers to have children.
The Clubman comes in at a $5000 premium over the equivalent Cooper and Cooper S turbo hatchbacks - both have a 1.6-litre petrol engine from the BMW-Peugeot family that also powers the French maker's 207 models. Come June there will also be a 1.4-litre diesel Clubman.
For now, the Clubman will remain an exclusive machine. Mini New Zealand has fewer than 100 to sell this year, something that can only boost this larger-than-life model's desirability.
The Clubman is just 70kg heavier than the Mini hatch and, on the basis of a spirited preview drive around the winding roads north of Auckland, gives away little to the three-door in steering and handling agility, which is to say that's an entertaining machine.
The extra wheelbase no doubt aids straight-line stability, but the ride remains on the firm side in the hot Cooper S variants.
Before you sign that cheque the hot new colour for the Clubman is Hot Chocolate, which sounds ghastly but looks the part, especially with matching brown interior.
