The iconic MINI Cooper was joined in 2008 by the practical new Clubman that preserves the marque's unique styling, individuality, and fun-to-drive handling, but incorporates more rear seat and interior room, a rear door on the right side of the car for better rear seat access, and two side-opening rear doors for easier cargo loading and unloading.

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Power in the Cooper Clubman is by the same front-wheel drive four-cylinder engine developed for the 2007 MINI Cooper hardtop, which produces 118 horsepower and 114 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed GETRAG manual transmission is standard, with an AISIN six-speed automatic transmission optional.

With the manual transmission, the Cooper Clubman is rated at 28 mpg city, 37 highway, and 32 combined in the new EPA test cycle. The automatic transmission will deliver two to three mpg less. The Clubman with manual transmission can make zero to 60 in 8.9 seconds and with the automatic, 10.2 seconds.

The Clubman styling is almost identical to that of the hard-top Cooper from front bumper to windshield, but then incorporates several design changes not only to smoothly integrate the longer rear section into the car's lines, but also to harken back to the wood-framing of the original Mini Countryman, Traveller and Clubman of the 1960s and '70s. In particular, the roof line is broken with two 'dune lines' - ridges on each side from front to rear that provide greater visual and physical strength to the roof. In addition, the roof color - available in silver or black - is carried down the rear pillars alongside the two rear doors to the back bumper.

Distinguishing it from the high-performance Cooper S Clubman, the base Clubman has a single rear tailpipe, and raised rectangular chrome bumper guards on either side of the rear license plate, which look similar to the bumperettes of the classic Traveller/Countryman.

The additional side door, called a 'club door' on the right-hand side - the passenger side in North America and Europe - can be opened after the the front door is opened, and is hinged from the rear to provide a broad opening that will facilitate installing a child into its safety seat, or provide easier access to cargo when the rear seats are folded.

Similar to the original Mini Traveller and Clubman, rear access is by two doors which are hinged to the outside C-pillars and open one at a time, 'barn-door' style, assisted by gas struts. When open they provide full-width access to the cargo area, and expose the rear tail lights to the rear for safety.

The extra three inches of wheelbase in the Clubman translate into three extra inches of rear leg room, which make the rear seats very practical for children and acceptable for two adults for short trips.

With the extra nine inches of length, bumper to bumper, space behind the rear seat is also increased from 5.8 cubic feet in the hardtop to 9.2 cubic feet in the Clubman, and with the rear seats folded, 32.8 cubic feet of cargo can be loaded in the Clubman, compared to 24 cubic feet in the hardtop. A stowage box behind the rear seats provides hidden space and provides a flat load floor when the rear seats are folded.

According to MINI's product planners, one of the three parts of MINI appeal is individualization, and the Clubman is no different from the hardtop. With ten exterior colors, black or silver accent colors plus body color available for the roof and C-pillars, and on the interior nine upholstery colors plus five soft trim accent colors and six different colors for hard trim, millions of color and trim combinations are available so that no two owners are likely to have exactly the same look. Even the color of the ambient lighting can be selected by the driver to suit his or her mood.

The MINI Clubman has received the highest safety ratings from the U.S. and European government regulatory agencies and insurance associations, the result of carefully-designed impact barriers and crumple zones, and six airbags standard. In addition, anti-lock braking, cornering brakc control, dynamic stability control, on-demand traction control and hill assist start-off are standard on the Clubman.