Does This “G” Design Make My Butt Look Big?

Contributing Monkie

Topics of Interest

Published on October 17, 2009

Section Alternative Vehicles

mini1 gliving Does This G Design Make My Butt Look Big?

What a difference a rear end makes. The iconic MINI recently confirmed and released official photos of its much-rumored MINI Clubman, the make’s first major update since its 2001 re-release as the rambunctious stepchild of BMW. This boxy-behinded bulldog shares the base MINI Cooper’s front 2/3, which may cause a epidemic of double-takes when the first Clubmans (Clubmen?) zip by in the U.S. early next year.

All design changes come aft of the B-pillar, and what an aft it is: a roofline that just won’t quit, an extra 9.45 inches of overall length and fold-flat rear seats mean this utili-MINI boasts more than 32 feet of cargo space. A MINI driver’s friends, newly mollified by a 3-inch dose of surplus rear legroom, can access all this extra interior room in two ways — tiny versions of the clamshell doors more commonly handled by the SUV set and a set of unusual, asymmetrical, “butterfly” doors on the car’s right side.

The updates make for a cargo-capable-ish small car akin in overall philosophy to the Honda Fit, although with a price tag placing it somewhere between the MINI hardtop and convertible.

mini2 gliving Does This G Design Make My Butt Look Big?

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Hacked: Mini Cooper’s All-Electric Car

Contributing Monkie

Topics of Interest , ,

Published on May 17, 2008

Section Alternative Vehicles, G Living

Comments 2

mincooper convertible Hacked: Mini Coopers All Electric Car

Let’s get something straight. I love the look of BMW’s Mini Cooper and would buy it in a second — if only it were a hybrid diesel or an all-electric car with interface fabric seats. Sadly BMW doesn’t make the Mini with any of these options, so I have held off and continue riding my bike.

Maybe that is all about to change. Companies like Hybrid Technologies have begun hacking small cars like the Mini and replacing their gas engines with zero-emission, all-electric motors and lithium batteries. A great idea — if you can afford to pay almost twice the price for a “converted” Mini. Parts are expensive to do this one at a time. The only way the price will come down is if, BMW and other companies decide there is a real demand and they start producing them. After the jump, watch a short clip by Popular Mechanics featuring a test drive of the hacked, all-electric Mini Cooper. Continue Reading / See Additional Photos

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