Tag Archives: Mini

2016 Mini Clubman Special Reports

Hi again,

I ran across the following advert and reviews and thought – considering our background – they belong here. This is a new concept for me – a 6-door Mini! And no, it is not a stretch limo: two on the left, two on the right, and two behind (the famous bread-van doors are still with us). My guess (no, I didn’t read the information yet but it is stated in one of the videos) is that it is larger and more expensive that the prior versions – typical BMW marketing practice, I guess. A 2 liter turbocharged engine helps with convincing a potential buyer as well (in the Cooper S version).

Anyway, here are the videos.

The first one is “The MINI Clubman Revealed”

The next video is “New MINI Clubman Cooper S Review”, and you can see how much Nederlands you remember :)) (there are English sub-titles available)

And just in case you didn’t catch all the Dutch above, here is another extensive English review “2016 Mini Clubman Cooper S Review – Inside Lane” (Inside Lane is a UK cart magazine)

Go out and buy one tonight? Well, maybe tomorrow afternoon…


By the way, I was looking for a pic of something like the Mini we had in those days and found the one below, also a 1963 Austin Mini Clubman (but left-hand drive) that has been meticulously restored by a German guy (who apparently lives in Osnabrueck judging by the license plates) and is for sale for € 17,900. Here are a few pictures, and I hope the owner does not disagree with me publishing them here. His advert is at http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C652844. The vehicle appears to be in perfect condition! Better than ours ever was! 😀

The main differences (aside from the lhd) are the colour – he has used something called “surf blue” – ours was a bit lighter and was a BMC standard colour in South Africa, and the license plates – ours were OIL-505 (and of course, South African).

Austin Mini 6379628
mini-5-1687x1265
davidsbirthday-com-1963-mini-clubman-estate-6-1687x1265
davidsbirthday-com-1963-austin-mini-clubman-15-1687x1265

Car Sounds – 20 Minutes!

Hey there,

I ran across this and thought you might enjoy it. Be sure to plug in your best earphones, turn the volume up and have some place to lean back with the sound pressure!

I gotta admit that 20 minutes gets to be kinda long, but some of the best ones are towards the end! But what I missed was the 1962 Mini Minor…