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November 7, 2005

    New length at Mini

Without a doubt BMW’s retro auto design and scale Mini’s have been one of the great successes of the retro car era. The reason for this is simple, unlike the Pontiac GTO and maybe the Ford Thunderbird the new Mini captured the soul of the original. The truth about the size is that the original Mini’s were only 120 inches long, a mere ten feet automobile. The new Mini is 142 inches in length but the reason why it succeeded in sharing the soul of its predecessor is that the new Mini is just as cute and a lot more practical. The Mini convertible added to the line but the new addition will be even bigger. 

Back in 1960 Mini made a version called the Traveller, designed to be like a gentleman’s Mini it was 9 inches longer then the standard vehicle model. BMW has just announced that it will build a new extended Mini in three versions. A Traveller to pay homage to the original, a 4 door model for easy access for families, and a Clubman Estates model as the sportiest Mini yet.

It might look like BMW just stretched the current Mini to make it longer. Actually the new model is a completely different car both wider and longer and only sharing the same basic engine options. Currently only a 115 horsepower engine is standard and the Cooper S gets a 168 horsepower version. The new Mini engine options will be three; the 168 horsepower engine will remain but the base model engine will get bumped up to 140 horsepower and a new Cooper Works engine will boast 220 horsepower.

The new Traveller model will be easily recognized by its very large doors, these doors make entering the backseats much easier then before. The rear of the Traveller contains it’s most unique feature the barn doors. Over the years station wagons,(the Traveller is a station wagon) have featured different back door configurations, fixed glass, doors that open to the side, doors that drop down like a tailgate, but the Traveller will have two back doors, each with their own glass that will open each to its own side. They won’t swing open but rather will hug the car like minivan doors do now as to keep the cars width down even with both doors open. The back windows will also not be fixed as well as having a removable roof panel that covers the tail end of the roof to where it reaches the back door. With rear windows down and roof panel removed you do get a slight pick-up truck effect.

The new 4 door Mini was designed for the Mini enthusiast who has small children. Anyone who has ever tried to strap a two year old into a car seat in the back seat of a two door automobile understand the problem perfectly, unless you are plastic man you can’t reach far enough into the backseat without actually climbing into the back seat it self. Although many people won’t view a Mini as a family car, the truth is that at 2,524 pounds the Mini is quite solid and its near 30 mpg efficiency is very family friendly indeed.

- Automotive Insider
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