Geneva preview: MINI Clubvan for trendy small businesses

This is the MINI Clubvan Concept that will be shown at Geneva, previewing a new van bodystyle for the fashionable small car. No surprise, as rumours of this new variant have been circulating for quite some time.

As you can see, the Clubvan is adapted from the elongated MINI Clubman. Some here might find such a car strange – MINIs may be expensive toys here, but it competes in the regular supermini segment in Europe, and supermini based small CVs like the Opel Astravan and Peugeot 207 Van are common.

Next to those cars, the Clubvan is a stylish alternative for trendier, more premium businesses. MINI cites examples such as a fashion designer, art gallery owner, event caterer or photographers with bulky hardware.

The main things that differentiate Van from Man (Gooners, are you thinking of RVP now?) are the closed-off load area behind the front seats and the opaque rear side windows. The load area reaches from the split rear doors right up to the partition grille behind the two seats. The fully flat floor makes full use of the interior’s depth, and load capacity exceeds the maximum achieved by the Clubman.

Six attachment loops recessed into the load compartment floor use elastic straps to hold items in place. MINI says that the partition grille, made from solid aluminium and stainless steel honeycomb grating, ensures that cargo cannot find their way into the front seats under heavy braking. The walls, floor and roof of the load compartment are trimmed in anthracite-coloured cloth.

It’s based on the Clubman, so ClubVan retains the Clubdoor on the right-hand side, giving the option of accessing smaller items from the car’s side. Other conveniences include made-to-measure drawers or shelving units and 12-volt plug sockets in the load area.

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