Found this while searching for something totally unrelated.....funny that.
New 4-Door Mini
The all-new MINI Clubman Estate, which we can exclusively reveal will have Mazda RX-8-style suicide doors. The Clubman Estate could account for up to a fifth of all MINI sales when it joins the brand new range in two years' time.
This new-look MINI will bear a striking resemblance to the current car - after all, why change a winning formula? But it will have a simplified nose, doing away with the present model's complex 'clamshell' bonnet and replacing it with a more conventional item.
That would allow a more up-right grille, shaped to more closely resemble the original Austin Mini's. Meanwhile, sporty models are likely to be offered with an unusual twin-headlamp layout. Yet it's the estate variant that is expected to see the most significant developments.
It may look similar to the wood-panelled load-luggers made by Italian firm Castagna in 2003, but it will be designed and built by BMW. The new car is likely to share most of its structure with the MINI hatch to keep costs down, but be based on a longer-wheelbase platform.
The next generation will also see a new range of engines debuting in the car, to replace the current Chrysler-sourced petrol units and Toyota diesel powerplants.
Initially, it's expected that only Cooper and Cooper S versions will get the new motors - both 1.6-litre petrols developing similar outputs to the existing variants. They'll use BMW's latest Valvetronic technology to deliver better performance and economy than today's engines.
In addition, there will be an all-new oil-burner, likely to develop more than 100bhp for the first time. It could be offered in the first-ever Cooper diesel, which is expected to appear in showrooms late in 2007. The MINI One will get new engines in 2009, with both petrol and oil-burners anticipated.
This new model range will probably debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2007, before going on sale across Europe that summer. The Clubman Estate will make its first public appearance towards the end of the year, with the wraps being taken off the entire line-up in Japan and the US in 2008.
