MINI's New Cross to Bear
Published: December 20th, 2007
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MINI's mini-suv finally has a name. Auto Motor und Sport (via motoring.co.za) reports the maxi-MINI will be called the Crossman, continuing their theme of names that start with "C." The not-so-mini MINI will be built by Magna in Austria, marking the marque's first foray away from the UK's auto industry. MINI Magna expect to produce about 45K Crossmans (Crossmen?) a year after the model's 2010 launch. Crossman consumers can opt for front wheel-drive or all wheel-drive. So now we'll have the two-door Cooper, the Cooper convertible, the four-door Clubman and the Crossman. It shouldn't be too long before BMW completes the bastardization of the MINI brand by producing a pickup version, maybe called the El CaMINI.
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I don't get what all the fuss is about. We have often decried the lack of cool, funky, economical wagons. Isn't that exactly what this is? This thing isn't an "SUV" as many have said, it's a little wagon based on a car. Why does that offend so many people? You know there are people who have to haul stuff, occasionally, wouldn't it make more sense for them to be in a little wagon like this rather than an overbuilt SUV? Why all the hostility? I think it's cute and AWD would definitely be a plus in the Rocky Mountains. A cool alternative to Subaru can't be a bad thing, can it? Anyway, it's much better looking than most CUVs (except for the Infiniti FX which is gorgeous.)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! Man, that's a rolling nightmare: A gigantic Mini. It's kinda like Mothra: while a moth/butterfly may be cool, multiply its size and it'll start to devastate Tokyo. I was originally looking forward to the Clubman, but the more i look at them, the less I like them. Too cutey-cutey. BMW should learn from the Smart debacle: Daimler had a great product (albeit grossly overpriced) and then tried to expand it, only to fail miserably, and despite the fact that the Smart roadster was a lot of fun to drive.