Page 3 of 6 Walk Around Austin and Morris merged under the umbrella of the British Motor Company in 1952 and produced the original Mini Cooper, known as both the Austin Mini Cooper and Morris Mini Cooper, starting in 1961. A car called the Mini Clubman followed in 1969. BMW acquired the rights to the Mini brand in 1994, and introduced a new Mini Cooper in the United States for the 2002 model year. The new Mini Cooper Clubman is very similar in design to the current Mini Cooper, but it features a pair of split rear doors inspired by the Austin Countryman and Mini Traveler of the 1960s. The Clubman is identical to its little brother from the front bumper to the back of the doors. Of the 9.4 inches of added length, 3.1 inches are located behind the doors and in front or the rear wheels, thus lengthening the wheelbase by an equal amount. Another 6.3 inches are found behind the rear wheels, but the Clubman still manages to keep a wheels-pushed-to-the-corners look. The two biggest changes from the regular Mini Cooper are the addition of a rear access door on the passenger side and the use of split rear quot;barnquot; doors at the back. The right-side access door, what Mini calls the quot;Clubdoor,quot; is a small door that doesn't open independently of the front passenger door and is meant to provide easier access to the third row. At the back, the handles for the split rear doors are placed together where the doors come together. The rear glass does not open. Like its little brother, the Clubman comes with two-tone paint. The accent color found on the roof is carried over to the rear C-pillars, and it also extends down through the taillights and onto the rear bumper. Accent hood stripes can also be ordered. Like the standard Mini, the base and S Clubman models have their differences. The base model has a three-bar chrome grille, while the S's is black mesh. The S also has a larger lower air intake, also with a black mesh insert, a forward-mounted front hood scoop, larger wheels and tires, a chrome gas cap, and dual exhaust versus a single exhaust. The Clubman S also has two rear air intakes, while the base Clubman has none.
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