Call this a future alert. Give it about 10 years and this will be the latest rush of special Minis to show up in the U.S. with 2001 titles, just like the 1975-1999 special edition Minis. These have snuck across the border with 1967-75 birth certificates, usually with twin stripes and a row of spotlights across the grille, front-mounted radiator and fuel-injection. You know who you are; drive carefully.
There were six of those old Mini London models as I recall: Mayfair, Ritz, Chelsea, Piccadilly, Park Lane and Advantage, followed by a dizzying number of other titles: British Open Classic, Red Hot Jet Black, Sky, Paul Smith, Monte Carlo and John Cooper, etc.
The new Mini Clubman Bond Street joins the Mayfair, Camden, Bayswater and Baker Street editions of London landmark-inspired versions. Drawing influence from London’s most expensive shopping street, Bond Street offers a unique interior and exterior. It's finished in midnight black metallic, with a contrasting roof, exterior mirror caps, bonnet stripes and lower sections of the C-pillars all finished in cool champagne. Inside, leather sports seats are finished in carbon black with contrast piping and stitching.
Engines include two gas and two diesel: the Mini Cooper (122hp), Mini Cooper S (184hp), Mini Cooper D (112hp) and Mini Cooper SD (143hp). The Mini Clubman Bond Street will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March before going into production for a limited run that same month for a suggested retail price of between $31,961-$37,918.
One funny distinction which marks the passage of years, is that Camden Town and Baker Street would not have been considered exclusive neighborhoods, back in 1975. Gentrification has changed the map. I wonder what's coming next? Mini Docklands, Stepney, Deptford, Elephant & Castle? I guess we have to get past all the London Olympics variations first.––Paul Duchene
