Famous Mini is on way back

It will be a Mini wagon — in name and style — with a wheelbase extended from the new Mini that has just arrived in Australia but with the same "barn-door" style back end that was such a hit in the 1970s.

"The name is public. That is about all. It will be on sale in Europe before the end of the year," Mini in Australia spokesman Alexander Corne says.

Mini could have answers within a fortnight, as well as an on-sale date early next year, but the news is still coming from Europe with little light on the local plan.

Still, the company admits the car is a production version of the Mini wagon that has been on the motor show trail for more than 18 months and has been a hit with four entirely different themes for each major display.

It was shown as a snow bunny in Geneva, a picnic partner in Frankfurt, a mobile nightclub in Tokyo and a sports wagon in Detroit.

"It's a fun car for young people with active lifestyles," Corne says.

The Clubman is likely to share the mechanical package just revealed, including a turbocharged Cooper S engine.

The original Clubman was sold in Australia with a squared-off front, not the rounded look of the original Mini, as well as a number of mechanical and interior updates.

"The Mini Clubman was sold as a sedan and a wagon in Britain. The estate in Britain had two fake wooden strips down the side and barn-style doors on the back," Corne says.

"The Australian one survived until the end of production in 1978. In Britain it lived on until 1980."

About 1971 the Clubman in Britain became the Clubman GT, which replaced the Cooper S. The Cooper model was dropped until coming back much later in the life of the car.

Though details of the Clubman are still coming, Mini has confirmed a John Cooper Works version of the latest Mini.

Its turbocharged engine is upgraded from 128 to 141kW, using a new exhaust and air intake, and the other obvious change is 18-inch alloy wheels.

The new Cooper Works is not as powerful as the outgoing model — still available on the Mini Cabrio that continues unchanged for now — but Corne says its 141kW provides the same sort of performance as the 154kW of the earlier car with better response and economy.

The Cooper Works has worked well for Mini in Australia, providing about 10 per cent of sales for the Cooper S — which is, in turn, close to half of all Mini sales.

But, once again, Mini is not saying anything about dollars or deliveries.

"We are not sure yet of the timing or the price," Corne says.