Mini Clubman Designer: "It was all my fault"

"It was design by dictatorship.  All else, this marketing, these focus groups, what have you, is bullshit."
- Mini Clubman chief designer, Gerd Hildebrand.



Until I read this quote I had assumed that some poor designer at BMW had been bullied into designing this impractical and contrived vehicle by some misguided marketers. Now I know who to blame.

"New Mini Clubman is, er, as ugly as 1960s version. We're still in shock."
- Top Gear

"While improving access, [the driver's side 'suicide' door] forces passengers to exit on to the road. This is not acceptable for anyone in particular, and is especially danger­ous for families with small children."
- AutoExpress

"The door arrangement is stupid, allowing rear passengers to exit the car into the traffic flow."
- Sky Motoring

"Contrived? Oh yes. Neither the pair of rear doors nor the club door adds anything to the car's functionality - a conventional tailgate and a pair of long front doors would have been more than adequate - and it's rather a case of style over substance."
- Channel 4 Motoring

That design dictator quote came from metacool who takes a rather different view.

Comments

[Dan Bevis]

Simply summed up in this one glorious advert: http://www.sniffpetrol.com/wp-content/uploads/spadminiclubman.jpg