Road Trip: Mini goes hunting for Airstreams

Story and photos by John LeBlanc PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.– "Don't stop. Keep right on going. Hitch up your trailer and go to Canada or down to Old Mexico ... Find out what's at the end of some country road. Go see what's over the next hill, and the one after that, and the one after that." Those motivating words for road trippers are from the late Wally Byam, the lifelong adventurer who founded the iconic American Airstream trailer company in his Los Angeles back yard during the 1930s. Byam's words are one of the reasons I'm driving a 2009 Mini Cooper S Clubman to GSM Vehicles, a vintage Airstream restoration shop located at the edge of a decommissioned U.S. Air Force base in this city on the shore of Lake Champlain. Though not quite the cultural icon that Byam's gleaming all-aluminum travel trailers have become, the extended front-wheel-drive Clubman wagon with its double rear "barn" doors is clearly inspired by its own iconic predecessors – the 1960s Morris Mini Traveller and Austin Mini Countryman. The Clubman was commissioned by parent BMW for those who thought the modern regular-length Mini two-door was too small and not very practical. Compared with the two-door, the Clubman adds 82 mm in wheelbase and 61 mm more legroom for its two rear passengers. There's also a half-door on the passenger's side for larger or less flexible people to get in and out of the back seats. It comes in three flavours: the warm 118 hp Cooper ($26,400), the warmer 172 hp Cooper S and the red-hot 208 hp John Cooper Works ($39,990.) With a sunroof, heated front seats, "bonnet" stripes, metallic paint, front window defroster, rain sensor, Bluetooth wireless and USB audio integration, sports suspension, anthracite headliner and 17-inch alloys added as options, my Cooper S Clubman stickered at $35,260. Until the Mini Crossover, with four full doors, arrives next year, the Clubman is the largest vehicle ever to wear a Mini badge. Nonetheless, U.S. border officials interrogating me as I enter their country ("You're going to haul back an Airstream with this?") figured that I should show up with a more appropriate tow vehicle. But unbeknownst to my friends at U.S. Customs and Immigration, GSM's founder and owner, Colin Hyde, has a special surprise for my not-so-mini-Clubman and me. Like Byam in the '30s, Hyde has seen an opportunity in these time of economic distress: an Airstream trailer that a car as small as the Clubman could tow. A full-size Airstream is just as heavy as any other vintage trailer, despite the reputation for lightness created by the all-aluminum skin. A 22-foot Airstream Safari from 1955 weighed 1,351 kg, plus 400-700 kg for personal belongings. Even for the smallest 18-foot models, you'd still need a large, torque-rich body-on-frame vehicle to go Airstreaming in the classic style. Hyde's goal for the yet-unnamed prototype is to make the world's lightest and smallest Airstream. "I'd like to make it under 1,000 pounds (450 kg), so virtually any car – a Honda Civic, or maybe even a Mini, could tow it," says Hyde. His design calls for a 22-feet Caravan model to be cut down to only 9 feet. Even with Hyde's mini vintage Airstream, the regular-length Mini Cooper (with about enough cargo room in the back to pack a Speedo) wouldn't be my first choice to hitch up an Airstream and go to down to "Old Mexico." But the Clubman? Maybe. As in the two-door, there's still only room for four humans. But the Clubman's extra cargo room –935 litres with the rear seatback folded down, versus 680L for the standard Mini – can now be given consideration for at least a pair of intimate travellers. Still, there are many sports compact hatchbacks similar in size that offer more room. The $29,360 Mazdaspeed3 and Volkswagen's $28,975 four-door GTI come immediately to mind. The Clubman is easily as fun-to-drive as the slightly shorter Mini Cooper original, with the only driving difference being that the longer wheelbase delivers a more relaxed ride over lousy pavement. However, you can't really see much out the back with its barn-door framing. Based on its fun per litre factor, though, at 7.7 L/100 km city, 5.7 L hwy, the Clubman makes the Mazda (11.8/7.6) and GTI (10.0/6.6) look like gasaholics. The coupling of the cutish Clubman and one of Hyde's mini Airstreams would certainly make for an economical and stylish way to travel in these troubling economic times. "Those first Airstreams were all about people being able to travel and see the world during tough economic times," added Hyde. "Now look where we're at today." 2009 MINI CLUBMAN S PRICE: (base/as tested) $31,500/$35,260 ENGINE: 1.6 L turbo I4 POWER/TORQUE: 172 hp/177-192 lb.-ft. FUEL CONSUMPTION:City 7.7 L/100 km (37 mpg), hwy 5.7 L/100 km (49 mpg), as tested 7.2 L/100 km (39 mpg) COMPETITION: Mazdaspeed3, Volkswagen GTI four-door WHAT'S BEST: More room, better highway ride than regular Cooper, fuel economy WHAT'S WORST: Rear visibility WHAT'S INTERESTING: New Clubman inspired by 1960s Morris Mini Traveller and Austin Mini Countryman

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