Doug DeMuro Says MINI Clubvan Is Ultra-Rare Because of Chickens

Back in the old days, when Britain was dealing with economic hardships and cars needed to be ultra-cheap, the original Mini company came up with the Clubvan. And having the slightly more spacious Clubman at its disposal, BMW decided to bring it back.

Of course, everybody could see that an expensive MINI model wouldn't make a good transport vehicle. But as we've already established, the company likes its niches. This particular test car, which is a 2013 model year Cooper automatic, stickers for just under $30,000 with options, which is absurd even by today's standard.

But things got really expensive due to the so-called Chicken Tax, which is a 25% tariff on light trucks (commercial vehicles) imposed in 1964 by the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson in response to tariffs placed by France on U.S. chicken imports. It's still in place today and means virtually all trucks sold in America have to be made here to make financial sense.

Even without the Chicken Tax, the Clubvan wasn't a good van, though it filled with the kind of quirks DeMuro likes to highlight. Basically, MINI just improvised a new model, as the windows haven't actually been replaced with sheet metal. On the outside, you have vinyl that changed color with time and the inside gets some makeshift plastic inserts to protect the glass.

The grab handles in the back have been left there, while the third door, located on the passenger side, is basically useless. Visibility is also an issue in a car that wasn't designed to be a van. The Clubvan's small rear windows and mirrors have carried over, and there's no backup camera here.

With only 50 ever made, will it ever become collectible? Not in the same way as an AMG, but considering this video already has 800,000 views... maybe.