Oh dear, not the most inspired of musical lyrics but Madonna's nonetheless. She obviously feels so strongly about her Mini Cooper S that she felt the need to include it in the songwords of the American Life song.



After racking up an estimated 50 parking fines in her Mini and BMW 7-Series it seems she is not the only celebrity to not want to park her treasured car too far out of sight. Singer Lily Allen has recently been reported to have had slanging matches outside her London home over parking her Mini in the street. Apparently, simply owning a Mini is enough status to not need to feed parking meters - or so she thought!

Other celebrity owners include Elijah Wood. Ok, he may be a hobbit but thats not a necessary requirement for owners of the new Mini Cooper D Clubman. With a huge 930 litre luggage capacity space is not compromised for style. And this version has style by the shed load!

Double doors at the back mirror the original estate but many innovations have been included on this Mini to bring it bang up to date. A split drivers door and folding back seats allow for easy access with plenty of storage and with the seats in the upright position, the Mini Clubman can comfortably accommodate 5 adults.

Its sporty reputation has not been lost and standard equipment to back this up includes; Dynamic Stability Control for optimum traction, a sophisticated suspension system, the latest ABS system, Electronic Brake Force Distribution, brake assist, cornering brake control, 4 disc brakes and run flat tyres. With low ground clearance, a top speed of 120 mph and lively acceleration, this model looks and feels as sporty as you would expect it to.

As far as the exterior is concerned, subtle updates include double rear wipers and chrome handles. As ususal, the Mini Clubman comes in a choice of designer colours and a choice of roof design including the nations favourite - the Union Jack - and also a fun heli-pad design. Bi-Xenon technology is integrated to provide twice the output from the dazzle free headlamps and this comes as an optional extra.

Inside, various colourways can be chosen to include black, cream, blue, yellow or red as well as that classic oak trim which can be substituted with brushed alloy, fluid silver, fine white silver or piano black - if you really had to. Sports seats, rain sensors with automatic headlight activation, heated seats and bluetooth control on a leather steering wheel are very cool optional extras to make even short journeys a true driving experience.

Safety is of optimum importance to Mini Clubmans and to this end six airbags, an ultra rigid chassis, crash boxes and highly efficient restraint systems are all incorporated.

Despite its quite pricey tag of 16,000, pounds long term this will be a very economical car. Immediately saving money on tax with its impressively low emissions at 109g/km of Co2, all due to the auto stop/start function. Fuel consumption is also set at a staggering 68.9 mpg. So fill up, go forth and enjoy!