have to correct you on one point.... it IS a cooper, not a mini, but cooper... yes.
the late great john cooper was very pleased with the new mini, in fact he was a realist who welcomed progress. the cooper name is licenced through his son who took over the company when JC died.
sad but true, it is a cooper
good old issigonis would of bloody hated it though
no, there never was a cooper clubman, in fact the mini clubman was partly responsible for the end of the original run of classic mini coopers, so yes BMW is really screwing around with mini history.
if it makes you feel any better, most real classic mini fans hate the BMW car as well.
PS: my user name comes from my knowledge of the classic mini
PPS: my mini, sadly now gone due to my redundancy last year

this is a real mini cooper...
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVF6urRjh2Q