The MINI Clubman’s Last Adventure: Alps, Snow and a Final Goodbye

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Two years ago we created a plan for what we thought would be an epic holiday road-trip. We lined up a 2024 Final Edition MINI Clubman and headed to the Austrian Alps for great food, a few Christkindlmarkt and epic roads. What we had not planned for was the biggest snow storm in recent memory.

Before the MINI Clubman disappeared from the order books, we wanted one last chance to get re-acquainted with the car we have long called MINI’s best four door. The idea was simple enough. Fly into Munich, grab a Clubman S Final Edition and head toward Salzburg and the Austrian Alps in what has become our favorite MINI for long-distance road trips. On paper it sounded perfect. In reality we were about to drive straight into a historic winter storm.

The wagon-like Clubman has always felt like the sweet spot between utility and performance. You get almost Countryman levels of space, but in a package that sits lower, weighs less and feels more eager to change direction. In other words, more mini-like than a Countryman. We expected it to be as happy threading mountain passes as it is sitting at autobahn speeds. What we did not expect was seventeen inches of snow over two days.

There was one more wrinkle. The press car MINI handed over was not an All4 but a front wheel drive Clubman S. Normally that would give us a moment of pause when the forecast starts talking about record snow. But MINI knows how to spec a car for winter. Our Clubman arrived on a fresh set of Pirelli Sottozero winter tires mounted on 17 inch wheels. With that bit of reassurance, we grabbed the keys from an unmarked BMW garage on the edge of Munich and pointed the Clubman toward Salzburg and the autobahn.

On the highway the Clubman quietly reminds you why physics still matter. Compared to a Countryman, it carries its mass lower and feels more planted. At around 140 mph it is calm, stable and confidence inspiring. The steering has enough weight to keep you locked in, the longer wheelbase settles the car and you realize again how underrated this chassis has always been.

That night we slipped into an underground garage in Salzburg, parked the now very salty Clubman and went in search of pilsner and schnitzel. The storm was already building and the forecast looked worse by the hour. The question was not whether tomorrow would bring snow. It was whether a front wheel drive Clubman, even on proper winters, could really cope with all of it once we left the city and headed into the mountains.

We got our answer less than a minute after leaving the garage the next morning. The streets of Salzburg were covered, some barely plowed, yet the Clubman S moved through it all with a kind of casual shrug. Traction off the line, stability under braking, turn in on packed snow, it just worked. We have been preaching the virtues of winter tires on MotoringFile for years. They still manage to surprise us.

Climbing into the foothills, the snow deepened and the roads alternated between freshly plowed, partially covered and untouched. MINI quotes 190 hp for the Clubman S, but in German spec this one was slightly detuned to around 175. It did not matter. The car felt perfectly matched to the conditions. The softer “comfort” setup on our car thanks to the taller sidewalls of those 17 inch wheels, gave it a progressive, predictable feel that was ideal for low grip. Body roll was gentle, feedback was clear and the Clubman telegraphed every change in surface.

As the storm intensified, the drive somehow became even more special. The mix of winding roads, heavy snow and small alpine villages lit for Christmas felt almost unreal at times. Every town had its own Christkindlmarkt, its own church spire, its own glow in the snow. It was like driving through a film set. And then we reached Hallstatt.

If you have ever wondered where the idea of fairy tales comes from, visit Hallstatt in December. Wedged between a mountain face and an alpine lake, it looks almost too perfect from behind the wheel. With snow blowing sideways and Christmas lights in every direction, it may be the most charming village I have ever driven through. It’s even better during a snow storm when normal tourists don’t dare venture out.

In moments like that, the best car is not the one that dominates the experience. It is the one that quietly slots into the background and lets everything else shine. The Clubman was exactly that. It never put a foot wrong, even when we were relying almost entirely on GPS, intuition and the occasional road sign half-buried in snow. It just did the work and let the trip be the hero.

Our particular Clubman was spec’d for comfort more than outright performance. No sport suspension, no 18s or 19s, just those smaller 17s and a softer setup. For a long winter road-trip it was close to perfect. If this were my own car, I would still be tempted by the sport suspension and a larger wheel and tire package for year-round use, but for this drive the spec made sense.

Now comes the bittersweet part. Fast forward to 2025 and MINI Clubman Final Edition isn’t just gone, the Clubman itself has been out of is officially out of production since early 2024. MINI simply don’t sell enough during its run to justify a follow-up. The lone exception? The Japanese market where the Clubman has taken on a cult status.

For us, our late 2023 Austrian trip was the first chapter in a farewell tour. After days of carving through snow covered alpine roads, the Clubman brought us back to Salzburg without drama, then on to Munich where its relatively compact footprint made tight city parking a lot less painful than you would expect from something this practical.

Visiting Austria and Germany during the holidays feels like stepping into a living Christmas tradition, thanks to the Christkindlmarkts that seem to appear everywhere you go. They fill the big city squares with lights and music, but they also pop up in the smallest neighborhoods and quiet villages, each one with its own personality. You turn a corner in a major city and find a full market tucked between historic buildings, then drive twenty minutes and stumble onto another in a tiny town with only a few streets. Every stop offers something a little different, from handmade ornaments to regional food and mulled wine, but the feeling is always the same. Warm, inviting and just a little magical, the Christkindlmarkts become the backdrop to every journey and make the entire region feel like one connected celebration.

Eventually we found our way back to that anonymous BMW facility outside Munich, handed the keys to a polite woman in a BMW jacket and watched the Clubman disappear behind a rolling door. It felt like a real goodbye, though not a final one. A couple of months later I took delivery of the last special order JCW Clubman headed to the US. And now, as I type this, the scene feels familiar. Snow is falling hard in Chicago, the Sottozeros are on and the forecast calls for a full foot by morning. All I need now are the right roads and a plate of schnitzel at the end of them.

The post The MINI Clubman’s Last Adventure: Alps, Snow and a Final Goodbye appeared first on MotoringFile.

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