My first thought would be less and less but... I have noticed on my local club drives that I'm sometimes the only 1st Gen car there, maybe 1 other. All my 1st Gen friends when it came time to buy a new car bought something besides a MINI for one reason or another. Our drives are full of newer MINIs and they are very enthusiastic about their car just not like the 1st Gen people were with wanting to modify them. Sure they may add some vinyl, tint the windows, add a few lights or interior gadgets... No sway bars, ECU Tunes, Camber plates etc...It's just a cute/fun DD to most of them... So I say the clubs drives will continue on for years to come, it will just mainly be stock cars out driving around, and sadly more and more 1st Gen owners will be dropping by the way side as their cars get older and older and they want something newer.. The hard core enthusiasts will move on to other cars..
FWIW, I kinda like the new Clubby. I would have chosen vertical rear lights vs. the new horizontal, but the bumper cover styling is much better and the car is more proportional. As I mentioned in another thread, now that they're building a conventional wagon, they've got some pretty heady competition.
+1 to Eric's comments. This is exactly my perspective at the moment.
There are other options in this segment which are potentially more appealing, including the new X1.
And the tail lights would have looked better if kept horizontal.
I'm sure it looks even better in person. Probably needs the additional HP and torque of the JCW to properly motivate the additional weight. Will definitely have a test drive when they arrive late 2015.
