Lost In Translation: Japan Finally Gets Mini Clubman Untold Edition We Told You About In February

The Mini Clubman Untold is, according to Google Translate’s decryption of BMW’s Japanese media release, “a special edition car that cannot be described and has never been seen before.”

Which is garbage on a couple of fronts. First, because we saw the Untold Edition, and told you about it, albeit briefly, back in February of this year. And second, it clearly can be described because BMW’s own press department managed to spend eight paragraphs talking about it.

And we’re going to devote a couple right here to recap it because this is actually a pretty cool looking limited edition. Maybe not how we’d spec our own Mini, but cool all the same, and probably the pick of the Untamed, Untold and Resolute trio of special editions launched this spring.

The Untold is limited to the Clubman body style, and for the Japanese market is limited to the Cooper D and Cooper SD diesels, which is strange because other markets also have the option of ordering it as a gas-powered Cooper, Cooper S and even with the JCW powertrain.

Related: Mini Shows Off Future Of Design With Aceman EV Concept

https://youtu.be/zHTk_4s6Avs

What makes it really pop, and lifts it above most Mini special editions, are the striking brass accents that manage to neatly navigate the tightrope between eye-catching and just plain trashy. You get a Refined Brass grille surround and central grille bar, plus rear “Clubman” lettering, door sill plates and dashboard air vents in the same color. But the 18-inch brass-colored wheels are the real heroes of the Untold’s design makeover.

This kind of sparkle might have looked hideously gaudy, but what saves it from that fate is the muted sage green colors Mini has used for the bodywork, interior trim and carpets. Even the five-row stripe kit, which runs from the leading edge of the hood to the top of the small spoiler above the Clubman’s van-style rear doors, is the soul of discretion.

Japanese Mini fans can pick up a Clubman Cooper D Untold for ¥4,690,000 ($34,256) and the the Cooper SD version for ¥5,330,000 ($38,940). Neither of those drivetrains is available in the U.S.-market Clubman Untold, but a Cooper S-tune car will set you back $41,650 in America, and the stealthy 301-hp (306 PS) JCW Untold, which can blast from zero-60 mph (96 km/h) in 4.6 seconds, stickers at $48,900. So if you miss out, don’t say we never told you so.