Everywhere I go people seem intrigued by my Cooper. They all wonder what it's like to drive such a "small" car (I'm 6'2") or how well it handles, what the gas mileage is, etc.

The main reason I fell for my MINI is that all other cars seem to look the same. I have this theory that all cars these days look like Camrys or Taurus'. When I was shopping for a car I wanted something that not everyone else had. Even cars that are unique like the Scion SB box thing seem to be all over the place. I know there are other HC Clubmans running around but I may see one once a month or less.

Before I got my MINI I drove a 1966 Baja Bug for 16 years! Another car that no one had!

I want to lead the way for the revolution!! NO MORE BORING CARS!!

This makes me wonder why all of you chose MINI?

 

I wanted one since the day I first saw a classic mini that a high school teacher of mine drove. At that time they weren't even available in the US... and I was 13.

 

After test driving about 15 other models, I knew right after I took that first turn on the test drive that this was the car for me. Haven't looked back since, and am now a 3 MINI/mini family.

 

My wife wanted a MINI for the longest time but felt too confined. She started to get interested in them again about the time that the clubman was introduced but we could not afford it. . Unfortunately my wife has become visually impaired and had to give up driving but she sees enough to know. Quick story, we went to a mall near us to buy some socks and in the mall was a MINI display by a local dealer, well she now jokes about her $27k pair of socks. Needless to say, we went out the following week and test drove a CM. I was out of work at the time and was recovering from a serious car accident I also needed to find a car that had seats that I could sit in without any back pain and that would be fun to drive. needless to say, it was true love at first drive. The sport seats and the way it handled sold us. Now we had to wait and agonize. In July I started my dream job and after my last visit with a back specialist we finally placed our order. Delivery should be towards the end of September.

 

A friend of mine at work came back after the holidays with an S. Before riding in his, I had never even considered a MINI. After I rode in it, I went to test drive one. After that, it was all I could think about. I've only had mine for about 4 months now, but I must say that it is the most fun car I have ever had, and I look forward to driving it every chance I get -- even in crappy traffic. The last time I looked forward to driving like this was too many years ago when I was my son's age and my license was shiny and new. (Does that make me sound like an old fart?)

 

I agree with you TiggerGTO. I look forward to any chance to drive the Cooper! I think that's one of the best reasons to own one.

 

I tell anyone who asks me to just go take a test drive. After 5 minutes I was hooked. now on Mini number 2 and can not imagine not having one.

 

I needed (wanted, really) a car that could accelerate and pass other vehicles without much effort. My 2.5L Wrangler couldn't do that, and since I had gone from a bored 454 in a '74 Nova to the Wrangler, I missed a car with a real engine. The MINI fit that bill and then some.

That, and it's cute as hell.

 

Same here...I had the Scion xA when it was new. I just love small and unusual cars....also love that every time I see a MINI it is different than the last one I saw.

 

I fell in love with Mini Coopers after watching, "The Italian Job". They were so unique and fun looking, I could not wait to own one.

Thing is, They all stand out to me and have performance to boot. They are not a "One Trick Pony"!!!!!

Ufomini

 

We were looking for a car to replace my wife's Toyota Corolla. We looked at Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Subaru and then I remembered that my ex boss told me how fun Mini Coopers were. Well we stopped at the Mini dealer who was right down the street from the Honda dealer. By the way all the other cars we looked at were boring and uninspiring and not worth the money in my opinion.

My wife took a test drive and just loved the car. I sat in the back and our MA sat in the passenger side. My wife was so enthused that I wanted to drive one. She drove just a cooper but I wanted to drive the S with a 6 speed. Need I say more? We bought 2 and ended up both getting MCS's. Her's auto and mine the 6 speed. The handling, size, fuel economy and fun factor did it for me. I have had high horsepower cars all my life and drive a 2005 GTO 400 horse with a 6 speed so I know what HP and acceleration is. I didn't know what driving a street legal go cart was all about. That's why we bought em. My wife is a car woman. She likes to go the Top Fuel Funny cars etc etc. She likes to get up and go as well so this was a natural.

The rest as they say is history. Still have the GTO 109K and it still runs like a champ.

Regards,

Pat

 

Because you can't fit two adults and a baby seat in a Miata.

 

I have loved the MINIs style since 2002. A co-worker has a older MC with 200k miles on it and is still in love with it. My dodge blew out a wheel bearing ( the wheel fell off!!!). I went shopping for "something" and on the used lot at my local toyota dealer.There sat the most perfect BRG 05 MCS! I winked at her, she winked back. and next thing I know I'm signing papers.

 

I always liked the look of the mini's, both the originals and modern versions. I also liked the fact that they were rare where I live and how even when you see several of them in one place, they all are unique to the driver. But I was hooked when I test drove a 2003 MC. I have never had so much fun behind the wheel.

It wasn't until this year that I was able to purchase a 2006 MC. Now I look for excuses to get out and drive...:D

 

'Cause I wanted a MINI!

Dave

 

After a lot of close calls and 2 crashes, I decided I was done riding sport bikes. I needed something a little more practical but still very nimble and fun. I also wanted something with decent fuel economy. Looked at a handful of vehicles but one ride in the MINI sold me.

Every time I add a new mod, it's like a new car and I fall in love with it again. It's great that there is a big aftermarket for fun stuff, and a great community too. That's why I'll KEEP my MINI

 

For me, it was quite a surprise. . .I have owned more motorcycles than I have cars, and all of my cars were more toys than anything: 54 Ford Coupe, 7 Lincoln Cont. 2door Cartier Edition Town Coupe, Granada, Galaxy 500. . .oh,and a Del Sol.

I had been looking mainly at Subaru, I LOVE the WRX. Looked at a few other options, but I never in a thousand years thought I would end up in a MINI.

It was love at first drive. I was sold. After doing a bunch of researching, and seeing the passionate following and sub-culture, I knew I needed a MINI in my life. I have really fallen in love with it, and I can comfortably say, my next car will more than likely be another MINI(JCW). It is the most fun I have ever had on 4 wheels for a daily driver, perfect for getting around the congested city, insurance is reasonable, gas is reasonable, and it even serves as a good utilitarian car for hauling the occasional load for work.

 

I always thought minis were cool. I was born in England and when we moved to Canada (I was two) I remember my mother driving a small red car. (turns out it was a mini)

Anyway, I always thought they were cool and one day I walked out of a target and there sat a first generation in light blue with white wheels and a white roof.

I knew I had to have one. I remember my wife looking at me when she saw the look in my eyes and said... “oh, here we go again....” LOL.

4 minis later and I still love ‘em. Now if i could just find a wrecked clubman to convert to a pickup, I’d be set.


Mark

 

...cause my wife said - DON'T test drive that car, after she had a ride in a friend's R53...

Challenge!

 

Orangecrush,
Your MINI is awesome looking! I hope you find that clubman to turn into a pick up. Can't wait.

 

I thought the original minis were awsome when my buddy had one in his shop doing some performance upgrades to it. I laughed at its miniture stature until I sat in it. I am 6'3" and fit nicely...then the new generation took to the streets but we had just bought a RSX so we waited a couple years and then we were planning for a family so a bigger 4X4 SUV filled the slot. So now we are shopping for a replacement for our 04 MDX and were looking at the likes of a RDX, SC-60, X1/X3 etc...you know....crossover type, small SUVs. We were at the BMW dealer looking at a X1 that my wife wasn't too attracted too, so I told her to have a look in the Mini side of the dealer while I crunched some numbers with the BMW salesman. She came back with the biggest smile on her face, I never seen her so excited over a car before. She said "They have a Mini SUV"
We drove it and loved it, we both like to "drive" our cars, back to a 6 speed is a welcome change and it is way more fun than the pervious mentioned cars. Needless to say the rest is history. We found what we wanted....basically a All4 S with all the packages, so we have a 2012 all black with black wheels just out of production.

The best thing is they gave us a brand new 2011 loaner until the 2012 arrives, now thats great service. Also free service for the first 3 years. Now I just have to convince the wife to let me enter it into the Targa next year.

Hey BMUN8IVE I had a slammed 79 Mark 5 Signature Series.

 

Warning...This turned very long winded, but being I've had my Mini for an entire three days, I'm a bundle of energy right now!

For me, I'm an oddball for unusual cars. I started with and still my my 98 Ford Contour (Mondeo across the waterway). It was an odd car because it was small displacement V-6 with a fantastic exhaust note. There was also an SVT version, so there is a good following for the cars, and notable handling for he other cars in it's class.

After a while, I wanted to buy a beater car to try and not ruin my Ford on a daily basis. So being in school, I opted for old and cheap. By the end of it, I had restored a 1986 Cavalier.

Driving the Cavalier was okay, but it was just too slow, so I started looking for power, but something under the radar. And I came across a small town borough selling off a Caprice Interceptor, which was oddly enough under the radar!

The Caprice was fun, but it was too much power after some light mods. I was commuting ~76 miles a day, and none of which did I really properly motor. So sadly, I needed to do a responsible thing, and get something that might go in the snow and would curve my speeding habits. Queue in the Subaru Outback: 2.5L of slush-box. It was much better from a built-quality stand point, and it went in snow. But the outback never really stopped. My 2001 is before the traction control became a standard feature. So it truly is a hassle to stop such a heavy car with a small motor and sub-par (normal for Subaru) brakes.

On the side a Friend and I have been working on a 1976 Triumph TR7. A bit of a Brit road rally ally(or rival) for a Mini!

So this summer I started looking at small, fun cars to replace the Subaru. Here is what I found:
Mazda 2, The inside of a Mazda 2 was just so unexciting. All black. Different textures sure, but the appearance became generic, then it felt cheap even though it seemed really well put together. The motor is 100hp, which is just 20-40 short of where it should be. The metal-flake green is a fantastic color, although the exterior just one color. It lacks trim. Bold but not beautiful.
Mazda 3 - I've heard alot of good driver reviews, but some bad about Mazda ownership as well. The three's apparently have rear suspension issues where you need struts < every 40K-50K. And after all the dead rotatory motors and engine deaths in the V-6, I just don't know if I would want one long term. Mazda Speed 3 would be blast, but pricey and parts/supply are only now coming back after the stall of parts from Japan.
Ford Fiesta - had more power than Mazda 2, but only a five speed, and till you option one out, it was quite a bit for a fiesta, might as well go buy an slightly used Fusion.
Ford Focus: I personally didn't like the new Focus bumper and again optional interior trim adds $$$ And might as well look at a base model Fusion.
Honda CRZ looked cool, but hybrids and overpriced eco-ness isn't my class of style.
Honda Civic - The staple of small, cheap, reliable transportation. If you left it stock, which I wouldn't, it is a good car. The Civic is also the Staple of fart-can rasp, useless glowing light mods, un-tuned turbos, and large void that no matter how "awesome" Civic might be, the Germans did it first with the VW.
VW Golf/Jetta - The modding/club/forum crowd likes silly stretched tires and rusted hoods. Hanging out at Quizno's and seeing who has the brightest, sight-destroying HIDs is always on the top of a priority list...
Hyundai Elantra has gotten huge and fat from what it once was, makes me sad but they rust buckets north of the snow lines in the northeast.
Nissan Versa is just a puke of a little car. Not to be mean, but the car is a ugly pug of a design, especially when Nissan has some much nice styled cars like the GTR, but none of that cool, sport design shows up here. Even the Sentra SE-R has some street-cool, but not the Versa.
Saturn was nicked off the block,
Chevy Cobalt was nicked like a red-headed step-child.
Chevy Cruze - Another blandish American four door, although the headlights a bit cool, the next 12ft of car is blah.
Dodge, Never, there is local dodge dealer, so naturally we have alot of Dodge vehicles about, I've seen too many issues from their cars, even the ones that seem reliable will just go out on you, and Dodge doesn't make a Hatch, let alone a car that weights under 2 tons.
Subaru also forgot how to make smaller cars, even the new Impreza are still much bigger than the 90's. And I didn't really want to go back to another Subaru because my current one is really a good car, but it is a no thrills car. And a WRX/STI are just a bit expensive to purchase/own/insure. The new generation is also completely going way from the EJ22/EJ25 blocks and going to a completely revamped 2.0L. When they made the EJ25, Subaru labored through three years of cars with bad head-gaskets. A new 2012 Subi would make me very nervous!
Scion Any letter of the Alphabet followed by an X- if you own one, you hat needs to be on wrong, and will need a gold sticker that shows your special when it comes to crocked hats. Not to be mean, but stating the truth. Market segment are sub-28 years old, and for lack of a better word, do not know of motoring history, nor do they care. They want a new car that looks bling at the price of a Toyota.
Toyota Yaris - To own one as a girl, is okay. The Yaris is a cute car, with not natural ability to be mean, or even look mean. As a man, if you own a Yaris, you need to have a man bag, and probably a small dog. And personally, If I had a man bag and a small dog, I would use the bag to hide the small dog in my Yaris, which I would have to park at the very farthest end of the parking lot.

So that pretty much brought me to the Mini Cooper: road racing history, tight handling, quick throttle, six well placed gears. Not too quick, but the motor makes the right kind of noise when you bring it up to speed. The Cooper is reasonably priced for the sportiness. The car is readily identifiable, and is lovable cute, but not happy Yaris cute. Good on gas, fun to drive, unique inside and out, and has a solid group of motoring enthusiasts that understand it isn't all about power and speed, but sometimes its about the drive and the experience.

 

After my first test drive I was hooked - it was the most fun car I'd driven in over 5 years and instantly made me want one. The gas mileage is a bonus

 

Great answer, well said!

 

Pat, I had an 04 GTO when it was only put out 350 hp. I really liked the car, but I didn't keep it very long. The MINI is so much more fun to drive and I anticipate having this car for a long time.