'Cause I still love to play with cars, especially little British ones.

 

Good resale value.

 

For a few reasons:


I thought they were totally sweet looking.

I looked at the wheel placement right at the corners of the car and realized the thing must handle like a beast.

SUPERCHARGED!!!!

6-speed baby!

Awesome interior.

Cool center exhaust.

 

Italian job. Odd, I know, but that's where the MINI first got my attention. I had been saving up for some time prior to the Italian job because I knew I would need a new car for school(50 mile commute). Prior to the IJ, my eyes were set on a WRX, another impressive rally sport car. But, as you ALL know, its NO MINI! The italian job first got my attention, but the further investigation sold me on the car. As for what point it was that I said "YES, a MINI it will be!" im not exactly sure, but it was the FUN factor that sold me in the end. Im probably one of the more fun people you will EVER meet. Everything with me is about, how to make it fun. So the MINI is my car! Then finally, this June, i "bit the bullet" and dumped all savings on my 2-year DREAM CAR . Havent regretted since!

 

My brother-in-law, who owned a new '67 Austin Cooper S, showed me the brilliant, mind-controlling MINIUSA website, and that was IT...I was sucked into the burgeoning MINI-cult!

I had been bored by auto design for a long time, but when I saw the first image of the new MINI online, I was SOLD! I immediately googled MINI COOPER and found the 3 main sites: NAM (formerly known as MCO), Roadfly, and MINI2. I absorbed all the info I could, reading all the earliest owner's info! As soon as I could, I ordered my first MINI! I love these cars and I love our community!



Clover

 

Not at all. That movie was a great big ad for MINI.

It's not much different from the rush of pilot applicants Navy recruiters got after Top Gun...

 

Funny story, when the MINI first came out, i was 15, and i HATED them. Seriously have no idea why. (probably the crippling jealousy ) Every single one i saw driving down the street i wanted to throw a rock at. Then i pulled up next to an S, and revved my engine in my brothers ... Saab 900 convertible(also a fun ... car btw), and he kicked my A$$, oh my god, i looked in to it and went to the Chicago Auto show and fell in love. A couple of years later i picked up my own with some of my own money, and here i am today, and i couldnt be happier with my decision .

P.S., i was looking at used imprezza 2.5 rs from like 97 b4 the MINI

 

a Harley. And, I asked at the time we were closing the deal on...get this...HER new car.

Voila.

MINI.

 

same here, only it was a 68.I also owned a morris minor woody(traveller) and a Vespa 400 (CAR), so my history with micro cars caught up with me when I saw the first picture of the new MINI in Auto week.Nov. 2001 put 500 down on a car I wouldn't get for another 10 months.NO REGRETS!( even after 6 windscreens)

 

I've wanted one for a long time and I'm finally close to getting one. Or at least that's what the dealer tells me. If he ever actually gives me the number I can track on on the web site. But he promises early December.

I used to work for DaimlerChrysler and worked with the guys upstairs who were working on the new MINI engine with BMW That was back when it was just "Chrysler". They had a brand new Classic Mini Cooper (bonnet stripes, driving lights, the works) that they'd let me take home and play with once in a while. I loved it. Ever since then, I've wanted one. That and I read a lot of British magazines like Autosport and Car and that's probably permanently warped my brain. I find myself writing "tyres" half the time and treating company names as plural ("BMW are a fine company").

Oh, and when I was in college I had a '76 VW Rabbit. Ever since then I've liked small, light, fun cars.

Mark

 

So I can get chicks!

http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=be...ges/beavis.gif

 

For me it was love at first sight. I first saw pictures of the MINI on the cover of auto mags before the car was even for sale. As I began to read about the car and understand the Mini and the John Cooper legacy, I just fell deeper and deeper. As I visited website like NAM and motoringfile (mco and bridger.us/mini at the time) and learned more about the passion of MINI owners I fell deeper yet. What is not to love.

 

To put it as simply as possible, it's the most fun car I've ever driven. My 1993 Miata (with aftermarket suspension...Racing beat springs and sways, and Koni adjustable shocks) was the best, but the Mini does it better in every way possible. The handling is as good, if not better, than my old Miata, the interior is superior eye-candy, it's faster, has better practicality, and so on. As far as hatchbacks...loved them since I was a youngster in elementary school. GTIs (past and present) have always held a place in my heart & mind, my 1987 Toyota Corolla FX-16 GTS (hatchback with the MR-2 engine in it) was my first car and I loved that one too, and all those hot-hatches available in Europe and Japan that were never available over here, and still aren't! I test-drove quite a few cars before the Mini and after the Mini (I test-drove the Mini 4 times, twice before I put my deposit down)...some were the Subaru WRX and Forester XT (turbo), the Infiniti G35 Coupe and 4-door, the Mitsubishi Evo, the VW GTI turbo, the Mazda 3s hatchback, the Scion xB, a used BMW M-Coupe (the lil' shoebox-looking thing), and so on! I loved the Mini so much and can't wait to get it...it's awaiting transport as I write this. The anticipation is just making it so much sweeter...I'm also getting the JCW pkg with it! Thanks for reading.

 

Welcome to NAM. Congrats on your soon-to-arrive MINI. I am so stoked for you.

 

I've had classic Minis for twenty years. I got to sit in the prototype MINI in about '96 and fell in love with it. It's a perfect evolution of the classic!

 

Thanks Biggripper...I'll post pics, of course, when it arrives!!!

 

I've always liked small cars. I also like unique cars. I wanted a car that when somebody looks at it, they instantly know what kind of car it is. The Mini is also relatively inexpensive. I also like the "retro" look of the Mini, even though I fully feel that it is a "different" car than the original Mini.

When I test drove one and experienced the handling for myself, I had to get one.

 

Since 1979 I had really missed the '69 VW Beetle that I traded in on a new car. I loved being up close to the window, the distinctive design, the sound of the engine, the tight turning radius. Then I began to see articles about the new MINI concept and was intrigued, especially by what was labeled....the 'go-cart' feel. In July 2001 my wife and I took advantage of BMW's European pick-up program and flew to Munich to get her '325 is' and vacation in Italy. When we arrived, there were a half dozen Mini's sitting in the parking lot and I actually got to sit in one.......immediately wanting to buy one and take it home with me (I didn't). That's when I knew I would buy one as soon as they reached American shores. In March 2002 when a dealership opened in my own neighborhood I took one of the first test drives and plunked down a deposit.......the rest is history. It's like having my old Beetle back.....and much, much more!

 

One of the first cars I remember was a Matchbox Cooper. Hot Wheels came out with a really cool one in 2000 (old style) with a checkerboard roof and a removable body that exposes basically the car's true identity–a bad-assed go cart. So that's probably the emotional one. The practical ones, engineering, the handling, the value have already been mentioned. I did not buy it for the runflats! https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...te=1&p=420165#

 

Only car I could buy that would fit in the garage without having to move all my stuff.

 

jsouz, I had a Harley!!! 2003, 100th Anniversary, Black, Electra Glide Ultra Classic. I owned the bike for 13 months and put 19,400 miles on it. I loved to ride!!! It was my mental therapy!!!

Then it happened, A serious motorcycle wreck, in November 2003 on my way to work, that almost killed me according to my ER Nurse, my daughter!! I spent a week in ICU at Vanderbilt University Hospital, and, almost lost my left eye and left arm. They wouldn't let me go back to work for 7 months, I'm a cop.

Then I started looking for a replacement. Had to have something with character, style, performance, safety and a following that would rival HD.
I ordered my Mini before I ever got to actually drive one. The wife picked out the color, yellow, says she wants to make sure I will be seen!!! For some reason I new this car would be the one!!!!!

My Mini is a part of me!! It is everything that it is billed to be and I'll always have a Mini in the stable!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I only knew I wanted one, but knew not what to do. I told the Dealer ' Put everything on it ' . Of course, that got me NAV, backup parking device, and some more useless goodies. When it came time to build, the only thing I said was "she wants silver' and so it is. Hi Ho Silver.

I had not seen a catalogue, not gone to MINIUSA, nothing. Blind.

And I have not a single regret other than I have never driven (I have ridden) a Harley, and now, I never will. Need to.

JPS

 

We now call them LADIES.

 

oldhippie, I am so sorry you had to go through that. It is something I see all too often as an ICU RN. I am sure that you have heard the nickname "Donor-cycle" by now...as most victims of motorcycle crashes don't make a recovery at all.

But we sure are glad to have an Old Hippie as a fellow MINIac. The MINI world is a motoring enthusiast melting pot.

 

What a great thread - I love it.

Well, my OBSESSION with the MINI AND the Mini started with, you guessed it, The Italian Job. Yes, I'm one of the masses that saw this movie and fell instantly in love with these little powerhouses.

Before seeing the movie, I had already developed an animosity towards the bigger the vehicle, the better, i.e. full sized SUVs and the awful dreaded grocery-getter taking the kids to soccer practice minivan that insists on going 50 mph in the left lane.

BUT, I had never seen a MINI in the area I live (NE Ohio). Until one day, I saw one! It was a MC, CR/W. They actually existed? I started internet searches, and it was all over. Two weeks later, my deposit was down, and I was counting the SECONDS until Dobby got here (see the May 2004 thread!).

I NEVER want another car. I have never in my life been IN LOVE with a car. Never understood why people spent hours detailing their cars and babying their cars. NOW I do.

I have had him for six months. I still EVERY time I see him. Ear to ear!