Bagheera, the #58 MINI Cooper S of the United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC), sponsored by Hankook, will be on display at the San Jose International Auto Show January 4th through 8th. Driver Rich Peterson will be on hand Saturday and Sunday. “We’re looking forward to meeting all the MINI fans”, says Rich.

Bagheera will be shown along side other cars of the USTCC such as the Subaru WRX of Brian Lock, Niki Tam’s Skyline and the VW GTI of Brett Erickson. The USTCC display will be located in the south hall of the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.

USTCC is America's most exciting touring car racing. Cars are production-based sedans, coupes and hatchbacks with chassis and suspensions that have been modified for maximum performance. USTCC utilizes a sprint race format of 30-50 minutes so the on-track action is very intense and hard-fought. Every USTCC event utilizes a standing start which is one of the most exciting thrills in all of motorsports. No less than eleven different makes were campaigned in 2005 including: Acura, Honda, BMW, MINI, Dodge, Chevrolet, Ford, VW, Toyota, Audi, and Subaru.

 

Thanks for the info - I'll be there Saturday.
Will this be indoors?

 

ill go saturday too

 

But seeing as the show hadn't started, that would have been quite the idiot move. I'll go on Sat.

Also, there are two dollar off discount coupons available via www.sjautoshow.com so you can save a few $....

Matt

 

If you are a State Farm Customer I believe you get in free on Saturday, just check with your agent.

I will be working the BMW Exhibit on Thurs night.......

 

I live about a half hour away, but would love to meet fellow Mini-ers there, maybe for lunch at Original Joe's before or after looking at the cars? I"m open for anything....

Matt

 

After a long tow from LA in the rain (9 hours) we made it to San Jose Convention Center around 7:00pm. We brought Bagheera into South Hall (the big white tent) and cleaned up. We're displayed with the USTCC cars next to OPAK Spoon cars.

I'm not real pleased where we are but we're here now. I leaving back to LA on Tuesday and will be back up Friday night. Looking forward to seeing and talking with the MINI Manics on Saturday and Sunday.

Here is a map of the convention center, we're in the upper left Aftermarket Alley/South Hall.

 

Rich, I just printed my tickets! I have plans up in Berkeley during the day on Sat, but should be able to make it by 5pm or so. It seems that it's open until 10... Look forward to meeting you!

 

I went, and spent some time talking to Rich. He's a very nice guy, and took all the time I wanted to chat. But they stuck him out in a tent with the BOOMER car crowd (lots of noisey stereos). The show gets a B- overall. Highlights for me:

A couple of Ford GTs
The Shelby GT1? Curvy coupe....
The Jag XK replacement (starts selling in 4 months).

I have some photos of some of the concept cars. But overall, the show is mostly a large new car add! I'll post what I shot later....

Matt

ps, Tony, you'll be bummed. My fried Bill and I had some passes good for mid week, and they worked for entry on Sat!

 

Matt, I was there with my wife and her twin sister from 5 to about 7. I too also chatted with Rich for a bit, after I found him out in the boonies! Nice guy for sure. He certainly knows about heat soak with our cars as being a major issue...

If offered any one car to take home, it would have been the Ford GT. I've attached a shot. And for a car that's more reasonable, financially, the Solstice.

I've been following that car on one of its forums for almost 2 years now. I really dig the lines, 2.4 liter, RWD, convertible, and 50/50 weight-distribution... It can accomodate huge (wide) tires, and what appears to be easy stock camber adjustment, at least in the rear. The seats felt quite nice. Aftermkt mods for the Ecotec are plentiful, and there are more on the way. Matt, if the Ariel proves to be a pain to register here in CA (getting gradual feedback already that it's doable though), I'll put my GM credit card to use again on this baby (got my wife a Vibe last year and saved a bunch!). Photo attached....

 

The silver one is the Shelby prototype. The white one you clipped with mostly out of the picture is the Ford GT! But what do Berkely loving GM fans know.....

But I gotta agree, the Solstice looks like it could be a winner. Only time will tell if GM screws that one up too....

Matt

 

Matt, I was under the impression that the new one also goes by the GT name. Just checked Yahoo! autos and they do indeed refer to it as the 2006 GT. I got a couple shots of the original also, but with the back open, I couldn't see the gorgeous lines...

Yah, the Solstice could be the next Fiero, but I'm guessing that it won't, or at least be that bad... It's actually a bit heavier than our MCS, which is a little depressing. I would ditch the top and all of its components, but getting to 2,500 would be a chore, I feel... I really like how it looks though! I will monitor their forums to see what they're doing over time...

 

Bu the bean counters made them ditch the original front suspension design, and it ended up with a turning radius of a semi-rig. My dad had done consulting for them. They'd even done a paper study on a coal dust powerplant, and an electric with wheel-hub motors. No drivetrain!

Matt

 

If I recall it's supposed to look like the old Shelby Daytona

 

Something is not working right

 

I don't have one of those bitchen' Daytona Coupes either! Something is surely wrong....

Matt

 

Hey, just because the Product Manager didn't think that people were willing to pay for a given suspension, or the engineers couldn't figure out how to make it cost effectively, don't blame the finance guys. If car companies don't make money, they go bankrupt *cough* GM *cough*. Don't look now, but our own beloved rigs don't exactly turn on a dime.
No space, poor quality (seen a Fiero lately that didn't have one headlight sticking up?) and a few engine fires lead to its demise.
In fact show me ANY volume mid-engine car. The Boxster is the most numerous I can think of. And they ain't cheap. 914, X1/9, MR2 - they just don't sell in volume -i.e. enough to keep making.
</rant>

 

But you've gotta admit that there have been cases where some compramises have made a product miss it's market target.... No matter who pulled the trigger on the compramise....

Matt

But in the case of the Fiero, it went a long way downhill from the first concept cars. They ended up using the front suspension from the Chevy Citation (if the grey matter is still working). The engine fires are only on the 6 cylider, and a pop-up headlight not working on a 20 year old car isnt' so surprising. If you look at Fiero stuff, there are still enthusiast web sites, and someone even made aftermarket heads for the beast!

 

I took a few photos. I think my favs are the show sign, and the chrysler dash...



The new Si


The Gawd Awful Dodge Kahuna


The Crossfire


I think it's called the Ford Vault or something...


The Jeep Compass


This Chrysler is boring on the outside...

But the dash is sweet!

 

Matt, I liked the Compass. And the inside of the Chrysler is awesome, and not just the dash... the seats were really cool!

 

But the Kahuna almost made me hurl.....

Matt

I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of your wife's next car (Solstace) or the new Jag....

 

it was awesome to talk to rich!!!

The show...I don't like any of the concepts they had, especially that dodge thing...and the new subaru's...front end it fugly

 

But what do you expect, from a 13 month old...

The Subie, and the new Audi front. Make a statement. Like a turd in a punchbowl! Also, the Mercedes R watever looks like a total dog too. I didn't relly like the new S500 either...

I was really dissapointed in most of the offerings. All the Japanese sedans look the same, like melted plastic shaped in a wind tunnel. The BMW stand was full of people, all looking to move into something that is a technically sound car, but Banglized, and growing in every dimension.

I also thought it was funny that while they used the Mini as the sign, the Mini display was small, with a Cooper, an S and a Cabrio. But I did see Space Blue in person. Not pretty enough for me to go trade in my 02 CR/W.

I liked the Saabs, not my style, but sound designs (exept for the SUV), but my fav is still the Jag XK replacement.

Matt

 

This thread seems to have drifted far from "Road racing discussion"

 

Maybe it's just in the wrong home...

For once, it's a thread that has stayed on the thread title for more than 5-10 posts!!! That in iteslf it commendable...

If you want, you can move it to one of the CA forums, or some other non-racing forum..... Whatever.

Matt