COOPERS For CAREGIVERS tomorrow!

Posted on by Ian C.

As mentioned earlier this week, I am leading a parade drive around the north shore tomorrow to promote the activities of caregivers … the 18 MINIs will be delivering a gift basket to a selected caregiver in each of 9 towns covered by Deborah, the “caregiver support specialist” that came up with the idea.
The gift baskets have been packed today by Margaret, my wife, and our neighbour Pat – they look very good and just squeeze into the MINI:


We have some local media coverage, attendance by Massachusetts dignitaries, and of course the MINIs to help draw attention to the event – we also have reasonable, dry but cool weather.

Changes Coming to MINI

Posted on by Ian C.

As reported in various rumours on MINI2 and MotoringFile over the past months, and now getting confirmed everywhere, especially in this MINI2 news article, there are lots of changes coming to MINI for the ’05 model year (which should affect MINIs delivered to USA sometime in September) …
Indi Blue is being dropped (I like my Indi Blue, but the new blue(s) look good too);
Reversing lights move to the main tail light cluster, and the (optional) rear fog light moves into the bumper (I think it looks worse there than the white reversing light on my car);
Different exterior chrome designs (look quite nice);
A larger rear view mirror (it might help with rear view – which I have no problem with – but it will also increase the forward view blind spot which is not a good thing);
Additional interior storage (good – though there are aftermarket solutions readily available);
Body coloured interior trim option on the MCS (very nice; it would be nice if the pieces could be retrofitted to older cars but I don’t think that will be possible due to the change to the passenger airbag position);
Small horsepower increase on the MCS (takes it to 170hp);
Unconfirmed suspicions of losing the 6 speed gearbox on the MCS (I think this must be an error in the reporting).
Overall I think change is good. Already (as discussed in my recent MC40 thoughts) there are very few exactly identical MINIs – now with these changes there will be a whole new batch of subtle differences for MINI fanatics to spot. I look forward to MINIsOnTop 2005 when there should be a good gathering of different looks of MINI …

A thought about MINI uniqueness

Posted on by Ian C.

A thought occurred to me today!
At the moment there are about 70,000 MINIs in USA. There are many factory options available – body color, roof color, wheel style, seat style, combo 1/2/3 or individual options, etc.
It is hard to believe that there is any one specification of MINI that occurs in USA more than a few times – find another MINI that looks like yours and you are bound to find some differences.
So, what about the Special Edition MC40. Here we have 1000 MINIs all absolutely EXACTLY the same. You cannot order any special feature from the factory. This NorthAmericanMotoring discussion shows the dealer sticker listing the base car at $19,899 and then $7,000 for the “Monte Carlo Commemorative Package (MC40)”.
So these special edition MINIs are going to be more common than any other MINI in USA! I don’t think I want one 😉