GBMINI#3 – Page 19 – M&I / GBMINI

See the duck on Long Island

Posted on September 25, 2005February 10, 2017 by Ian C.

In honour of Ed, I headed down to Long Island this weekend to join some Long Island MINI owners and tour Long Island; I met Chris at the New London ferry (he had driven down from New Hampshire), and we crossed to Long Island the easy way …

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Then early yesterday morning I met up to 20 other MINIs at a mall near New York City, where the rally started (and ended!):

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We headed off to drive a total of about 180 miles! For me there was too much driving and not enough stopping – we passed lots of beautiful scenery and towns, but stopped only rarely …

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But one important place we did stop was the Big Duck!

The Big Duck

GBMINI#3 at The Big Duck

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The Big Duck

Group picture at The Big Duck

Lunch was at a golf “country club” which had trouble coping with an “invasion” of 30+ MINI people – food was excellent but slow. On the other hand, the weather was fabulous!

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Background – why the Big Duck:
Ed (MaxaMINI) developed his duck theme from a tour round Long Island organized by RobFriedman; see see this post on MINI2, where Ed writes:
Sorry ladies and gents it be no Giant Duck. Cheez it’s plain to see they are merely mini people. Come on get real. Giant duck! Have you ever in your life seen a duck this big? Of course not. That’s quite impossible and you know it. Look how small those cars are. Could real size people operate them? Of course not. Mini people and Mini cars. Get it.

Jasons Drive 2005

Posted on September 18, 2005February 19, 2017 by Ian C.

A “tradition” at the end of British Invasion (see also 2003 and 2004) is to follow Jason around as he leads a groups of MINIs around the back roads of Vermont – he lives locally and knows the roads well!
This year only three MINIs joined in, perhaps due to the damp weather – but we still had fun and got in a couple of photo ops; the weather made the winding downhill section particularly challenging – I was very glad to follow Jason, knowing that he knew the road well …

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British Invasion 2005

Posted on September 18, 2005February 19, 2017 by Ian C.

Another year, another trip to Stowe for British Invasion (see also 2003 and 2004)

Once again, a serious amount of rain made the show field very muddy, and I think many cars were put off – the attendance looked down from previous years, and modern MINIs counted more than classics this year, for the first time (14 moderns, 11 classics):

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Many other British cars too, old & new, including a handful of $$$$$ Astons – all owned by the same guy (that’s just showing off)!

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I was thrilled this year to get first prize in the peoples choice – what’s more, the prize plaque was the correct color for GBMINI#3; a really nice Mini pickup, owned by Shannon, got first in the classic Mini section:

GBMINI#3 gets first prize

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On the Sunday, more overnight rain caused the “backseat driver” event to be cancelled. There were a few “tailgate picnic” entrants and a reasonable turnout for the “parade of colors” displays, but many people had headed home. But one Mini / MINI pair had accidentally posed for me:

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