MOT’11 Riding as the King

Posted on by Ian C.

Now that the Coupe embargo has lifted, I can post pictures from my “Kingly” ride up Mount Washington in the passenger seat of the Coupe – a very enjoyable ride, chatting with a great guy (Thomas) experiencing his first trip up the mountain, and taking pictures of the drive instead of my normal driving!

As for the Coupe:
Initial thoughts seeing it from the outside were somewhat disappointing, as without the “boxy” rear it looks very un-MINI-like; however like the Countryman, it has perfect MINI styling inside and of course handles and sounds like a MINI too (though of course I don’t know what it’s like to drive!)
The Coupe felt much higher quality that MINIs I’ve owned – I noticed that too with the Countryman test drive, but the Coupe seems improved again. Great looking / feeling leather, and generally a nice finish. Good job, MINI.

OK, now for some pictures:

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NOTE: for those wondering how I got to ride in a pre-production, un-released, car: MINI USA fabulously offered this “prize” in a fund-raising auction during MINIsOnTop, and my high bid goes to Make-A-Wish and the Mount Washington Observatory.

MOT2003 video

Posted on by Ian C.

MINIsOnTop 2003 was a long time ago! 70+ MINIs had gathered for mid-summer at Mount Washington, from a forum discussion on MINI2 – I remember talking to someone afterwards who said that they had seen the discussions, and sent a check off to someone called Steve Barnatt, with no idea who Steve was or if he even existed. They figured, worst case they had lost the money and would have a nice weekend in New Hampshire!

As it turned out, all of us had a fabulous weekend, with spectacular weather and when we finally reached the summit of Mount Washington, clear sky, warm air, and an amazing sunset. Few of the 2003 attendees are still present so for everybody new to MINIsOnTop, here’s a quick video edit of that first year, courtesy of Animoto and YouTube:

Hmmm … video capabilities like this were non-existent in 2003; how curious will our MOT2011 activities be in another decade?! Hopefully at least the cars and the camaraderie won’t have changed too much.