MINI Meets

Todays weather was amazing for mid-December (sunny and in the 50s) and brought a good 15+ MINI turnout for Sheenas little drive & lunch …
Many MINIs, and a classic Mini, met early in Boston for a short drive around town; Sheena led us down Newbury Street which was more of a slalom course around double parked vehicles than a road – but fun and entertaining for passers-by …

 

Then we headed to Famous Daves BBQ on Route 1, Saugus, where we collected more MINIs, and had a great lunch (I recommend the chicken, not the rib tips!):

After lunch we parked the MINIs together and took more pictures; the Famous Daves BBQ truck came over to pose with us too!

A great day, with great weather, meeting great friends and eating great food – what more could you want?! Thanks Sheena for organizing the day, and thanks everyone that showed up and made it great 🙂

UPDATE:
Be sure to check out Brians pics on Flickr – especially this “aerial view”
Also check out Sheenas Gallery pics

UPDATE 2:
Make sure to visit Peters Flickr – incredibly great pictures as always 🙂

Long time MINI owner, friend and ruler of MINIsOnTop driving directions, Richard decided to grab one of the last of the “first gen” MINIs, before the ’07 / turbo version shows up … he went from Dark Silver to Space Blue, and spec’ed his new MINI really nicely with almost everything: Premium, Sports & Cold Weather packs, and the wonderful English Leather seats.

Richard had the roof rack fittings added to the new car (he still has the roof rack from the old MINI) – it’s a bit surprising to see drills being applied to a brand new MINI even before the keys have been handed over!

Richard’s posted his first impressions over on MINI2:

The feel of the car relative to the ’03 is very noticeably better. No squeaks or rattles (at least not yet), the improved gearing is great, and there are plenty of small changes that are generally positive. I’m even starting to get used to looking for the clock in the right place. And the leather seats do not disappoint!

Great to hang out with you Richard – enjoy the new MINI 🙂

 

I headed down to Herb Chambers MINI today to meet George & Jayne, picking up their second GP, #1717 – George works away from home frequently but loves the GP so much, he wanted one for at home and one when he is away.

Unfortunately when I arrived, George was in major distress due to the long list of faults on the GP! There was an obvious dent in the rear bumper, grease marks on the passenger seat, and worst of all lots of paint blemishes – it looked like the car had been parked under dripping rusty pipes!
All these faults should have been found by Herb Chambers – but instead they were found by George after his flight up from New York (Herb Chambers MINI only prepped the car this morning).

The car was sent away to be re-buffed and it improved the paint marks; Kerry and the others at Herb Chambers MINI promised to do “whatever it takes” for George to be happy – which likely will include a full detailing by Georges local expert, a new rear bumper, and a new seat cover … with this promise George inspected the car again and decided to take it.

Great to see George & Jayne again – hope the two GPs get along well 🙂