MINI Meets

This morning I drove to MINI Peabody to meet “scooterboy” (Scott Connell). When I arrived, Jayson Walkers red MCS was just leaving – he is at the dealership even more than I am!
Scott arrived shortly after (one of the rare moments when I photo a person instead of a MINI!); we compared MINIs, stereos, roofs – Scott had just fitted a static cling Union Jack decal over his sunroof (to keep the car cooler in the summer) – it looked very good and well fitted!

Scott has only owned his MINI since early July 2003, and has already put nearly 5000 miles on it! He has also upgraded his stereo system including a self powered sub under the passenger seat; it gave his system a little more low end bass than the Harmon Kardon system in my car, but it was not anything like as impressive as Jayson Walkers car (but then Jays speakers probably cost more than Scotts complete stereo install!)
Scott has also made a “decoy” faceplate to cover his aftermarket head unit, using a MINI factory head unit acquired on eBay – he kindly gave me the unused electronics from it, in case it helps with my Harmon Kardon investigations – what a nice person 🙂
I also asked him about the meaning of his cars name “TUMNUS” … he told me about “Lucy meeting Mr Tumnus, a faun, in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” (a childrens book by C.S.Lewis which I read many years ago – perhaps I should read it again when I finish with Harry Potter)!

I went to HMS Motorsport in Peabody today, to a “Car Party” which was supposed to be for many BMW and MINI owners to get together, chat, show off their cars, etc. Sadly the threat of thunderstorms seemed to scare off many owners; apart from two MINIs owned by people that work at HMS, mine was the only MINI there! I had washed and waxed it yesterday, so it looked quite good – I got an award for “Best MINI Cooper”, but since I was the only car there I feel a bit guilty!
There were some other cars there, including a great looking Nissan 300ZX which got a prize for best non-BMW:

I bought some discounted Zymol products to make GBMINI even more shiny next time I show it off, so HMS got some return for their prize 🙂
The event was nowhere near as good as the MINI Peabody events, partly because there were so few MINIs, partly because there was no free food, and mostly because the general atmosphere was much less fun.
Hopefully when they do it again next year, more MINIs will turn up and it will be a better event!