ALLGBMINI – Page 103 – M&I / GBMINI

Driving an R56 MINI Cooper Convertible

Posted on May 2, 2010February 16, 2017 by Ian C.

Thanks to Brig, Joel, and all at MINI of Peabody, I got to enjoy today’s fun MINI rally in beautiful weather in this 2009 MINI Cooper Convertible with only 4,300 miles on it! It looked really nice inside, especially the Piano Black dash:

During the rally, it was very nice to drive, easy to shift gears – but noticeably lacking in power, at least compared to my GP and Q5! On the other hand, I still think it’s somewhat of a positive to have to shift gears more to keep the car performing well – it makes for a more interactive MINI experience, than with an S!
The ride was particularly good, even on the equipped 17″ wheels, and it wasn’t very windy or noisy on the highway either.
Of course, I know from experience how cold the MINI convertible is in New England winters, so it’s not the car for me … but it’d be fabulous a bit further South 🙂

MINI of Peabody 2010 Spring Rally

Posted on May 2, 2010February 16, 2017 by Ian C.

Stop Press! It didn’t rain this year!

Thanks to the kindness of MINI of Peabody, I was able to enjoy another fabulous Spring Poker Rally, and so did loads of other MINI owners:

On the road. Our first “playing card” pit stop was at Hrach’s Mini Museum, at the end of some tight back roads and down a dead end street – it caused major chaos and traffic jams for the MINIs and other local traffic!

To avoid the chaos, we chose to skip Hrach’s (hopefully I can get to it some other time) – and then we were all alone on the roads! But after getting our extra playing cards, and getting very cold at Singing Beach (the Sun lost out to the Ocean there, some 20 degrees colder!), we headed back to MINI of Peabody to be created in with a checkered flag, and a final playing card: