MINIsOnTop proclamation

Posted on by Ian C.

For the very first MINIsOnTop back in 2003, a small “coup” was a proclamation from the then Governor of New Hampshire, Craig Benson, declaring June 21, 2003 “MINI Cooper Day”.

This has since become a tradition, with the date each year declared “MINI Cooper Day” in New Hampshire – this year was no exception. It was decided this year to present the proclamation to MINI USA, so first each of the “yellow shirt” volunteers wrote a small note to accompany it:

MINIsOnTop MOT2005 proclamation
MINIsOnTop MOT2005 proclamation signed by everyone
MaxaMINI’s signature

(including one of the last messages from MaxaMINI)

The proclamation was (eventually) fully signed and delivered to MINI USA – and much appreciated:
… Gerry Matthews and Jim McDowell, loved the Proclamation. They showed it to Tom Purves [chairman and CEO of BMW (US) Holding Corp] who is having it framed and hung in the Executive Dining Room …

All of this to say:
MINIsOnTop will happen again in (mid June) 2006! If you are interested, join in the chat on MINI2.

Auto up windows – the continuing saga

Posted on by Ian C.

So I decided I would no longer sell the auto-up-windows MINI circuit due to the time involved, but I happily discussed & worked with Aaron at OutMotoring for him to sell the circuit – I started the process by ordering parts.
Then, the MCAW appeared. In further discussions, we concluded that it would not be viable for OutMotoring to sell the MINI circuit with this new competitive product on the market – Aaron would have needed to charge more than I used to sell for, and my price already is a little higher than the MCAW.

So I had a problem. I had parts to build a batch of (128) MINI circuits, but it would cost me even more to build them – and then I would be back to selling them myself. I also had no idea if all future auto-up-windows customers would buy the lower cost MCAW. But I decided to complete the build, which leads me to:

I received this batch recently, let the waiting people on my email list know, and told them also about the MCAW. I don’t know if people prefer the “original” and proven (1000+ installed) MINI circuit, or if the price difference is not too significant, but either way I have received nearly 20 orders yesterday & today.

So the MINI circuit is once again available, for now at least.

More from MINI UK

Posted on by Ian C.

I received a couple more “collectibles” from MINI UK via eBay seller BMWpitstopshop recently, but I think these will come in very useful – giant beach towels! They come in either a “checkered roof” or “Union Jack roof” design, and “roof” is the right word because they are as big as a MINIs roof! I am not a small guy, but the towel reaches from under my shoulders to my ankles, and wraps round me about 1-1/2 times!

Minolta DSC
Minolta DSC

The towel quality is not fabulous, but for an “everyday wear” beach towel it will be perfect (if the quality was too good you wouldn’t want to use it!)