My girlfriend doesn't get "the whole MINI thing"

[Marlow Main]

Everyone should have a vehicle that they are absolutely crazy about at least once in their life time...and someone that understands that feeling to share it with . My husband is not a 'cult' member, but he loves to tease me about my "obsession" and then point out mods I might need.
It is a good life!!

[wbarnhill]

Originally Posted by Wizeguy9999

THIS POST IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PICTURES!!

KIDDING! KIDDING!

I call dibs since she's closer. Gotta get some clubbin lubbin.

[mdbsat]

I am not sure what to tell ya. Maybe its a good thing she doesnt get it. My GF ALWAYS looks for excuses to drive mine and I have only had it less than a month. She is now looking at getting one herself

[LadyGodiva]

Originally Posted by wbarnhill

I call dibs since she's closer. Gotta get some clubbin lubbin.

Clubbin lubbin....

[Meg180]

Find a girl that likes to motor too! Then, you can motor together. Just imagine... you and her cutting through traffic together.

That's what my fiancee and I do anyway.

[Sin MINI]

To paraphrase Richard Gere's speech about Opera in Pretty Woman:


"People's reactions to MINI the first time they see it is very dramatic; they either love it or they hate it. If they love it, they will always love it. If they don't, they may learn to appreciate it, but it will never become part of their soul."

My wife likes to claim credit for steering me towards a MINI...I won't break it to here that I "got it" when I saw an 02 in NYC city right after the initial roll out. Here's the funny part. She complains about the $$ I spend and referred to the Sin City MINI Club as a cult. She's driven mine, but to here it's just a car. She talks about wanting a Clubman, but then whines about the stripes and other blind I've put on mine.

I don't think she "gets it", but she keeps reaching for the Kool Aid.

I'll never understand women...

[oldsbear]

Does she have redeeming qualities...

[saturn]

I don't think it's the fact that she "just doesn't get it" I think she's jealous because you have something that is going to take attention away from her. Think about it......stay home and watch a nice romantic movie, or go cruzin with the buds that share the same passion for motoring in their Minis as you do?

[Sabre]

The key to helping her understand what a MINI is all about lies in the fact that she needs to drive the car.

Yeah, I know it is hard to relinquish the driver's seat to another but once she drives the MINI, the lightbulb should turn on! The MINI's charm and road manners will win her over pronto.

Now if after this, she fails to comprehend, then maybe some remedial schooling is in order...

[pilotart]

SWMBO felt a little guilty being two new cars ahead of me, but mainly did not like to ride in and hated to drive my old Chrysler.

We took my car (great convertible day) to just look at interiors and colors, they had a great stock in April and I found one just arrived; that was perfect!

On test ride, she only wanted the back seat, behind the MA.

She even drove my (hated by her) car three hours home, so I could enjoy my new MINI!

She has yet to ask to drive it, but loves to ride in it, she now takes front seat and I have modified the seating to be super comfortable for both of us.

Opposites Attract For Sure, but I hate her new Camery more than she hated my Chrysler, so when the far-future day comes to downgrade to a single car, I hope it can be my MINI (my last car) or perhaps an Electric Clubman..

[x uh oh x]

Um...forgive my ignorance, what is SWMBO?

[pilotart]

PBS used to run a series from British Television called Rumpole of the Bailey and the feature character
(a sort of crotchety old British Barrister) would always refer to his wife as:

She Who Must Be Obyed ... he always meant it as a term of endearment.
____________________________________

From Wikipedia:

"...he often quotes Wordsworth and secretly calls his wife Hilda "She Who Must Be Obeyed" (SWMBO),
a reference to the novel She by H. Rider Haggard".

It was only "..Secret.." from her and would otherwise make a great MINI name

[blackdelight]

Your story about your girlfriend not "getting" your MINI sounds similar to telling someone a really good joke and them not understanding the punch line. At that point, there's no point in explaining it.

Luckily my husband gets my MINI fascination. He even admitted to me the other day that he'd like to buy one. I feel badly but I've only let him drive MINI twice. I just am too fearful that something will happen while he's behind the wheel. Is that bad?????

[RandomGemini]

Originally Posted by blackdelight

I feel badly but I've only let him drive MINI twice. I just am too fearful that something will happen while he's behind the wheel. Is that bad?????

I have a poignant story to add to this.

I'm not a huge fan of Subarus, but my mother is in love with her Subaru Legacy. My father bought her a brand new one for Valentine's day in 2007 and while it wasn't exactly what she wanted, (my dad added more options than she would have, etc), she quickly fell in love with this car. My mother called me squealing about how beautiful this car was when my dad brought it home for her, and how wonderful it was that he'd bought her a car for Valentine's day.

Flash forward. 2 months later. My dad borrows my mother's brand new baby for the first time to drive it to work because his car was in for its annual dent removal. 2 blocks up the road from their house, he rear ends a lady as he's reaching for his coffee cup.

My mom had to go pick him up from the scene and when she saw her precious baby, she burst into tears on the spot. She still has not forgiven him for hurting her baby that day, even though he had it fixed and the damage was minor.

She will never let him live this down.

Flash forward a year, to me bringing Viola home. My husband was scared to test drive her, but I insisted. I refused to bring home a car that he would not drive. Within a month of me owning my car, my husband still hadn't driven it and finally he got up the nerve when he wanted to surprise me when meeting me at the airport.

My husband was terrified of parking Viola at work, he was terrified that I would never forgive him if he hurt my car, so he refused to drive it for the longest time... and then I looked at him and said, "Dear, they're called 'accidents'. If you wrecked my car, I'd know you didn't do it on purpose. That's why they're called 'accidents'."

Now, my husband drives Viola once a week, without fear.

It's all about your attitude. Your spouse may not understand the MINI thing, but they will understand your love for your car. Your love for them should be enough to forgive them if they have an accident. Accidents do happen, and we should all be thankful when the ones we love walk away from them unscathed. That means our cars did their jobs in protecting the lives inside them.

Motor on.

[pilotart]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

I have a poignant story to add to this.<...>Your love for them should be enough to forgive them if they have an accident. Accidents do happen, and we should all be thankful when the ones we love walk away from them unscathed. That means our cars did their jobs in protecting the lives inside them.

Motor on.

How true; forty years ago, my little sister (teacher in Ft Lauderdale) wanted to replace her Borgward Isabella (in which she and it had already survived a roll-over)
with a new Volvo for safety (and she knew I loved my PV544), so she asked me to accompany her car shopping.

We (me driving) were pulling out from Dealer's lot in her brand new Blue Volvo and around the corner comes a Ford and crashes into her fender,
spun us right around but there were no injurys.

The Ford's insurance paid the Volvo Dealer for a new fender to be installed.

Sis never even showed a tear or ever held it against me.

[Quesera]

Originally Posted by MiniMedic

the smile when i knife through traffic like a light saber through warm butter.

Analogies involving light sabers may betray previous obsessions.

This thread has attracted sewing machine banter, Lyle Lovett and Pretty Woman quotations, and BBC references.

We're a lovely odd bunch, aren't we?

Whether it's Star Wars, British humor, INSERT [your favorite band], Macs, MINIS, or historical reenactment, it's all good, as long as no one gets hurt and we give equal time to the human beings of our inner circles that (mostly) tolerate and understand us.

[Grape82]

I'm sure like most on this board...I have a car "thing". I've gone from Rx-7 to VW VR6 to 350Z to Miata to Rx-8 (I'll leave out this less interesting vehicles). My wife certainly does not get it...she has no interest in what she drives, as long as it runs and has 4WD(?). Don't ask. I like new cars and have moved from one to another. Until the Mini. It is the perfect mix of affordability AND it is really fun! I will look forward to another new car..but it will definetly be another Mini. I'm already planning for 2010.

[x uh oh x]

Originally Posted by pilotart

PBS used to run a series from British Television called Rumpole of the Bailey and the feature character
(a sort of crotchety old British Barrister) would always refer to his wife as:

She Who Must Be Obyed ... he always meant it as a term of endearment.
____________________________________

From Wikipedia:It was only "..Secret.." from her and would otherwise make a great MINI name

OHOLYCRAP, I remember that NOW! I'd just never seen it in acronym form! I must inform the husband of my new nickname.

[blackdelight]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

I have a poignant story to add to this.

I'm not a huge fan of Subarus, but my mother is in love with her Subaru Legacy. My father bought her a brand new one for Valentine's day in 2007 and while it wasn't exactly what she wanted, (my dad added more options than she would have, etc), she quickly fell in love with this car. My mother called me squealing about how beautiful this car was when my dad brought it home for her, and how wonderful it was that he'd bought her a car for Valentine's day.

Flash forward. 2 months later. My dad borrows my mother's brand new baby for the first time to drive it to work because his car was in for its annual dent removal. 2 blocks up the road from their house, he rear ends a lady as he's reaching for his coffee cup.

My mom had to go pick him up from the scene and when she saw her precious baby, she burst into tears on the spot. She still has not forgiven him for hurting her baby that day, even though he had it fixed and the damage was minor.

She will never let him live this down.

Flash forward a year, to me bringing Viola home. My husband was scared to test drive her, but I insisted. I refused to bring home a car that he would not drive. Within a month of me owning my car, my husband still hadn't driven it and finally he got up the nerve when he wanted to surprise me when meeting me at the airport.

My husband was terrified of parking Viola at work, he was terrified that I would never forgive him if he hurt my car, so he refused to drive it for the longest time... and then I looked at him and said, "Dear, they're called 'accidents'. If you wrecked my car, I'd know you didn't do it on purpose. That's why they're called 'accidents'."

Now, my husband drives Viola once a week, without fear.

It's all about your attitude. Your spouse may not understand the MINI thing, but they will understand your love for your car. Your love for them should be enough to forgive them if they have an accident. Accidents do happen, and we should all be thankful when the ones we love walk away from them unscathed. That means our cars did their jobs in protecting the lives inside them.

Motor on.

Thanks for your smart outlook on allowing my husband to drive my MINI.

[Noegel]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

The day we sold that car was the saddest day of his life. That car was his other love, and I was glad that we shared some of our life with the car. As a family, we had a lot of fun kicking around town with the top down in the summers, and people stare at convertibles and smile, even if they are crappy old circa 1980's VW cheerleader cars. There's something about that that just makes you smile too.

Yes, I feel for him. I have recently given up my very first car to the Red Cross so they could auction it off for whatever. I have had this car since my junior year in high school. It is the car I first took my wife out on a date, the car I drove countless times to go visit her when she moved three hundred miles away, the car I took when I ran away from home, the car that housed me when I locked my hotel key in my room and I had nowhere to go... it was just known as "my" car. I loved it absolutely to death, much more so than my 2008 MCS of one month, and was terribly fun to toss around.

Most people saw it as an ugly old car, but that car was with me, quite literally, from rags to riches. It chugged on loyally through some of the hardest financial times of my life, times when I didn't know if I could afford the rent or simply groceries for the month, but it kept on running, roaring to life every morning ready to take on that day's beasts. One day, it just didn't start. I took it to several mechanics, and had several things replaced, yet not one could figure out what the problem was. I was forced to donate it. When the Red Cross pulled up to my new home's driveway and towed it away , I was quite literally in tears and heartbroken. Ah, well... it lasted many years, much longer than the few months my parents gave me when I first purchased it.

Even if it was not a nice vehicle (it had poor A/C, no speakers, no headliner, and no carpet), and my wife drove a fancy Mercedes-Benz, she understood my passion for the vehicle I owned, and wept with me at its passing.

I'd say your girl isn't worth a dime if she can't at least appreciate your admirations. Next time she says, "I love _____," see her reaction when you respond with, "Big deal. Who cares about that?" I'll bet there will be some sort of hypocritical response.

Let her drive it like someone said above. My wife did, and now she says her Mercedes feels like an underpowered and overweight chunk of lead.

[inimini2007]

She wants a JCW Stage 1 Kit for the MCSa.

We also have a 2007 Red Convertible Beetle. She wants to get rid of that and get a 2009 Red MCSa Cabrio.