The email said that I should post on 1st gear to say hello--so here I am! Actually I've loitered for a while, having to wait the customary 2 months for my '05 MCS to arrive at the dealer, and then another month getting those pesky 1250 miles under the belts, but now I'm officially a member of NAM. I have a few photos of my MINI on my website made up in Boulder last week. On that trip I visited with Randy Webb and got a whole bunch more performance installed so that now I really think I need to officially STOP before I get closer to the 10K club.
Anyway, I'm a member of NM MINI Motoring and if you're ever in the area I hope to see you at the other end of my smile.

 

hello and welcome - checked out the pic of your car and it is bootyful - i'm sure you're havin fun in it but better watch it or you'll spend more money on mods than you did on the car. anyway, welcome to the mini cult!

stephanie

 

Hi gandini...welcome to NAM and MINI ownership. Your car is awesome..glad you're having fun w/ it!!

 

Welcome indeed. :smile:
H

 

Welcome!!! Thanks for sharing the pictures - another beauty on the road...

Donna
02' CR/W MCS (gone to MINI heaven - burned up)
05' Cool Blue MCSC "Ariel"
05' HB/W MCS "Gizmo"

 

Hey this paragraph from your website is a bloody classic.

"My first "real" car was an Alfa Romeo 1300GT from 1963. A total piece of crap, with Italian wiring, a rusted out floor pan, and a head shaved so many times that the compression ratio was like 14:1 (as I discovered after a rebuild and the valves started hitting the pistons.) "



Welcome to NAM, you're a great addition!!!

 

Is Rossi really greater than Doohan? If so, then why?

Oh and a small correction for your website. The MINI has 4 models in Europe, dont forget the Diesel.

 

Great to have you here Gandini! Have Fun!!!

 

gandini,

Welcome to NAM I see you have already got the mod bug. If Randy Webb did you pulley what did you think of the "test drive" after it was installed?

Last time he was in Los Angeles area he drove my MCS and it did things I didn't know it could do

Earl

 

I agree that Rossi is the best of all times, he is a wonderkid
WRC is not as exciting as Formula One, but I still love it more
Welcome to NAM man, good to have you on board.

 

Thank you all for your warm welcome. I'm glad someone got a kick out of my Alfa story. It was actually a cool car for the '60s and a college kid--I learned a lot about driving while looking out the rear window ('coz it liked to do 180s.)
I haven't been in a car with Randy Webb, yet--but, when I asked him how I could tell if MINI had installed the LSD I ordered he said: "do a burn out and look to see that both tires left marks." Unfortunately, it would have been hard to see *my* marks on the floor of his shop as there was much evidence that others had asked him the same question...
I'm Australian, so I have a soft spot for Mick Doohan--I just think that Rossi is *slightly* better because he doesn't get injured as much as Doohan did. This weekend's display at Donnington surely proves that Rossi has a sixth sense for keeping upright! He lost his bike massively so many times and still pulled a fast lap 2 seconds quicker than anyone else out there. Like his team manager said, I consider myself incredibly blessed to be witness to his performances.
I will correct the error about the Euro models. I thought there was Cooper One, Cooper and Cooper S but apparently there's a One-D! Sorry.