Ever wondered about your Mini's exhaust tips? Here you go...

http://www.motoringfile.com/2004/03/...s_exhaust_tip/

 

I heard that before - it is pretty funny..

 

Find yourselves a copy of "MINI 50 Years" by Rob Golding. It will continue to broaden your appreciation of the marque and you'll also learn how to pronounce Issigonis.

 

The Mini in the house is the brides; I'm more of an Audi guy myself. Having said that, I did own a '71 Mini with a 1100cc engine while in NZ. The bride and I drove all over NZ in that.

It was a clean little '71 Mini. I sold it to a kid in NZ for $400NZ. He had it dipped, restored the engine on his kitchen table, and now it's very, very nice indeed.

 

I am envious as all he!!. We made two visits to NZ, 5 weeks total north and south motoring in a rental. Would have died for a MINI on those roads. We were advised NOT to drive over Gentle Annie.

 

Hilarious story almost lost to time..

We were going from Christchurch to Littleton (harbor for Christchurch). Nice twisty road, and of course, my bride-to-be is none too happy as I'm enjoying the drive.

"You are getting too close!" she screamed, just as the mirror on her side was clipped off...

"it's ok" I said, "it's not original anyway..."

 

Oh, and then there was the time on Arthur's Pass (highest mountain pass in NZ) on the way up, I told the bride-to-be about Kia (birds) who would eat seats off motorcycles, rubber off cars, and drive sheep over cliffs.

At the top of the pass, we pulled the Mini in... and a large Kia jumped on the hood and tapped on the glass. The bride-to-be screamed; and I couldn't have scripted it better, and had a good laugh.

Later in a driving rain storm, the Mini sputtered to a stop. "huh"... then, when I raised the hood, I understood - the distributor was sitting right behind the radiator. After I dried it out, the Mini roared to life again.

Back in civilization, I stopped at a grocery store and bought a latex dish washing glove. The bride-to-be thought I was nuts, clipping off the ends of each finger. Then I carefully took off each lead from the distributor, pulled the glove over the distributor, and plugged the wires down the finger holes.

It never sputtered and died in the rain again.

 

Funny!

 

Kia ora. We enjoyed a couple of encounters with the Kia. Fun birds but I wouldn't trust them with my pass word. Another thing we loved were the meat pies. And, an evening with our hosts watching the All Blacks take on Fiji with fish and chips and a Lion Red or four. Can never get better than that.

 

Only question I have is why were the designers drinking Budweiser instead of a German or British beer? Granted most come in glass bottles, but some come in cans. Would have sounded much better if it was a Beck's or Newcastle beer can. But Budweiser??? That even raises questions about the designer's taste and if the stunned silence and laughter was about the tailpipe improvisation or the beer choice.

 

I would have to look up the history, but there's a pretty high chance that it was designed at BMW Designworks in Newbury Park, CA where Budweiser could be gotten at the AM/PM down at the corner.

 

Some of my favorite beer comes in cans... Dale's Pale Ale being primary. Lots of great beer comes in cans. We have over 31 breweries here (Asheville NC) and their will be 60 by 2020.

 

I think you all mean 'Kea'. Kia is a car.

 

Yup, "Kea" is the correct spelling.

So be clear, a Kea bird jumped up on the mini hood and tapped the window, not a Korean Automobile

 

That would be funny as hell if a Kia did it.