Despite scattered snow showers in the early morning (farking Ohio weather... grumble... grumble...) I decide to fire Fiona up and take her to work Monday morning.

My son, Grayson, sits in the left-side front seat, proud in his booster, waving at anyone and everyone who even looks our way. Every time another MINI passes us (always a MINI, never a Mini - sigh...), he yells "Daddy! A MINI!" and practically breaks his arm waving at them. More often than not, the immediate follow-up is a sigh, followed by, "They didn't wave back..."

Drop off at school. Gaping Dublin soccer moms in so-so-blah champaign-colored minivans and champaign-colored Hondas and champaign-colored BMWs pointing at the car. "Look honey! Look at the funny little car!" Laughing children. Tight smiles from me. I wave back, and mutter "...s'not CUTE, s'TOUGH" under my breath. At least they didn't call Fiona a "clown car". This time.

Big smiles and cheers from my son's friends as he exits and slams the door. "Is that your car?" they ask. "Sure is!" he replies. I drive off smiling ear-to-ear.

After work, the drive home. Rocketing down Riverside drive, warm in the cabin (say what you want about Minis - at least the heaters work good). Stereo blasting Weezer's "Say It Ain't So" through the speakers I installed myself in hand-made pods built from MDF and Frosted Flake boxes and fiberglass resin. Grayson and I both bellowing along with the chorus and thrashing our heads, head-banger-style, in-between. More smiles. More waves towards bemused MINI drivers - how the hell can you be clueless about these cars? Shrug and keep driving.

Into the garage. Fiona shuts down with no run-on. She must like the cold, go figure. We both smell like old car - that musty, oily smell you get inside an old vehicle - better than any aftershave or cologne ever made. Grayson turns to me and raises his hand for a high-five.

Smack!

Inside, Amy hugs me and buries her face in my chest. She breathes in, deeply.

"You smell like car," she says, then hugs me tighter. "Mmmm."

God, I love my car.

 

Mini's rock.

And MINIs don't suck so bad, either.

Even in my super huge modern new-smelling MINI... I get the same reaction when I drop the kids off at school.

 

Matt, Fiona is a beautiful car. I too love that way I smell when I get out of my Mini.

 

I wear the scars and abrasions I got from working on your car with a warm happiness knowing that I helped bring you a good day.

 

Matt,
Are you still interested in a tow dolly for Fiona?
Tim

 

Tim,
Do you have just one tow dolly or do you make them or something? I would love one for my Mini. If you have more than one, or Matt doesnt want the one you have, what are you looking for it? Where are you located?

 

I am... Not sure if I can afford the "wheels off the ground" model, but perhaps the draw bar version. I'm hoping Santa brings me a hitch kit for Xmas (( crosses fingers ))...

 

Great story and beautiful car!

 

LOL that's a cool story. My Mini smells like old car too. Her heater doesn't work though...lol

 

I thought I was the only one that just loved that smell and can't get enough of it...

 

nothing like old car smell

 

man that is friggin awesome =D

 

New pic! Just shot this the other day - the sun was out for about 90 seconds (literally)... just long enough to shoot this. =)

 

What a fantastic pic.

 

ImagoX-

Nice photos and story too. My mini smells of exhaust and new leather. It's an interesting blend of new meets old, sort of.

 

LOL...

 

Ditto, that; like sushi meets banger or something. I do recall my '66 Mustang and '49 Studebaker having the smell of yesteryear.

Loved the story, Matt...a great read this morning.

Loved the photos, too. With what camera do you shoot?

 

I used to shoot with the lowest-end 1st-gen Canon Rebel (6 MP) but since I'm now doing some weddings and stuff, I recently upgraded to a 10MP Rebel XT I got used on eBay. I'm finding I have a LOT more control shooting in RAW format.

 

ive got an XTi too. what lenses are you using?

 

Just the basic 28-80 kit lens I got with the 1st-gen Rebel for most of my stuff believe it or not. It's a cheap-feeling plastic thing that I'm almost embarrassed to shoot with, but "proper" glass costs SERIOUS coin. I'm in the larket for a nicer, high-end lens, but I have lots of things vying for my disposable income, and obviously it shoots clear enough for my use so...

I did buy a 100-300 f3.5 zoom with the XT body, but I've not used it much yet.

EDIT - oh, yeah... My cheap-*** kit lens does pretty good semi-macro as well - just shot this the other day.



It's an update of this image I shot back in 2006, before Nano was killed on the Dragon:

 

glass aint cheap, thats for sure.

i have the kit lense, a 75-300 zoom lens and a 50mm portrait type lense that has amazing depth of field and looks great with a car and a nice background.

 

That 50mm... is it the f1.8 or the 2.8? That really is a sweet, sweet lens - congrats. One day... (sigh).

 

i think its the f1.8, but id have to look. its actually a pretty cheap lense, at about $100. heres a picture of my car with the kit lense:



and heres one i snapped yesterday of my vespa with the 50mm lense. you can definitely see the different in depth of field.

 

My first SLR was the Elan IIe then the first digital SLR was the 10D - my wife was gracious to buy me a 1d MKII-N when she inherited some cash - perhaps one day I'll have the 1Ds but frankly it would take quite a few rich dead relatives to be thinking of me.

I enjoy photography quite a bit and have just retired from weddings (I hope - but I'm weak willed). At first it was fun and creative and soon it became work BUT I still enjoy the time to get out and shoot.

Great shots you have there!

BTW - I guess I missed the whole crashed on the Dragon thing.

 

Ryan - it doesn't appear you took advantage of the 1.8 in either of those photos...I think. What were your settings?