I gave up trying to be cool back in high school, so I became pretentious instead.

 

It's important to know oneself!

 

Indeed. Doin' the swift door opening kick is cool. Whereas folding one's side mirrors and closing one's windows and sunroof remotely using the key fob might just cross the line into pretentious. Unfolding the mirrors and opening the windows and sunroof with the fob is most certainly over the line. I know. I do it all the time, because I can

Maybe I should just get a Bentley for my next car and remove all possible doubt....

 

Does it come with unlimited supply of Grey Poupon?

 

LOL. For your information, Grey Poupon is gauche and not at all pretentious. Common stuff.

You wanna join the pretentious crowd and run with the truly hip Big Boys, you gotta get trendy stuff from https://mustardmuseum.com/
It isn't that easy being pretentious 24/7. Trust me, I try hard.

 

Did you ever consider any of the Volvo wagons? Audi A4 allroad also looks good - sadly no RS4s here in the states.

 

If you're talkin' Volvo, you have to get the Polestar edition!

 

Last Volvo I owned was in the 1960's, a 122S. Great car.

I drove the Audis. They are very well-sorted cars. I found them lacking in 'soul.' And, as you point out, no RS4 to be had stateside...yet anyway.

All paths seem to be leading us back to MINI.

Thanks.

 

And today, we were indeed greeted by our mechanic with a big smile. He even had a MINI stuck in among a few other British vehicles -- sandwiched between a Rolls and a Bentley. And then there's a fully-restored 1966 XKE that was beyond fantastic. And there was a Rolls with almost the same paint as my Clubby.... almost.

Yes, that would be my Good Truck in the foreground, hanging with the Big Boys.

 

Ya know, the above photo got me thinking...

 

Several dealers in California are discounts $10k off the Epace - I don't think they are selling well. X1 is boring and everyone has one. I had the X2 for a week and it was fun to drive but couldn't get over the terrible rear visibility. Mini for the win. Although u should test drive an Audi Allroad just for kicks.

 

Thanks, djnemo. We had an Evoque prior to joining MINIworld. So we are familiar with the drive train which is shared with Evoque and EPace. The Evoque was fun and because it was the new, new thing, there was a certain novelty back a few years ago. The 9 speed tranny Jag uses is a drag, and would be even worse now that we've enjoyed this great MINI 8 speed with a Sport Mode that really makes a difference. With the 9 speed, the tranny has to do a huge fire drill around 4th gear, and it takes friggin' forever to complete the downshift. And the EPace weighs almost 4,000 lbs, because it doesn't have the latest light chassis that Jag/Range Rover uses on some other platforms.

But all that doesn't matter. Wife saw an EPace and said, "I don't think so." Problem solved.

And, while the Audis are nice indeed, we've had so many wagons, including a Jaguar Sportwagon among others, that I think as cool as Audis are, they are not in the same category as MINI.

More important, wife has stated she loves having a MINI, can't imagine living life without one in the family, and she has tentatively approved Thunder Gray with a Melting Silver roof, if we decide to go for different colors than we currently have. If BRG comes back, that's also in the hopper.

We even looked seriously at a Morgan; very, very cool and totally insane, impractical open air cars. (See post #35 above)

It's gonna be another MINI. Most likely a 2020 Clubman. Probably not 300 HP, though one never knows....

You fellow Motorers are a great support group. Thanks. And Stay Tuned.

 

Didn't they pass a law that Southern California families must own a Tesla? Seems like it in Portland, you can't go anywhere without being blown off the road by those rockets.

 

Teslas have become a cliché down here for sure. At night the lights in town go dim because everyone's charging their $100,000 rolling toasters that are plugged into their garages. Is this our future? And where, exactly, are all of the rare earth materials used for batteries coming from? Probably 10 year old miners without masks digging away in countries far, far away where we can't see them..

 

I feel like a guy who went to the Big City for a convention and spent time checking out all the pretty, painted ladies, only to come to my senses before I strayed. Be it NEVER so humble, there's no ride like a MINI.
I'm safely in the fold for another 3 years at least. Picking it up next Monday. Totally excited like a kid 5 days before Christmas.