Ok...i've seen tons of post about comments about the mini, but what about comments from people that you would least expect would give you a positive comment about your Mini? i.e. Some tobacco chewing, 18 wheel driving, 350 pound bubba.

Not to say somebody like that wouldn't drive the "perrty" car or want one, but it would be a shocker in my opinion if they walked up to me to give praise to the little car.

 

I stopped by the liquor store on my way home from the airport last wed night. When I come out a big ol bearded fella had parked his sweet chopper next to my mini and was standing in front of it for a while during my checkout at the counter. I came out and asked if he liked what he saw. He said to me that it was the coolest mini he had ever seen and loved what I had done cosmetically to the car. We then talked a few minutes about it and then he asked where I get it detailed and when I told him I do all my detailing he was shocked, saying it was the deepest and cleanest shine he has seen on a car, and that he doesn't even detail his bike. Needless to say that just made my night. Very surprising to hear from a big burly biker in overalls, and he had a sweet custom bike as well.

 

Do you have pics of your car?

 

Here you go, not as clean as last week though, but still my baby

 

Very Nice josh! Pure Silver all the way!!

 

only if he paints his aero kit from black to silver

 

no aero kit here, just a grill black out

 

right back at ya

 

Every time a guy tells me how great my pink stripes look!

 

Early Spring I was on a road trip thru rural New Mexico... stopped for gas in BFE off of I-10...up walked a guy from a parked 18-wheeler moving van with a grin on his face and his eyes on my MINI !!!...Turns out he was from NC. (Me too originally) and had gotten a MINI earlier in the year that someone had imported from Germany and then traded in for a pickup truck . He and the Missus were ruling the roads in NC with it!... Just goes to show - don't judge folks by how they look or what they do for a living... lots of people love MINIs...

Here's a shout out to "Dang Rusty" ( ) in NC....

Harpo
2005 MCS LY/B

 

Right after I got my Mini, I filled up the tank and then ran inside to get something to drink. When I came back out, the little old man who has been emptying the trash cans when I went in was standing right beside my car, staring and staring. When I got back to my car, he stepped back enough to let me open the door but kept staring. As I was about to close the door, he finally spoke "What IS that?" When I told him it was a Mini Cooper, he said it was the prettiest car he'd seen at that gas station. I don't know if it was shocking from him in particular but it was definitely unexpected...and great coming from someone who saw lots of cars all day.

 

Thats a nice one Great coming from somone who also saw a lot of cars "in his day".

 

Last August, when Becky and I went to visit her folks in Pahrump, NV. We had stopped at a grocery store to get ice for the ice chest. As we got out, a whole family walked up and asked us all kinds of questions. You'd have thought a UFO landed, and was probably the first Mini to be seen in Pahrump from their reactions. Guess they never get into Vegas.

 

When I came out of the grocery store last weekend it was hot out and I used the remote to put the windows down as I was walking toward the car with my cart. After I popped the hatch, I saw this woman with bright red dyed hair walk past with her car, then stop and start to try to look into my windows without being noticed. I smiled back at her and she took that as her chance to bombard me with a million questions about my car. I saw her driving away a few minutes later and she was staring at my car as she went by. Another MINI enhusiast is born!

My aunt also called me the other day to tell me that one of her retired teacher friends just bought a MINI and she was so excited to show it to my aunt. Mind you this retiree is over 80. If you see a little old lady in a MINI somewhere near Orange NJ thats her!

 

A few years ago, when there still weren't as many MINIs on the road, I was driving home from work one night and was on the road with one of the then new Vipers (the current generation). First one I'd seen in person. The guy driving it hung back a bit at one of the stoplights so I'd stop next to him. Then he said, "Nice car!" Considering what he was driving, I thought that was pretty cool.

 

As I was driving to work a couple weeks ago (in a not-so-nice part of town), one of the "gangsta"-ish kids (about 19 y/o or so) was hanging out the passenger window of the car he was in. I saw him looking at my car, and he saw me watching him so he motions for me to put the window down. I do and he goes "That is NICE!" I thanked him and continued on my way. Pretty cool.

 

I was at the insurance place yesterday adding my new Mini to my existing policy. The company is located inside one of those small strip mall type places with lots of other companies packed in there. When I came out, some guy was standing by the car with a bunch of papers in his hand looking at them and then back at the car. Turns out, he owned another insurance company located a few doors down. He had printed off a bunch of information about Minis while I was inside and was checking over the stats and comparing them to what he was seeing. He asked if mine was the turbo or not - to which I had to reply that no, it was the base HT but not to let that deter him - the car would get up and GO with no problems. He said he had a Mini back in the 60s and really missed the little cars. He asked if I bought mine in Memphis (Roadshow) or Oklahoma City (Jackie Cooper), and I told him Memphis. We ended the conversation with me driving off thinking 'yep, he's scheduling that 3 hour trip.' A former Mini owner and lover revived!

A little less spectacularly but also yesterday: I went by my mom's workplace to show her the new car ('deathtrap' according to her - at which time I pointed out the countless airbags). Her boss, a rather well-off racehorse/businesswoman commented how much more she liked my Mini than her neighbor's. He has a Chili Red with Union Jack roof, and according to her it's kind of 'tacky.' Mine is a simple Sparkling Silver with matching roof and mirror caps. I was somewhat impressed - you can just tell this woman has expensive taste.

 

At a drive-in burger joint one afternoon, a guy and his young son (maybe 3 yrs old) get out of a Cadillac and walk by and the kid yells, "daddy look, baby car!"

 

when i got T-Boned i got a "Nice Ride"

 

My previously admired chili red MCS came to me by way of an odd incident (my RSX-s was lifted off my driveway!), it was actually a good friend/previous boss that had decided it was time to part with his autocrossing vehicle... and made this great offer to take it as a loaner while the insurance company counted thy missing parts from my then currently titled car.

Pulled into the drive and my son (3 yr old) immediately spouted "daddy - you can not take the red car back - I like it, no no no; I want to keep it home."

Since then, best unexpected coment has come from a well aged germanic man in a shiney SRX(big chrome wheels and with heavy motherland accent) "that is a red rocketship you have there..."

 

Seriously it looks killer!

 

My other story...although not quite as good as the old man in the gas station....

The entrance to the parking lot where I work is right off on alley. Right across the alley is a body shop - a sort of "hole in the wall" kind of place where the guys are nice but look scary. They do great work, and apparently some good custom stuff too, but it really is just a garage door in the back of an old brick building. Like I said, the guys are nice, though. Anyway, about the third day I had my Mini, one of the guys came running over to our parking lot as I was getting out. His hurry made me stop (and actually worried me a bit). He just came over to tell me what a gorgeous car it was and that everyone over there had been talking about it since they first say it. He then asked if Mini Coopers were as fun as everyone says (I assured him they were). He's been calling me "Race Girl" ever since.

 

That's cute

 

Ok this past Saturday I was driving in Middletown, NY, and not a nice part of it for that matter. I have my friend in the car with me when we pull up to a stop sign. At the stop sign is a group of about 6 ghetto rat kiddies. A girl (about 18ish) says "Yo dat car is ugly" as we pull away laughing Uncontrolable she shouted out "Rich white boys" Being that i have owned my MINI for 2 years and am by no means rich this was a great first comment from an unsuspecting person.

 

I pulled up to a gas station next to a GMC SUV. He looked at me and said "don't tell me what your total is". I just smiled. He walked around to the back and asked how much stuff I can put in the back so I opened the hatch and put down the back seats. I said "what more could I possibly need". The pump stopped pumping that moment, I said "13.5 b gallons, what more could I possibly need". He said "dammit!, thats it, I'm talking to my wife about getting one".