First, let me be clear that I mean no disrespect to anyone and I truly appreciate the diversity among our community and how you-ified each of our Minis are, but why do so many people go to such great lengths to remove or conceal chrome? There are whole threads on blacking out chrome. I just don't get it.

To me, chrome is cool. It's kind of retro, which I like considering the lineage of the Mini and its use of chrome. Changing everything that was chrome into something black seems like something I saw modders doing to Japanese cars 15 years ago (It wasn't my thing then either). Maybe it's my age or something. On an all-black car, maybe I can see why it might be cool stylistically, but otherwise I'm lost.

When I bought my first Mini I chromed the wiper arms because it's a long lost thing that classic cars had that I miss. I replaced the painted S grille with the chrome grille. If I could have easily added the chrome bumpers from the standard Cooper to my S, I would have done that too.

Black ABS plastic seems cheap to me because it is a great product to help reduce costs at manufacturing. Hence, I'm not a fan of the black plastic honeycomb grill on the JCW. I seem to be in the minority on this topic but I thought I'd take the pulse of others to find out if there's anyone else out there who actually still likes chrome. Maybe I'm the last guy left among Mini owners who thinks it's cool.

 

Seems to me to be a largely generational thing.

Me... 50-ish and I love chrome.

 

I like chrome, but to me the chrome thats on the mini looks cheap.

 

Yeah, I was thinking that may be how it breaks down. I'll be 47 next month. Interesting. I'd love to hear from people our age who are into the whole blackout thing and if it's something that grew on them or if they were always into it. I'm so lame. I can't believe this is the kind of thing that inspires me to start a thread.

BTW: Where does everyone get those cartoonish signatures of Minis? I see a lot of them that all look very similar like yours with the eyes and mouths on them. Is there a place where you can create your own signature like that? I'd like to try that if there is.

 

Chrome is great, silver painted plastic "chrome" looks as cheap as black plastic, IMO.

I blacked out my chrome, decided plasti-dip looked like shi*, and went back to chrome. If I was willing to spend the money, my go-to option would be body color vinyl wrap or professional paint for the chrome trim.

A lot of people want their cars to look less "cutesy" and more serious/mean/intimidating/whatever, and having a "darker" theme is one way to achieve that.

 

I've never understood the blacking out trend. I spent 4 hours stripping the plastidip off my S Lites that a previous owner sprayed on there. Next up to strip is probably the hood scoop...maybe mirror caps...and probably the gas cap. BTW...I'm 21...so its not really a "generational thing" IMO its more just...I don't know. Personal taste?

 

Chromsrley Davidson=cool
MINI Cooper Chrome=uncool
My $.02 worth.

When something is not designed nice just add chrome.
It is definitely a American thing. Euro tuners just don't go for it.

 

Seems to me a good majority of the blackout crowd is closer to your age than mine though, Submit .

Kurtster..... the cartoon MINIs come from a NAM poster who is a cartoonist. See his thread "What If?".

 

I'm pushing 60 but don't tell anyone. My scuttles, handles and filler cap are chrome.

 

Chrome on a retro car, from when cars had chrome LOOKS right IMO.
And it does make it easier to be a sleeper!!

 

62 here and no chrome for me . I think it all started with a old adage from my automotive formative years . Since this photo was taken the door handles and gas cap have been " treated "

" if it don't go CHROME it "

Randy

 

I blacked out the grill surround, well I put a JCW black grill surround on my car, because it makes the grill look bigger. I left the headlight trim chrome, because it makes the headlights look bigger, kind of like a surprised frog. I haven't covered up any of the other chrome on my car, because I like how it looks, there really isn't very much chrome on a MINI anyway.

Dave

 

MMMM chrome:



Blacking out anything on this stocker would just look stupid.

This was taken a few years ago but the car basically looks the same now. One thing I will be adding is the checkerboard side scuttles, which means a bit more chrome! I think blacking out chrome is a desire to modify thing, too.

My wife has a Silk Green '03 and we will be adding the chrome bumper things that you see on mine. We're happy to drive chrome trimmed stockers- and by the way, that doesn't make us any less of MINI enthusiasts than the people who drive highly modified "S" models. I do most of my own repair work, repair other people's broken keys, post how-to's and generally help out the community when I can. We also organize drives and are very active in our local club. We just happen to do it in chrome filled R50's.

Val

 

Chrome on a car is like dressing it up with jewelry. Some like it that way and others don't.

 

"Chrome" on today's cars (including MINI) is fake chrome, on plastic parts. Classic chrome on classic cars was REAL CHROMED METAL... Big difference for me. Classic Mini with chromed everything? Great! Chromed 2011 Clubman S? I don't think so...
Much more prefer black plastic, Vinyl or plastidip finish. Nothing to do with age... Just style IMHO...

 

IMO, it's personal preference. Tastes can't be dictated upon. Me? I prefer color coded headlamp rings, black belt line, chrome gas cap/handles. No plasti-dip. Like white, silver, gun-metal wheels. Seldom black. I prefer subtlety if only to be different. There's not much 1 can do to improve such design perfection from the factory.

 

I just got some chrome trim to spruce up my gauges. We know what generation we are.

 

I'm 37 and I love the chrome on my black 12 mcs. I even went and installed a chrome hoodscoop. Funny thing is after checking out these forums I certainly see the appeal of blacking out the chrome. Personally I won't because I paid for the chrome option on my car but I really do like everybody's pics of their blacked out minis. What I am thinking of now tho is going witht the m7 hoodscoop instead. That thing is boss!

 

Randy, that is one badass MINI. I saw you on Adam's show one time talking about your MINI.

 

It really depends on the car. There are cars that work great with chrome trim, and others not so much.

 

If I had a black car I'd leave all the stock chrome and maybe add a few tasteful bits. For me it's a matter of the look and the contrast. It just has to match up.

 

At 52, I am not much for chrome either. When I bought my '09 MCS in April, the first thing I did was to start getting rid of the chrome somehow or another.

Before...




After....

 

I like both.

 

My first car was a 74 Toyota Celica. Its chrome bumper looked great for a few years. Then it got pitted and started tarnishing & peeling. The chrome looked like doo doo after that. Nowadays, when I see chrome on a car, I wonder how long it'll be before it goes to hell.

That's not to say that painted stuff lasts any longer. My bumper is clear wrapped for a reason. I'm just particularly distrustful of chromed metal or, worse yet, plastic.

 

I'm 51 and I LOVE chrome. I love the bright colors too. I can't see the appeal (for myself, though I see it for others) to take a little dark colored car and black out everything, then drive around dark city streets at night... lowered... I would feel like a bug just asking to be squashed by an inattentive semi truck. Or a gangster hoping to make a getaway! Nope... give me RED! And STRIPES!! And CHROME!! And BADGES and STICKERS and LIGHTS ALWAYS ON!! And if people don't see me coming, with my Union Flag and all of the bells and whistles, well... they just aren't trying!

And chrome on the inside too. I love how the lights at night are reflected in the chrome around the gauges, how they swirl around the circles like fireflies. And my painted dash pieces, and fun stickers. And the cycling mood lights at night.

Whatever you drive, and however you see the appeal... own it. Live it. Make it yours and be proud of it! From the most blacked out, joey modded, plastidipped, black wheeled, slammed MINI that could hide in a dark corner, to the most flashy and chromy, and everything in between... it's uniquely your own, like your fingerprint... enjoy it!