I just bought a clean 2007 R56 for $5K. Low miles, no accidents, perfect paint, pristine title, from a neighbor. I am restoring it to its former glory. It will very likely end up costing twice what I paid, but I don’t care.

I’m going back to the last time I was happy and America was sane: 2003-2005 when I bought my 2003 Mini Cooper S brand new in Sacramento. I had a nice big house in the hills, a job that I loved, and a wife who adored me. I drove that Mini every day with a big dumb grin on my face and I waved at every other Minis driver I passed, and they bloody well waved back.

2007-2008 I lost everything. 2022 is a dystopian nightmare. I don’t want to talk about it.

So I’m going back to the last time I was happy. I named the new car Bertie, ordered the eponymous license plate, and he’s now at Eurosports in Boise, the only Mini shop in Idaho. Mike the mechanic drives a 2008 Cooper S, so we understand each other perfectly.

I’m going to be happy, dammit.

 

Oops.

 

Welcome back to the fold. I still wave for what little good it does.
That's too close of a closeup. We need you to step back so we can see what its attached to.

 

 

Very nice! Enjoy the heck out of it.
If you're into it, Griot's Garage has excellent car care products with videos on usage. Also, THE only thing for the black skirting is Black Wow. A drop on a pad will do a couple of feet and will maintain for a few months.

 

More smiles per mile…enjoy the return to MINI life

 

The R56 ( non-turbo) were very good cars. Great engines and not direct injection and none of the D.I. woes. I hope you enjoy many miles and smiles on your car.

 

You my friend are my doppelganger. I also had everything you mentioned...Until....To quote Ralphie,(A Christmas Story), “When our joy is at our highest, and when all is right with the world, the most unthinkable disaster descends upon us”. - So true!
I am now in a pedestrian job, in a state I very much dislike and struggling to get out and back to the life I once knew.
The only thing I have left; is my dog and my Mini. They get me through it and make me smile.

 

We will get through this, brother. A car is just a car, unless it’s either a Miata/MX5, or a MINI. We all have to drive, but if you have one of those two vehicles in your life, driving is a joy every single time.

A dog is good too, of course. They are joy embodied!

 

Welcome back, i remember the old days of the gen 1 MINI when their was a huge waitlist (kind of is one right now) and you were lucky to pay MSRP.