GP 1823
Location: San Francisco, CA (Go Giants!)

Bought the car from a great guy in Seattle (Listed on craigslist). Drove down Wednesday, stopped in Eugene to visit a cousin and then finished the final leg down to SF on Thursday. What an absolute blast! The 14 or so hour drive (probably less, the way I was driving) was a great experience, and I've always wanted to drive highway 5 in the Pac NW. I averaged 28.6mpg and an average speed of 70.6mph!

She had about 14.5k miles when I bought her and I have already put about 1.5k since the drive. Coming from a family of quick cars, I can't say enough about how much a joy it is to drive this little mini! My 91' e30 m3 has some spirit and style, but nothing like this cars firm grip. This would easily spank the 79' 930 in the garage, and my past STi's (GT35r rotated kit) would out accelerate in a straight line, but again, the fun factor supersedes all of these cars combined!

This will be my daily driver and I am hoping for some decent longevity and reliability, but I have been eyeing the 17% supercharger pulley (WMW) and the factory intake flap removal as well as the GP DDM Diverter.

Thanks again for all the great information on this forum, without it I would have been shooting in the dark for a seemingly endless number of questions!

-Mark

P.S. My alias is fitting, I am 6'6" and fit incredibly well in this car...quite ironic indeed.

Picture Quality: Taken from my DroidX, sorry about the sub-par photos.

 

Congrats on the sweet ride.
Pics or it didn't happen.

 

Nice. What a great way to take home a MINI.

Photos?

 

Welcome, your gonna love it.

 

Congrats on getting the GP. You should love the car.
Interestingly, I notice your GP has black mirror caps. Did the previous owner give you the original red mirror caps?

 

Carbon Fiber mirror caps (tasteful). I still have the original, Chili Red caps but definitely prefer the carbon fiber.

It also came with a nice carbon fiber deck lid, which was a neat addition. Matches the wing nicely.

 

Congrats!
If you want to get in touch with me, we could update the owners list ...
http://gpmini.net/wp/introduction/

 

congrats.. treat it well

 

GP: The pinnacle of R53s IMO. Nice find!

 

Sweet ride, I saw u this morning on hwy 101 and capitol exit, u passed right by me, I was in a slammed black Honda element, would have been cool if I was in th GP too, love the plate mann!!

Gp 0297 SJ Ca

 

Dude, your element is tricked out! I own a business right off of Story Rd so if there are any meets coming up let me know. I'd love to see some modified Mini's.

Mark

 

Funny coming home from SF Auto Show my GP went into limp mode yesterday on the 101 and ended up limping to Story Rd. filled up gas at Shell gas station, hung out for a minute and drove real slow the rest of the way on Old Monterey Road. After I check code, I would be down for a Lick Observatory run.

 

You will love the GP, mine is in the garage under cover for weekend fun drives.

 

Beauty!

 

Welcome to our glorious world of GP owners!

 

Congrats on the purchase, but using it for a daily driver?

 

I have been driving my GP everyday year round here in Colorado and even have snow tires! I LOVE IT!! Have fun with yours!

 

Did you ever find out what code the car was throwing?

I have had my own frustration today that killed my Friday night. I attempted an oil change, it was about 7,000 miles from the last time it had been serviced (far too long) and I was itching to get underneath the car.

Wednesday I managed to find some time before the turkey day and found that my drain plug was on pretty damn tight, so tight in fact, that I ended up rounding the bolt pretty severely. After a quick search I realized that I was not alone with drain plug blunders!

Today I managed to purchase a drain plug before I attempted to remove it again. Needless to say it was a several hour project that involved a stop to Kragen's for an EZ Out tool, basically an extractor. I got really lucky tonight...I started with size #3 and that eventually stripped, so I stepped up to #4 where I was right on the limit for bit diameter. Any larger and there was the possibility that I could have drill into the oil pan threads! Just as the extractor was about to strip, again, It broke free. I must have applied at LEAST 200+ lbs to this HUGE crescent wrench, what an absolute nightmare.

Victory was sweet in the end. Enjoy the photos:

 

How many miles have you put on her? I freakin love daily driving this car.

 

Yep been thinking about the Fumoto Oil Valve.
O2 Sensors code, luckily they are covered for 10 years/100K miles.

 

I just turned 43k. Its a blast everytime!!

 

Removed the resonator today, what a great difference it made. It was $50 well spent! The exhaust note is noticeable inside the cabin, you can "feel" it now with a really great sounding, somewhat raspy afterfire (burble).

Great mod and I recommend it to those not interested in spending $600+ for a new exhaust. Really haven't noticed too much additional power by the seat of the pants, but I imagine it gained something, however.

Also installed the PIAA super silicon blades, awesome product as well. Should have my new OSRAM bulbs Monday, as well as the WMW diverter and m7 sway bar

 

Welcome to the club. Secret handshake to come later.

GP 0179

Sterling

 

I completely understand wanting to use a GP as a daily driver... They must be a blast to driver...

My question was related to retaining the value of the GP's from a collectors standpoint... Being a limited edition model, they will appreciate in value over time... The fewer the miles, the more valuable they will be in the future...

 

Just a car, a modern day one to boot. Yes, I paid a premium for the car because it is a limited model, but honestly it was so I could fit! Well, maybe I appreciate the styling, power and performance as well The price was not far off what I would have paid for a JCW, at least in my area, which this car was not

Only time will tell if these meet a "collector's" status. Time is your enemy with modern day cars, and if you look around at the prices of GP's you will notice a downward trend in value. The other side of this equation is how long you want to hold onto the vehicle and wait for it to appreciate...or not?

On another thought, if it does become a collectible, then even with high miles it will draw more value than a non limited model.