This is a difficult post for me.

The fuzzy one and I went off to Magog happily looking forward to seeing lots of beautiful classic Minis along with some MINIs. I know there is some friction between the owners in the UK, but I thought surely that couldn't happen here.

I was soooo wrong!

Mainly Minis Montreal, the host club, was supurb! But a disgruntled minority of Mini owners spoiled the meet. I didn't mind a few snide remarks and a little ostracism, having a new Beetle I expected that. But one person took it over the line.

A person who sells imported Minis in NC crept around in the middle of the night and poured oil under 6 of 7 MINIs. If he had been friendly during the afternoon greetings, I would have taken it in the spirit of fun, making the MINIs leak like their ancestors, the Minis. But this guy was very nasty to the MINI owners. The thought of him sneaking under my baby makes me feel violated.

Debby of Mainly Minis Montreal refunded my registration fee and I am now back home. Even though almost everyone was very nice, I will not return to a Mini event. I do car events as a pleasant diversion from real life, I am not interested in strife in my friendly hobby.

So, Mini owners, you are all graciously welcome at any event I organize, but I will not impose my beautiful silk green baby on yours again.

 

April,

I've missed you over here on MCO. I don't get over to MINI2 that much anymore. At anyrate, the emerald/silk of your "poison green" MINI is still one of my favorites. :smile:

Hope to see you on MCO more often.

Dave
aka Colorado "S" on MINI2

ps - I remember how you liked pictures, so check this out (all pics clickable for the high resolution version)

_________________
The front view looks like a viscious rodent! - 0wen0

 

That is pretty low to say the least. I personally know very rabid classic Mini owners and enthusiasts and while they are not very fond of the new BMW MINI, I can't imagine any of them actively engaging into this kind of tasteless vandalism.

Some people really have very low self esteem of some sort of unresolved childhood conflicts or serious mental health problems. I have been in meets with classic owners and always have had a good time. I enjoy looking at the little buggers and to an extent understand why they feel so jealous and protective about them, but once the line is crossed, that is a different story altogether.


Rivarly between classic Mini owners and new BMW MINI owners do exist unfortunately right here in our own backyard.

I hope you decide not to permanently pull away from future Mini/MINI events.

 

:smile:

It was VERY obvious that the MINI was not very welcome. Things were stolen off our cars during the night in the secured parking lot. Nasty things were said to us directly as we were lined up for a road ralley - like "Why don't you buy a REAL Mini"?

We've tried very hard to bridge the gap in our area, but it's not working very well.
donna@dcmetrominis.org

 

>> :smile:
>>
>>It was VERY obvious that the MINI was not very welcome. Things were stolen off our cars during the night in the secured parking lot. Nasty things were said to us directly as we were lined up for a road ralley - like "Why don't you buy a REAL Mini"?
>>
>>We've tried very hard to bridge the gap in our area, but it's not working very well. :evil:


Absolutely disgusting!! :evil: :evil: :evil:

What's wrong with these people?

 

I find thursting two fingers in the air and saying, "**** off" works pretty well with people like this.

Seriously though I have not had the misfortune of running into this. I've been in All British Car shows and had nothing but compliments from classic owners, jaguar, mg or lotus owners. I even know a couple of classic owners who drive new MINIs as well. Being jealous of other peoples cars is just stupid. :evil:

 

Unfortunatly there are a few misguided dolts that think they are carrying the flag for the BMC factory ... and don't seem to know there is no one behind them ...
As a classic owner, I would really like to buy a new 1967 Morris Cooper S - but They Don't Make 'em Anymore! ... so i did the next best thing and ordered a new Cooper. What these few babies also don't seem to realize is that It's Not Our Fault - we didn't make the marketting moves that lead to the replacement of the original, and, in fact, if the original wasn't replaced, we still wouldn't be able to get Mini's here anyway ...
Whatever Crusade these nuts are on will eventually die off, but in the mean time, we can't let these few lunatics ruin otherwise excellant car shows or Mini Meets - we have to show up and show them that we are cut from the same cloth, and that Mini's and MINI's serve the same purpose in the grand motoring scheme ...

 

>>Absolutely disgusting!! :smile:

Chow!

Donna
donna@dcmetrominis.org

 

Sorry to hear that Sherry...very sad indeed.

 

I have not been to a meet where any classic minis have shown up yet...but I have heard many tales of classic mini owners feeling that the new MINI is a disgrace to the mini name. I imagine the same thing happened a lot with the new and classic Beetle. You will always have your purists.

_________________


JIJIJA JIJIJA....G UNIT!!!!!

 

The *******

 

>>I have not been to a meet where any classic minis have shown up yet...but I have heard many tales of classic mini owners feeling that the new MINI is a disgrace to the mini name. I imagine the same thing happened a lot with the new and classic Beetle. You will always have your purists.
>>

It's been the for owners of old Land Rovers (Series) and the newer ones too. And the same between Brazil & Argentina, Brazil and Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands, the Netherlands & Germany, Auburn & Alabama, Georgia and Ga Tech, etc, etc, etc.

Damn... everywhere I go, there's someone who doesn't like me or someone else. Oh well..... I won't bother staying up late to worry about it.

:smile:

 

antsmini :
I actually own an old VW bug as well as my MCS and belong to a local VW club by the name of the Palmetto Bugs. ALL types of VWs hang together and the new Beetle was accepted with open arms and large smiles. After not having ANY new bugs for a while, it was nice to see a familiar face and profile come back.

Too bad the Mini clubs you other guys got involved in don't feel the same. Their loss.

At the last British car show I participated in ('69 MGB), the MINIs had their own area and were very well accepted, just as another British brand, along w/ RR, Lotus, Trumph, MG, Jag, etc.

'bloo in Miami

 

>>Unfortunatly there are a few misguided dolts that think they are carrying the flag for the BMC factory ... and don't seem to know there is no one behind them ...
>>As a classic owner, I would really like to buy a new 1967 Morris Cooper S - but They Don't Make 'em Anymore! ... so i did the next best thing and ordered a new Cooper. What these few babies also don't seem to realize is that It's Not Our Fault - we didn't make the marketting moves that lead to the replacement of the original, and, in fact, if the original wasn't replaced, we still wouldn't be able to get Mini's here anyway ...
>>Whatever Crusade these nuts are on will eventually die off, but in the mean time, we can't let these few lunatics ruin otherwise excellant car shows or Mini Meets - we have to show up and show them that we are cut from the same cloth, and that Mini's and MINI's serve the same purpose in the grand motoring scheme ...


Well said. I think the classic Mini had more than enough time in the market place....41 years is a very long time and the Mini was in dare need of a change.
(The original VW Beetle production was ended last month in Mexico).

Look, I really love the looks and quirkiness of the classic model and would even consider one as a fun/weekend car, but no way I would buy one to be my daily driver...the car is too darn small, lacks modern day safety features and simply is not the most practical thing going. Add to that service and parts availability.

 

At the Boston area Italian Job premier, it was close to 50/50 between MINIs and classics, and everybody was like a big bunch of Fonzies. Very cool.

My point being, I don't think it's like this everywhere. You just had the misfortune to attend an event where a number of these miscreants were congregated. I would hope that all of this garbage dies down a bit once the MINI has been on the road for a while.

 

I learned to drive on a classic Mini, and owned 5 of them back home. I love Alice and would love to have a classic Mini to park next to her, but they are too expensive and too hard to maintain here in the States. Parts are basically impossible to get, as far as I know, and I was always replacing bits on my old ones.
Cooper4Us, safety-wise, the old cars were surprisingly safe, and handled just as well as the MINI. Practiacality, I used to go camping, beaching, all that sort of stuff in my classics, the other issue that would be a killer now is that I never owned one with AC, and Vegas is unfriendly to drivers without AC.

All that being said, my wife and I are watching ebay for classic minis, and may pick one up if the price is right.

 

>>>>I have not been to a meet where any classic minis have shown up yet...but I have heard many tales of classic mini owners feeling that the new MINI is a disgrace to the mini name. I imagine the same thing happened a lot with the new and classic Beetle. You will always have your purists.
>>>>
>>
>>It's been the for owners of old Land Rovers (Series) and the newer ones too. And the same between Brazil & Argentina, Brazil and Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands, the Netherlands & Germany, Auburn & Alabama, Georgia and Ga Tech, etc, etc, etc.

 

AprilWhine, don't let the attitude and action of the few ruin it for the many. It always seems that the loudest are always in the minority. This anti-New MINI attitude is very small in the states. We don't need to be caught up in it. It seems that this Classic owner is jealous of the New MINIS. Classic owners should thank BMW for taking control of the MIni. Besides most of these so-called Classics are actually illegally imported late model Minis built by Rover owned by BMW. Our club goes out of it's way to make sure there is no division between Classic and New. I think my two Classic's are great and my New MCS is fantastic! I can't imagine one without the other. I'd like to know who this guy from NC is.

 

In Los Angeles we have two mini clubs SCMM (mostly new) and MOALA (mostly old.) I
belong to both, and haven't really seen any bad behavior. Last year at Mini Meet West, you
could tell some people were not necessarily into the MINI, but I didn't see or hear anything.
Well, there is the "100% free of BMW parts" sticker. ( I parked right next to him, told him I
liked his car, and he said he liked mine too.)

Several of the classic owners in MOALA have MINI's too, and at MMW last year they were
asking me about mine. It could just be that we are lucky here in LA (who would have ever
guessed that!) Or maybe I just bulldogged my way in. I have wanted a Mini since the first
time I saw one about 20 years ago, and I'm going to go to Mini events in my MINI until I get
one. Basically, once you start to tell someone how cool their car is, they like you, and they
want to keep talking to you. We all know about that right!

 

Thanks for all the cyberhugs guys!

Dave, love the pics! I've missed seeing all the Rocky Mtn pictures on M2.

Mike/Donna, if I had known about your experience, I may not have gone to MME this year. I may try again in a few years, but not right away.

Anyone who wants to know who the joker is, PM me and I will send you his name.

 

One more picture post to help cheer you up. :smile: The pictures at the UCLA Japanese Garden are my favorite.

DiD L.A. Vacation Pics - Die 56k Die!!!

 

I love the old Minis as well and I get as excited when I see one as I do a new Mini... probably more so. A break here and there and I would have owned one as a teen. However, this is arrogance is entirely out of place. The modern Mini is the natural extension of the original Mini. The New Beetles were a much more radical progression. Front engined, water cooled, unable to be repaired with kitchen utensils. The most radical change in the New Mini is that you were probably able to pack clothes for the trip. From what I've read about travelling in the original Minis is you need every spare of storage for tools and replacement parts so those people had probably been in the same clothes for several days (if they were French Canadian, possibly longer) and were therefore in very sour moods.

It's too bad. We're a car without a country. I'm going to the Vintage Grand Prix in Pittsburgh next month and I've heard that the BMW people aren't exactly thrilled about us. (They're apparently bitter about the new 5-series). There's enough of us that we don't need either of them, but it is sad because I think many of us have tremendous fondness for both makes.

 

Thanks Dave, your pictures could cheer anyone up. But now, I want to visit Japan!

 

April - Very sick and unfortunate. You would think that even classic Mini owners would be thankful that the Mini name is carried on under new competent stewardship. Remember what happened to Triumph in its last days being nothing more than rebadged Hondas.

Hopefully, your experience was an isolated case. Having been the lone MINI at last weekend's Virginia Festival of Speed, how about a real turnout for the HSR meet the weekend after next? I'll be there on Sunday as usual admiring ALL the vehicles.

Be well!

 

This picture was posted by Debby, of Mainly Minis Montreal, over on the MiniMania board. As she said, a [b]picture[/B} is worth a thousand words: