My new Mini Cabrio is about 1/3 of the way across the Atlantic Ocean, but I was thinking the other day about how to deal with items that might fly into the car when cruising with your top down. I'm not talking about the bird that has the correct telemetry to plant one into your interior, but what about items falling off of overpasses, cigarette butts thrown out the windows of passing cars, other garbage, and items that fall off trucks in front of you. What's the worst thing that has happened to you and how did you deal with it?

 

While at a stop sign, a stone thrown by a lawn mower. Luckily it didn't hit anyone but it did put a nick in the leather on the passenger seat. Lesson learned, always get away from a lawn mower as quickly as possible.

 

Some a%%hole intentionally threw a cig into my car at a stop light. I was so dumbfounded that i didn't know what to do (chase them, defenestrate them, beat them, ignite them.) until they were long gone. Fortunately, i saw it happen and removed it before it did any damage to my car (it was lit!)

grr.

 

^ Defenestrate - classic!

The worst I've had to deal with are just the usual suspects - bugs, pebbles/gravel, and rain/sprinklers.

 

The worst I've ever had was hay that flew into the cabin from a dumptruck ahead of me on a highway. Since then I've leaned not to be directly behind them, if not only to just avoid the smells that come from them

 

Just a "present" from a bird, on the first day i got her :-) I've got cloth seats, so it wasn't fun to get out, but could've been worse. Not a thing since! Just got my windscreen from Ev, and I'm psyched for warmer weather to try it out since winter's been a bust.

 

Leaves. Lotsa leaves. Somehow I like them though. Kinda makes me have the same feeling as when you see a European garden with statues and the like. The dried up leaves somehow make it look dignified. It’s a dilemma to vacuum or not to vacuum

 

In Hawaii, we've got a big tree (not sure what type) that seasonly produces these huge, gelatinous purple "berries" that when they drop and strike your car it will leave a splatter/spray of six to eight inches of sticky goo. At speed, one landing in the car is that much worse! Even if it is purple!!! Thank goodness for Wet Okoles'.

 

My problems have objects flying out on my Mini..

Three hats so far and they always seem to fly out where I can't go back and get them.

Thankfully - nothing incoming.

 

Be very careful when following, passing or stoped next to a truck/trailer hauling livestock. DAMHIK.... ...

 

my wife had a crate from a washing machine fly off the back of a truck in front of her and land on the roof (luckily, it was winter)....left friction burns all down the top and the styrofoam got stuck under the car and melted over the brand new Milltek. Yes, the truck driver stopped, but no, he didn't stop long enough to do anything more than see he was in trouble and she was ok and he took off.

 

The only things we've had fly into the car were from other MINIs. On a couple of club rallyes where there are quite a few MINIs driving in line, we've had small rocks get picked up by the rear tires of the MINI in front of us and land in our car(one even bounced off the top of my head ). I've never had that happen following any other vehicles-just MINIs. Trucks will throw rocks but they generally hit the bonnet or windshield.

dustybottoms, after losing a couple of hats in my previous cabrios and I've found that if you wear your hats backwards, they tend to stay in place better. I still try to make sure that any hat I wear in my cabrio isn't a favorite that can't be easily replaced.

 

Same here. Nothing flying IN so far. But on a DCMM run through the twisties back a couple months ago, I lost a pair or reading glass that were tucked under the visor. Went around a curve, out they went. They were cheap... had it been my RayBan sunglasses, I would have stopped and gone to retrieve them.

 

had a guy spit into my cousins cabrio. She almost killed him

 

Hmmmm. I wonder if this explains the occasional pair of pants I see laying in the road.....

 

Not a Cabrio, but in my old Jeep I once had a Seagull fly into the windshield, bounce up & over and into the front passenger seat. Thing was all effed up and flapping around. It was down the shore, and there were a lot of people around, so I didn't want to stop & throw it out the car. I was only a couple of blocks from our shore house, so I when I got there my parents made me take it to the animal hospital, I just wanted to dispose of it. In retrospect they made me do the right thing.....I guess.

 

yeah...never enough seagulls in the world, especially in Jersey. you're lucky your arm didn't rot off from touching it

 

I would venture to say this would be about the worse.. .. car is not mine .. but you get the idea

 

Bee(s). It happened at a traffic light. I just don't like the buzzing sound. Seems like it's always perilous to stop a MINI.
I do worry about seagull poop, but I wear a baseball hat, so I'm semi-protected.

 

Note to self.... Don't park Mini under a tree while topless.

 

Great Pic!!
Though I'm guessing there's a reason that the designated parking areas stop in front of where the MINI is.

 

Never had anything weird come into the convertible, but I did have a bird drop a fish on me once when I was on my motorcycle. Landed right on the tank and then bounced off of my chest. Scared the crap out of me!

 

We made a new friend yesterday. He must've escaped from somebody. We watched in fascination, as did the young and agile kitty that hangs out around my Dad's house.

Finally, we attempted a rescue, with a pie tin full of Wheaties and a chunk of brick to weigh it down in the strong breeze.

Lesson learned: Never put a pie tin full of Wheaties and a chunk of brick on top of a new MINI's convertible roof in a strong breeze.

No damage done, and the bird flew on. I hope he makes it home alright.

 

Worst thing to fly into my cabrio: Xiek!