Hi,
Some of you may know us from MINI2.com .

We are planning to fulfil a dream in 2005, that is to tackle the whole (or what remains) of Route 66 in a MINI.
I wondered if any of the forum members could offer any advice as to how best to do it, what to see, where to stop over, what to avoid and other useful stuff.
Maybe even tag along for the trip or part of it?.

I did a section many years ago when testing cars for Rover, when I worked there, and now as I work for MINI in Oxford, I want to do the whole 9 yards so to speak.

So what can you NAM members come up with?.

We'll keep coming back and looking at the thread to see what pearls of wisdom are offered, or you can e-mail me or PM me if you have the time.
Any offers of help or assistance will be gratefully recieved, as I may be doing this solo.

Company Bonus will be totally blown by this trip, but what the heck, its gotta be done, you only live once:smile:

cheers
Pappillon and Goonery from MINI2.com

 

Be sure to contact the St. Louis Mini Club -- seeing that Route 66 goes right through St. Louis! I'm sure we can help you out.

http://www.stlmini.com./contact.php


Here's a good page talking about some of the attractions on the portions on the route in Missouri and Illinois.

http://www.visit-springfieldillinois.../i-route66.htm

 

Thanks String, Springfield to me means Homer , Marge and Bart et al, and I'll be sure to check out St Louis MINI Club.

 

We just returned from a weekend in Flagstaff, Arizona which is right on Route 66. It's a lovely town at about 7,200 ft elevation in a huge Ponderosa Pine Forest. We've gone west on 66 toward Kingman many years ago through one of the largest prairie dog towns I have ever seen - quite unusual! Anyway, my son will be going to university in Flag - maybe we can meet up with you for part of your drive through Arizona. A side trip to the Grand Canyon is a must if you haven't done it yet. You might also want to check out Meteor Crater - which is exactly that!


Will check back - know you'll have a super trip!

 

Hi Goonery,

My father in law is considering a similar trip and there is a lot of info out there about The Mother Road. The best website I've found so far is www.historic66.com. It has maps and descriptions of each section of road, though you would also want other maps. They have some great maps and books listed on their site as well as history and lots of other great stuff. Of course there is always the magazine which can be found at www.route66magazine.com but I don't know much about it. Finally, you can get real time weather updates for each section of the road, along with other info at www.hhjm.com/66/. Each state also has sites or info about 66 in their state.

Sounds like a great trip. Keep us updated as the details come clear and maybe some of us will be able to join you.

Cheers,

 

Welcome to NAM! :smile:

Do you have approximate dates for your trip?

I'm sure if you posted a rough schedule there would be interest from other MINI owners in meeting you and hearing about your trip. MINIclo met a lot of other MINI owners in her travels accross the country. You should contact her (I'll send her a link to this post). I believe the real key for successfully organizing those meets was to put posts into the regional forums saying when you're going to be coming through each city.

Again, welcome to NAM. Please post updates of your trip on here as it developes and from the road if possible.

Dave

 

Glad to see you on the NAM board! Last year, Tony Alderton from Canada made the run, and you should go here to see his itinerary and blog:

http://www.magma.ca/~alderton/route66/

He was VERY thorough, and had a blast! When he got down to Santa Monica, we met him with a bunch of us from San Diego, we had a special back-country run just for him. We'd gladly do the same for you! Let us know when you get down here.

BCNU,
Rob in Dago

 

St Louis here too! Most of the original Route 66 is well marked through Missouri & Illinois-you will truly see the Heartland if you follow it. There are many interesting sites & you will have to come thru St Louis & see our famous Arch. And take in a Cardinals game if time allows. Our MINI club is very active & many of us will be glad to be your tour guides when you pass thru. Feel free to contact me when you get your route planned.

Lois

 

Albuquergue, New Mexico

 

Congrats Goonery - I knew you'd get some help from NAM members

 

Thanks to all who have replied so far so far, Its all good stuff and very encouraging. There are a few technical details to be ironed out, such as getting a car that fits with dates of the flights, or getting flights which fit with the dates of the car, that seems to be the biggest obstacle so far. When that is cleared up, than I'll post the general itinery and start fixing up to visit various waypoints and meets with you nice folks along the way.

I intend to document this trip very thoroughly, maybe even write a book on it
thanks again everyone, keep it coming:smile:

 

I went by there recently. They want 12 bucks to see a big hole in the ground! So I turned around and left.

 

You have to get a CD with "The Song" on it. Manhatten Transfer does a great rendition.

 

Hertz rents Mustangs, I hear they're your favorite car!

If you wanted to start your trip on I-66 you could always start out from DC! But we can talk about that when we're in Oxford in September...

 

Its not my favourite , , Its just one for the garage, for something different now and then, I used to own a Caterham, that was very different.
A genuine Shelby Cobra is on my wish list too, in INDI blue with Viper Stripes.
September is good, looking forward to it.:smile:

 

Oh, this sounds like a GREAT trip, Goonery! I've done two cross-country MINI roadtrips in the US now and found that posting in the regional forums is a great idea, or doing what you've done here...start a thread about your travel plans.

:smile: I'll be taking my annual roadtrip again next Spring, to attend the third annual "HUGE" MINI Meet at the Tail of the Dragon, in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina/Tennessee. I'm in Los Angeles, and have gone via Interstate 10 and Interstate 40, which sometimes overlap with Rte. 66. I'll sure try to make part of the journey with you, if at all possible! Sounds like a BLAST!

Cheers!

Clo/Wanda

 

Seem to be having a few problems with getting a One Way Rental car, Ideally a MINI, anyone know of any dealerships who might be able to help out, otherwise its going to be a standard Corporate tank .

I'm thinking if I bought a MINI Cooper in Chicago and Sold it in LA, would I get a fair price, not sure about the technicalites of doing this, but it might be an option. MINI USA don't seem able to help out witha loan car due to distances and getting the car back to them.

Any good ideas out there, or maybe someone wants a car transported East coast to West coast or the other way ?, I could handle that.:smile:

 

If you are interested in that, check with Classic MINI in Mentor Ohio... They're a sponsor here, they send a lot of cars to the left coast...

 

Thanks Mike, I'm in touch and may well get a result, have contacted othe MINI outlets as well, the one that owes me a favour is a long way away, but I'll give it a go there too, you never know .

 

dates are now almost certain, 24 April, to 5 May.
Hitting the road on 26th from Chicago after 1 day to get accimatised, getting to LA on 2nd May.
Day by day plan is "under development".

 

Nat King Cole has a great version of the song!

Just buy it and follow along...

We will need to post this in the SoCal thread and mark our calendars. We should be hosting a big party at the end of the line! have a car show, pot luck - it would be a great fun for us all!

 

The "road music" collection is coming along nicely, I'll look thet one up on I tunes, Hope I can plug an MP3 I pod into the car:smile:

 

Your trip looks to be coming along nicely Goonery.:smile:

I recon it's going to be blast.

How many miles do you think you will be covering?

 

Let those of us in Chicago know for sure...

 

My son and I were by there a couple of years ago. Like a big dummy I paid for both of us to see the big hole in the ground. Every time I think about it it makes me mad. Skip the crater and just see the Grand Canyon....now THAT's a big hole in the ground.


R.E.