Ok I'll start.
This is a very nice thing to see finally happen

I've owned my MINI for close to 3 years now, and have been on NAM for over 2 years. It was getting kind of lonely around these parts.

But now we have a club, and a forum where we can get together and meet and discuss things.

I want to thank JCWGurl for all her work getting all this going

Remember our plates say Friendly Manitoba, so wave at your fellow MINI owners

Mark

 

Hello all!

My name is Briget and chances are you're car has been tagged with a MMMC brochure or you've received a brochure from our local dealer (thanks to Ernie and the gang at MINI Winnipeg!). I'm so glad you're here!

My husband and I LOVE our MCS...his name is Rex! Mark is a real auto enthusiast and I think it has spread to me too ...these things are catchy! Go figure that he opened a Go-Kart Track (Speedworld Indoor Kart Track). What we enjoy most about our car is the joy we get in driving it. We both autocross the car with the Winnipeg Sports Car Club and hope to take some HPDE schools soon too!

This thread is just an introduction page so please include your name and maybe a little about yourself!

There will be a page dedicated to our upcoming events soon! Mark your calendars for July th or 16th for our first "official" event...a MINI TREASURE HUNT! There will be lots of prizes too from a variety of sponsors!

 

Hello All,
I'm JCWGurl's other half and I love our MINI. I have owned 30+ cars including some pretty quick cars and the MINI is the most fun I have ever had with a car. At present I own a modified Porsche 911 which is an intense experience, but it's the MINI that puts the biggest smile on my face. Briget and I have done a bunch of motorsports events and rally's with Rex and have always done well and had a great time. Our club's emphasis is on the motoring aspects of MINI ownership and I hope we will have a bunch of rally's, autocross and show&shines for every member to fully experience their MINI.

 

I have got to agree with Iceman. I've spent a lot of time riding motorcycles, but the JCW is the first car that really does it for me. Well, not quite true: I liked my daughter's MINI Cooper so much, it was the reason I traded in my old Toyota this Spring.

JCWGurl: I think you left out a date. What are the possible times for the Treasure Hunt?

 

July 15th or 16th early morning to mid-afternoon.

 

I'm hoping it could be the 16th

Mark

 

Lets go here gang, step up, we don't bite

Mark

 

Sorry can't make it that weekend but can I join your Club

Lois

 

Okay - it's a done deal!

The event will be Sunday, July 16th.

Registration at the MINI Winnipeg/Birchwood BMW dealership at 10a.m. - motoring by 11a.m.

The event will wrap up at 2p.m. at a location TBA.

Details will follow.

Keep an eye out in the mail late June for your "official" MINI Treasure Hunt Rally invitation!

Along with the invite will be a MMMC brochure so I would imagine the sign-up here will also increase as the NAM site is listed as an invaluable resource!

I am looking for small prizes for drivers (Speedworld, Provencher IGA and MINI Winnipeg are all current donors!) so if you know anyone who might be interested in helping us out let me know so they can get some exposure in the invitation (deadline for submission June 14th).

WEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

Of course! I hear you have an "in" with one of our first members
Welcome!!!

 

Ok I'm in.

 

You will be welcome with open arms

Mark

 

Hey JCWGurl, this sounds like a lot of fun! I intend to be there!

Cheers,
Karl

 

OK, I have marked my calendar!

C U There :-)

Cheers,
Karl

 

Excellent, this is going to be sooo much fun

 

What is it with some Winnipeg MINI owners, anyway?

Last weekend, I was driving alongside another red MINI, and the two of us passed another one going the opposite direction...

I'm like flashing lights, sticking my arm out the window and waving for all I'm worth, and these other folks were hunched over their steering wheels, staring straight ahead and refusing to wave back or anything...<sigh>

Sometimes I think Birchwood should "pre qualify" folks before letting them drive off the lot...

 

I agree that MINI drivers should acknowledge each other but I don't think their indifference is limited to Manitoba. Just today, we were on the Perimeter and a Blue Cooper S with white bonnet stripes came up behind us and passed. I waved like crazy as he went by and he didn't look over or wave or anything, he was from Ontario.

 

Well.. maybe the Manitoba MINI Motoring Club will be able to change that! We encourage waving

....have a few new members who have joined up by telephone...but not on NAM yet They'll need to be converted lol

 

Cool! Maybe there is one among them I can beat at auto-x .

 

I have had a MINI for 3 years now, geez times fly when your having fun. I don't get many waves from other MINIs, but those that do make up for the ones that don't.

Mark

 

Well, that's one way to look at it! (I'm not arguing with you here, just enlarging the discussion...)

I'm on my 2nd MINI now (I recently traded in my '02 "Launch Edition" Indi Blue Cooper for my new Chili Red 06 edition...)

Our '02 summer vacation drive took us across the northern States to Montana and back, and wow, did that car attract a lot of attention along the way. It almost got a little tiresome after a while . Pull over for a pee break or a tank of gas, and answer a zillion questions...

Maybe I got somewhat spoiled by that experience. BMW-made MINIs were brand-new on the market, and almost as scarce as chicken lips.

Back then, EVERY MINI driver I saw waved, flashed lights, etc. when they saw me waving and flashing lights at them.

I think early-adopters of MINIs "got" the concept of things that go with being a MINI driver. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made the effort to procure one.

Nowadays, when you cruise past the lot at Birchwood and see a bunch of MINIs awaiting new owners, you can easily infer that they're letting just anybody who has the money buy one! :impatient The buzz of MINI ownership is fading, and it seems up to our new club to to get some of that back...

Since your MINI is in the repair shop, I'll make you a deal: if you would like to be my navigator for the upcoming "Treasure Hunt" rally, I think I could persuade my spouse to stay home. Let me know if you're interested in doing that!

 

Thanks to all for organizing the club, the forum, the scavenger hunt, etc.

Cindy and I purchased our first Mini from Birchwood in the Autumn of 2002, on of the first on the lot. 2002 Cooper S, dark silver, Canadian flag on the subroof. Last weekend, just before the meet, we sold/donated the old Mini to our son. Cindy bought a brand new Red convertable; automatic, not an S, but a bunch of fun. This is a daily driver. The old S with sport suspension and 6 speed, was just a little harsh for her. My bad back has relegated me the the 'old man' car a 740il.

Cheers, Charlie and Cindy Goodman

 

I haven't seen another MINI in town with roof graphics, I'll be keeping my eyes open for a Canadian Flag. Here's our new graphics, watch for us around town(try to keep up )

 

Way cool, Mark...where did you have that made? (If you don't mind telling...)

 

Hmm, I think I saw your old car on the road a few days ago, waved to the driver but he wasn't paying attention...was that a cell phone I saw in his left hand?

My first MINI was a Indi Blue '02 Launch Edition Cooper, ordered from www.mini.ca in January, delivered to MINI Winnipeg in April. Had so much fun driving it that I traded it in on an '06 Cooper with just the options I wanted on it...the Launch Edition kind of sucked because it did not have cruise control...

Here's a photo of my first MINI at one of my favourite places in the world...