A line of about a dozen MINIs in assorted hues stood in the chilly morning air while their owners chatted idly, waiting for something to happen. On the far side of the lot, a camera man from the local Fox TV affilliate fiddled with his gear, glancing up occasionally at the red MINI Cooper S emblazoned with yellow and black stickers advertising "The Italian Job". All were present for the Baltimore edition of the "Mini Cooper Stunt Show"

The driver (whose name I didn't catch) climbed aboard the S -- did not fasten his seat belt -- and took off in a squeal of tires, backward. He braked and did a 180, then headed back toward the corral of cones that simulated a tight parking space. As you might expect, he braked and slid in perfectly. Actually seeing this is a lot more impressive than reading about it.

Next, a pumper truck from the local Fire Department wheeled out to the coned-off area and the fireman hosed a shallow lake onto the asphalt. The performance was repeated with embellishments. This guy really knows how to make a car sit up and say woof.

Later, the camera dude wired the stunt man up for an interview and had him go through the paces for the folks at home to enjoy with their morning coffee. Following this there was a bit of Q and A with an unseen TV interviewer (from the studios we presume) and the audience and their MINIs got a bit of air time as well.

The crew (driver, mechanic and assistant) will be touring East Coast cities for the next several weeks. Perhaps they'll visit a parking lot near you!

(Note: I met MCO'er acetonic -- a.k.a. Ron -- and his spouse out there. Ron videotaped the event and we'll most likely be seeing clips from the event here soon)

 

Thats a cool story, thanks for posting. :smile:

 

Sunday I went to an all day 'Performance Driving Clinic" (class) at Buttonwillor Raceway in Buttonwillow CA. In addition to all the track time and great in-car instruction, one of the instructors did a couple of stunts in my MCS with me in the car. On the skidpad we (he) did 2 forward 180s and a reverse one as well. It was an amazing experience. On the first one, he didn't tell me what he was going to do, just said "......oh, and you can do this in this car as well..." whereby he proceeded to SCREAM across the skidpad and pull the first of the 3 180s. It all happened so quickly, it was over before I knew it. I said "What the @#$$%^ was THAT!" He laughed, and said "Oh, that's just a little e-brake spin." Then he did another, explaining that the key was to wait until the tires were squeeling before pulling the hand brake. No sooner had we finished the 2nd forward 180s, then he said "and you can do this too..." This time he took off in reverse across the skidpad, tires squeeling of course, spun the wheel, pulled the brake, and we'd done the whole thing in reverse. I think normally I'd have been a bit freaked, but he was so calm, and in control that it felt safe to be a spectator in my own car.

Everybody else watching seemed to enjoy it too. We got a couple of thumbs up when we were done. If he's there next time I'll try to hunt him down get an actual lesson in 180s.

Geoff Stradling

 

Great info. on the event - Dang I wish we could have gone :smile:


Chow!


Donna

 

It was kinda cool to watch this guy beat the hell outta a stock MCS. Had Jay Leno not burned out the clutch in an EB MCS, there woulda been 2 cars to ogle.

I'm going to try to get a copy of the tape of the live feed program. If I do, I'll try to make copies if anyone wants them.

BTW, they trashed 33 MINIs to make the movie...ouch.

Mark Wahlberg apparently didn't learn his lesson while filming "The Perfect Storm" and his chronic motion sickness got the better of him while driving the MINI. This made for slow filming on some days as he need several..er...um..breaks to "recover his composure" (read: lose his breakfast/lunch). I guess it's kinda mean to laugh at that, but I can't help it

 

Katie, sorry I missed the hottie - darn

 

Very cool. Where can I find out whether or not they'll be making their way to Boston? Was there any advance notice of this? Thanks! Chris

 

>He braked and did a 180, then headed back toward the corral of cones that >simulated a tight parking space. As you might expect, he braked and slid in >perfectly. Actually seeing this is a lot more impressive than reading about it.

to see this stunt on film, i recommend renting
jackie chan's 'who am i?'.

 

Strad...


What did your tires look like when the dude was finished?

 

Looks like they ate up quite an bit of tire in the process yesterday. The mechanic ("Nacho&quot said they had another set in the trailer for tomorrow's show. Do you think they use up a set of tires every day they do this? Yike.

 

seeing Jay Leno thrash the MINI around on the Today Show (not live, I saw it on TV) was pretty fun. i don't know why, but I was pretty impressed that he pulled the 180s that he did - it's more than i can do!

 

OBXMini-

My tires are fine. They had just wet down the skidpad with the water truck before we started.

 

>>OBXMini-
>>
>>My tires are fine. They had just wet down the skidpad with the water truck before we started.

That's the key to not flat spotting your tires. I reserve my handbrake turn stunts (great in my Ford company car too ) for rain, snow, ice or dirt.

And on ice it can be done very s l o w l y! At a walking pace. Frreaks people out, but eliminates those dreary "k" turns!

Regards,
Red