Hi guyz....im in love with the new Mini....but my friends keep saying its a chicks ride.....ive told them to go test drive one and then say something......so i just wanted your opinion.....how many of you have gotten stupid comments about your mini......

 

In Europe, at least for the 2002 model year, the Mini was definately a 'chicks' car. It doesn't appear to be going that way in the States.

 

you nailed it on the head; "stupid comments".

Most people are too ignorant to know about the Mini's Rally racing heritage; if they weren't, they certainly wouldn't be calling the MINI a "chick car"!

 

The story I was told is that BMW did a lot of testing and the outside design is about 50% of what men find sexy in a car and 50% of what women find sexy. Smart marketing. But the inside is a different story and without a doubt the handling and driving was built for people who love to drive - which seems to be guys from birth (as a stereotype)

I also think every car gets stereo typed. The new VW Bug is for women or gays, the Ford Focus is for highschoolers, the porch is for guys with small dicks :smile: ..... I am just typing what I heard, I refuse to say if I agree or not :smile:

 

I've said it before, and I guess I have to say it again.....baby chickens can't drive cars, even MINIs. They're too short to see over the dash, and their lil legs can't reach the pedals.

 

No, it's NOT a "chick car!" If it was, I probably wouldn't want to own/drive/love it.

Of course, I was a total tomboy -- I've loved cars since I was a kid. Muscle cars, mostly - GTO's, the old 'Stang (not the freaky new redesign!), you name it. Instead of having photos of bands on my wall, I had a poster of a reconditioned "woody" station wagon with a surfboard sticking out of the back.

I played with my TYCO racecar set till the cars melted and stuck to the track. My Barbies went on roadtrips, *without* Ken -- get my point?

Yeah, I'm a chick. But being a chick doesn't mean I would settle for some poorly engineered, weak-*** piece of sh*t. "Chick car" is such a condescending term. It always gets my goat.

Sorry for the rant - but does that help answer your question?

 

IMHO it really depends on the color. Dark silver, british racing green and black are pretty masculine looking, whereas yellow, that purple color and light green are pretty girly. But if you like the car, it's "image" shouldn't discourage you from buying it.

 

Whatever you want to believe to pretect your machismo, the instinctive aesthetic reaction I get from 90% of the people I ask is: "Total chick car."

I'm comfortable with that. I actually like chicks.

 

Cars can be for boys and girls

I get alot of that too, some people say its a chick car, other guys really dig the car. Soooo if its a chick car, does that mean i can pick up more chicks in it? o_O
(cept there's room for only 3

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Most of the MINI colors are neutral, each one can be dressed up a bit more masculine or feminine.
Same colored roofs can be neutral or masculine, black roofs masculine and white roofs feminine to neutral.
More blacked out aero stuff-masculine, more chrome neutral to feminine. Wheels make a difference and tinited of windows darker is more masculine.

Overall I would say that no it is is not a chick car. It is versatile and can be made anyway you want. In our local club there are about 65% male drivers.

 

>>No, it's NOT a "chick car!" If it was, I probably wouldn't want to own/drive/love it.
>>
>>Of course, I was a total tomboy -- I've loved cars since I was a kid. Muscle cars, mostly - GTO's, the old 'Stang (not the freaky new redesign!), you name it. Instead of having photos of bands on my wall, I had a poster of a reconditioned "woody" station wagon with a surfboard sticking out of the back.
>>
>>I played with my TYCO racecar set till the cars melted and stuck to the track. My Barbies went on roadtrips, *without* Ken -- get my point?
>>
>>Yeah, I'm a chick. But being a chick doesn't mean I would settle for some poorly engineered, weak-*** piece of sh*t. "Chick car" is such a condescending term. It always gets my goat.
>>
>>Sorry for the rant - but does that help answer your question?

 

ask them how much of a chick car it is when you're taking them for a ride doing 84 mph in a 40 mph curve in third gear with your revs at 6000 rpm.

fools.

 

>>fools.

===>>>Ha ha ha . I'm with you, hafid!!

 

In England, the split is 50/50 men to women.

 

:smile: No, it's not a total chick car...
donna@dcmetrominis.org

 

Yeah!! They all wanna ride in mine..Yuk. Yuk.

 

A risk of upsetting the sexually insecure, My take is that it is a bisexual car. Let me explain.

Most people that see mine initially say it is "cute", which sounds feminine and usually said my those fitting that category. At first my reaction was to say the usual about it being a rally car that kicks butt etc. (So maybe I'm insecure about my machismo?)

Now I just frame is as the best of both worlds. "Chicks" think it is cute so this may be scoring me points with women -- yahoo! But it is also a blast to drive and "real men" appreciate that once I let them take a drive.

I agree, following the bisexual analogy, that regardless the color, you can dress them for cute or handsome. Oh God! Does that mean we are driving transgender cars? I find any worry about them being "chick" mobiles kind of funny.

" I yam what I yam" - my Mini quoting Popeye

 

In the US, the split is more like 75% Men and 25% Women. BMW have heavily marketed the car as masculine, expressly because women will buy a masculine car, but men will NEVER buy a feminine car. Look at the new Beetle, that car's current split is probably something like 90% women, 10% men, and they're not doing so hot now...

Men drive the auto market, and BMW has intentionally made/marketed a more masculine car...but all that being said, the comments are right on as far as how the car is "dressed" -- it can be made more masculine or feminine depending on what YOU want.

Tell your friends, that they're morons...

 

MINI is a car for Man in most of time.
I think it is a little bit too powerful for a "chick"

MINI is a girl car at the same time. Because i have found that Girls are crazy about to sit in and try out, but not driving it. I have trouble to avoid cut girls asking questions about my "cute car". It is cute to most people, it is "fun" to me.

If you know about cars, MINI is a nice compact performance car in a 20k range. if you do not know aout cars. MINI is a chicks rides.

which way you want to live with???? make a choice!

 

It is a CHICK MAGNET. Not a chick car. I think more men buy the MINI Cooper S and more women buy MINI Cooper's. Sexual orientation? Does it matter? When I lived in the Bay Area, it was mixed, out here in Denver? More manly men but I really don't know many who live the alternate lifestyle here. That's a different thread about the lack of diversity and the definite lines between classes in Colorado.

Statistically, more women buy the Ford F150 than any other vehicle on the road. So how would you define a "Chick Car?"


_________________

 

Everybody loves the MINI; it is not a "chick ride". It is easy to stereotype cars and their drivers, and BMW has some models that seem to fit well into certain molds. I won't post my comments on any specific vehicle, though. Suffice it to say that unless it is dressed up conspicuously, the MINI is not a woman's car, nor is it a substitute for testosterone or other male anatomical attributes.

I will say, however, that the most common adjective the car receives from male and female critics alike is one that I've never cared for in an automotive setting and one that is overused in the general American lexicon- "cute". I prefer "fun".

 

all i know is i get more looks from guys than from chicks when i'm driving around. fine with me, gives me a chance to check them out while they're checking the Mini out!!

had an interesting couple come up to me the other day at Starbucks on S Howard in Tampa. Both get out of some BIG BMW, 7 something or other. She starts asking me questions and saying how cute it is and asking how fast and comfy it is. He's looking all smug and looking out of the corner of his eye, never saying anything. Then she asks, as if it's already been a bone of contention with them, "who makes it"? I told her it's made by BMW, and he perks up and starts going off on me!! I told him all he's got to do is pick up any car mag and read for himself, or just ask his dealer next time he's there. She was looking pretty smug then and gave me a wink as they walked off!!

 

Mine is more like A CHICK MAGNET!!!

 

If it's a chick car, then only very fast chicks need apply...

 

It has been my experience that here in the states more women buy Coopers while guys buy S's. This is in no way scientific and really just my observations. Since the Cooper has less HP, it could be viewed as a "chick car" in the sense that it's main purpose is to be cute. However, it still handles better than most cars and it's certainly more manly than a VW bug!

However, get an MCS and put a smaller pulley on it, new exhaust, etc, etc... and you have yourself a mean car fit for any man's garage. Forget spending all that money on a high end sports car, get a MCS!

I really think that the MINI is a car for everyone. Little kids love it, girls think it's cute and guys can appreciate it's handling.
-Chris
p.s. When the Mustang first came out is was marketed towards women.... something I love telling all those mustang drivers. (I'm a MOPAR man myself)