Hi folks,

After months of lurking on NAM, staring at MCS's at the local auto-x events, driving my wife batty with Mini talk, I just plunked down a deposit on an '05 MCS order!

A little history on this..... I currently drive a '97 VW Jetta 2.0l with about 102k on the clock. It's been a good, practical car that has hauled me and my bicycles around faithfully. However, it's getting a bit worn out and it was never a blast to drive.

I also have an older Integra that I set up for auto-x. This was my project car for the last two years and I learned alot wrenching on it. It was OK to drive at the events, but nothing I'd take out for a Sunday drive with the wifey. No a/c (in Atlanta), stiffer than hell suspension, loud exhaust....you get the picture.

I've always admired the Mini's I saw around the events.... What a cool looking car with driving dynamics to back in up. I only went as far as to sit in a few for a head room check (I'm 6'5"). I figured a test ride would be fatal. When I heard the Mini was going to come out with a limited slip differential my interest was piqued.

Then life happened....literally. My wife and I found out last month we are expecting our first child in June. Great news for us! Bad news for this car guy. Or so I thought.

Last weekend I got my wife to come out and test drive some cars I had on a short list to replace the VW. Being pratical in nature, most of the cars I insisted we look at were station wagons. We went for a ride in a Subaru Legacy GT Wagon. I thought it drove nice, but my wife just shrugged her shoulders. She said "You know, you've never actually driven that Mini you keep going on about. Let's go take a look". Yup, she loves me. .

Wow. After starting the demo MCS up and pulling away from the dealer I immediately felt a connection to the car. It was almost as though this was the car that someone built for me. The handling, acceleration, braking, fit and finish.....OK, you all know this part. I was sold upon my first visit to red line.

When we got back to the lot and took a closer look at the boot area a big wave of "What the hell are you thinking? This car is too darn small for a family-to-be!" hit me. My wife again doused those flames by convincing me to keep the VW as a baby/bike car and ditch the Acura. Her Camry is only two years old and it's plenty big for our growing clan. Did I mention she loves me, alot

OK, enough of this. Here are the specs of my full time commuter and part time auto-x toy:

2005 MCS
DS/B (BRG/W ran a close second)
Bonnet stripes
6-speed w/LSD (good bye inside wheel spin)
Cold Weather Package (useful two months of the year in Atlanta)
Leather seats (Black, burn yr @ss hot the rest of the year)
Chrome line interior
MFSW
HK Stereo
Patina dash

I am slated for production the first week of January. Delivery around the first week of February.

OK, rant off. Motor on!

-Erik

 

Erik, welcome and that's great to hear! You've been bit by the MINI bug, like the rest of us. :smile: And it's always nice to hear of a married couple who isn't in that 'I want to have fun but my wife won't let me!' stage. It's encouraging to the younger crowd.

-mike

 

Erik,
That's fantastic!!!! A loving spouse, a little one on the way, AND and MCS (also little?) on order!?!?!?! Wow, life is good!!! Best of luck and I hope your dear missus is feeling okay!!!

 

That's fantastic!!! The Mini is a great car to drive every day and for pretending your racing in Le Mans on the weekend<g>. Make sure your wife takes away your Visa, MC, AMEX, etc. Let us know how the car is when you take delivery!

 

That's cool. I had a similar experience although we haven't bought a mini yet. We have a 2 1/2 year old daughter and for now, a 2000 Camry and a 1993 Saturn SC2. My wife also surprised the crap out of me when she suggested we test drive a mini and then...gasp!... buy one. The thinking being that the Camry is big enough for one kid and it's already a mess inside. Instead of getting a minivan to replace the saturn (which is the car I bought myself for my college graduation) and making the Camry my daily driver, I'd get a new car to keep in pristine condition for many years and we'd replace the Camry with something bigger later.

Well, it hasn't exactly worked out. We need more moolah or we need to pay down some bills before we can take on a car payment. We actually almost bought a Mazda MPV this week because the $4k rebate on 2004 models and end-of-month quota pressure would have given us an incredible deal. Deal or not, we still need more money.

So, I'm green, in fact I'm BRG with envy. I'd be all over that factory LSD too. I'm still undecided between BRG/B, HB/B and all black, so maybe it's for the best.

 

That's great, Erik! A supportive wife is wonderful to have. Mine, too, very much wanted me to get what I wanted. Nice specs, too!

Mark