I have had my MINI for exactly one year today. I put a total of 14,200 miles on it, which have been fairly trouble free with the exception of the yo-yo and dealer scratching my paint incident.

I’ve owned four classic Minis since about 1984, three of which I restored from the ground up and I’ve been a member of MOALA - on and off - since this time. When I saw the MINI concept in about 1997, I was in love. I drooled over magazines and trolled the internet for seven years until the opportunity came for me to get one. I shopped around and said that I would never, ever pay the crazy California dealer markup. I did. I went to Crevier and found a MINI on the lot that I absolutely loved - and it loved me. It was screaming, take me home! If anybody has been to the animal shelter, you know what I am saying. But this MINI was not a ragged mutt, it was a fully loaded Chili Red and White S with every single thing that I have been adding during my fantasy runs on the build-your-own MINI USA site! I would have cried if I couldn’t take that MINI home that night! A visit to my friendly credit union and a cashier’s check for $34,000 - gasp - later, my baby was mine!

The first thing I said is that I would never modify it; “It’s gonna stay exactly the way MINI and God intended.” It all started with a shorty antennae! You gotta watch out for those shorty antennas - they are like a syringe injecting addictive mod heroin directly into your bloodstream! Next came the stripes, then the Euro parcel shelf, then the Redline boots, then the Whalen, then the chrome interior, then the chrome grille, the M7 ultimate grilles, the M7 springs, the oil catch can, the Dinan goodies, the euro armrest, and the wheels - oh, the wheels - I’ve gone through FIVE SETS of wheels in a year on the quest for the ultimate wheel - first the S-lites, then the Italian five spokes, then the gun metal Ro-Jas, then the silver Ro-Jas and now - I just got them yesterday - the wheels I‘ve been drooling over for a year but couldn‘t rationalize the cost - the Hamann HM4s. I just had them wrapped in Toyo Proxies4 last night and they are ever so nice - can‘t wait to get them on this weekend!

Bottom line - I love my MINI more than the day I first took delivery. I’ve driven several cars in the past. My old roommate was a high end auto broker for several celebrities so I’ve driven everything from a ‘59 Ferrari Testerossa to a Duesenberg to several Lamborghinis with many, many Porches and other exotics thrown in. Would I trade my MINI for any of these cars? Hell yes - you think I‘m crazy? But I would sell any of them to buy another MINI! My classic Mini went on the block in January of this year - I stopped driving it and felt that it was neglected. Do I miss it? Yeah, but not too much. Anyway, that is my rant. Here is to many more years of MINI motoring!

 

My pocketbook thanks you for your insight - I guess I won't be buying a stubby antenna for my incoming MCSC after all.

 

Good reading and I am starting the mods myself, now thinking of the S2000 antenna for mine. Just little things here and there.

 

I have a hypothesis that all MINI owners spend at least a couple of thousand dollars on stuff somehow related to their MINI. It may be on performance mods, or trips to the Dragon, or assorted diecast, or detailing supplies, appearance mods, or magazine subscriptions, or driving schools, or swag.....something (or a combination of the above).

My latest downfall was a complete MINI Scalextric digital setup....AND IT ALL STARTED W/ THAT $&*!# SHORTY ANTENNA!!!!!!!

Just totally lovin' MINI motoring!!!!

 

That's a great 1st Anniversary write up!

(I also thank you for the tip -- I'm keeping my OEM antenna!)

 

So, tell us what you REALLY think of your Mini

I know all too well about modding up a vehicle...I have a PT Cruiser (OK, no laughing!)and modding that is infectious as well.

Glad to hear about your good times with the Mini

 

I started with the s2000 antenna, too. I've done lots of other mods since then. Nothing major yet, but I'm shopping for wheels and an exhaust.

 

It's the mod bug, that's the way it starts!

 

YIKES!!! $34,000 Right before I got my 05mcs I priced several and decided to build one I really wanted but couldn't afford and still didn't manage to go over $30,000 and that was with leather, dvd nav, all packages, almost all the options and the aero kit. I only paid $22,800 for my 05 loaded except leather and nav. What other options did you get?

 

A trip to a ruthless California dealer! I pretty much got everything you can get at the time except for the works package.

 

Somehow I think that it'll be like my audiophile habit; you know, you always say, "That's it, I'm done! Not another wire!" Then, a couple weeks later, you start thinking, "I wonder how this amp would sound with JJ Teslas?" Ah, the merry-go-round. Gotta love it!

 

Two of my all time favorite cars...I would kill to have a chance to drive those two cars !!!! It was a privilege for me just to see those two legends, but to drive them.....oooh mama !!!

I apologize if it's off topic but I would love to hear about that experience...

 

Excellent write-up, Rick! I kept waiting for the rant, but where was it?

And, jds, I hadn't even THOUGHT about adding trips to the Dragon as MINI expenses, tee hee! When I factor that in, having to buy a laptop for the road, and the slowly-creeping-up-on-me mod virus, I see that this is the funnest and funniest passion ever, except for my art "habit"....

As for MINI-mods: I started with the glovebox organizer...tee hee...then I got a bunch of other kool stuff! Now, after getting a groovy new Union Jack flag and FINALLY some bonnet stripes in two weeks from Aestheticreation's Mike Syfritt (aka dragonflyer), I am about to add the pulley and UNIchip at the Dragon! And, this will be my 5th trip to the Dragon!!! Third time driving Wanda, flown east and motored there with many MINI friends! BUT...I still have the OEM antenna...so far!


Clover

 

Did anyone else experience that Internet glitch? Your post arrived garbled. It said you paid 34K for a Mini without JCW!

Will they ever get all the bugs worked out of the Internet?

 

Guess those mark-up California dealers have their own way of "giving you the works"

Sorry Rick, couldn't help myself. . . :smile:

If I had to, I would have paid dealer mark up too if it meant a few months of my life driving a MINI

 

Rick,

Great story, but now I am worried! My MINI is in production this week and yesterday I ordered $150 in Zaino and micro fiber towels.

It's slippery slope.

 

I too was inspired by following the concept in magazines.....saw a real one at the BMW factory in Munich in 2001....put down a deposit two weeks before the the dealership here opened in March 2002......and waited until September 2002 for deliverance. Despite over $3k in mods I still have my OEM antenna ......helps to make the Mini look like a toy which I think is a huge part of it's visual appeal.....the endearing part that makes others smile as you drive by. The Mini experience keeps on getting better and better......your best motoring lays ahead!

 

Boy, I can relate! I just sold my classic too! (I've had 6 of 'em) But I got the sequence wrong. I've spent multiple $K's on mods on my '05 MCS and just now did the stubby antenna. Go figure. Guess the only saving grace is that I new I'd do this so I ordered my car with minimal options.

ripley