Well I went for a late night trip to see The Exorcism of Emily Rose last night, got to the theater and parked right behind an 02 blue Cooper with white stripes. Didn't get to run into the owner, but it was cool, after 3 months my MCS finally made a friend Too bad I didn't have my camera.

 

I took a friend of mine to Frys yesterday, and when we came out, there was a black Mini parked right next to Molly. It was cool. I could tell that they parked there on purpose, but...sadly...we didn't get to meet the owner. I think I am going to have to start carrying a camera around with me so I can take pictures of Molly's friends that she meets....

 

MINI clustering. Isn't it cool!

 

don't scare me like that! where i come from, a "parking lot encounter" involves a crow bar or at the very least scratched paint or a dent.

glad to hear yours was much more pleasant than that

 

I know what you mean, girasole! I was nervous about reading this thread, too! (I had just re-read your thread about your headlight damage.)

There are now so many MINIs in West Los Angeles/coastal area that I can rarely get another MINI to acknowledge me! I always wave, though....I'm old school.


Clover

 

Funny.. i went to WALMART last night, and parked in the far, far back as i always do. As i come closer, i see a PS/B Cooper parked next space over and up (and a little red corvette two spots from me :P) The plates said GOM1NI, so i freaked out of course, whipped out my trusty camera, and got a picture.

Turns out, the owners were walking to the MINI right when i finished taking the picture. The lady said she loved my plates, so i of course said i loved hers. Then i realized why they were all saying "NO WAY" over and over walking to their cars. What fun

Come to think of it, their son was staring at my neck while in the store. I had my LY/W Mini Cooper lapel pin on my shirt collar

 

Here's how my typical parking lot encounter goes.

Jenne goes into grocery store to pick something up and I sit in the MINI at the curb waitng for her. Non-MINI owners walk up, say hello and start asking me all about the MINI.:smile: How do I like it, what's my mpg, do I feel safe in such a small car, how long have I owned it, what features do I have, and then they make general comments like, it's so damned cute, that's a sweet ride, I so want one of those!

MINI drivers that pass by wave or shout out a hello.

Sunday, in the space of 10 minutes, I had three such conversations with non-MINI owners in front of the local Safeway store.

MTFBWY,
--Will

 

Maximus (my Mini) sits in the parking lot all day with his bigger brother, a nice red S that looks after him and keeps him in line. The other day I was leaving and the other Mini's owner was walking to his car. I pulled up and we were talking and he complained about his run flats being expensive to replace. When I told him I was glad not to have them he was confused, I had to explain I had a non-S Cooper. I am always disapointed when people don't get it, even when they have a Mini.

 

Where I come from a "parking lot encounter" involves a promiscuous woman and cash...

 

I pulled into a gas station right behind a Silver MCSC with JCW kit. My first thought was thats pretty cool car, and then the second thought was 'Holy crap that must have been expensive'. Funny he spent that much, but didn't get the rear fog lamp, although he had the rally lights.

Didn't get to talk to the guy, but it was nice looking.

 

Same here!

 

Well I work in a shopping center, I can watch my car all day long, and often customers from neighboring stores will get referred to me to ask about that little car. One guy came and asked me if I owned that little "yellow Cooper". I didn't tell him it's actually pepper white, I was just happy to tell somebody about it. Turned out he had parked his dark silver convertible on the other side of me and I hadn't even noticed it.

 

My wife and I were sitting in a resterant with a window seat near the back and could see the MINI. Another table started looking and pointing. Finally the waitress came over and asked if that was our car and I said yeah and they all were thumbs up. cool

Then while pulling onto a highway onramp, in the inside lane was a pickup full of teenage guys ... pulling forward I just got up to highway speed. The pickup slowed down to pace and all smiled and one yelled over "thats got to be fun" Wife nearly died laughing

 

I had someone pull up next to me at a light as passenger in a taxi cab, hang out the window and shout, "Is it fast?" I had a heary chuckle when my girlfriend next to me gave me this curious look asking me what that was all about (It was her first Mini "encounter").

 

Funny thing is, living in San Francisco, where everyting is squished together and there is no parking anywhere, I see Minis all the time. I have even gone to the grocery store and parked IN BETWEEN two other MCS's, so we made a row of blue, black and red S's all with stripes.
At work there is someone with a black MCS with stripes, a regular black cooper with stripes, and an orange MCSC. The SF Bay Area has embraced the Mini with a vengence

 

As I left work last night I drove past three red MCS's in one block. Two were in my parking lot and the other was in the parking lot of the office next to us. Then I saw a blue MCS and a yellow MCS on my block at home.

My favorite was eating at McDonalds and having the table next to us ask 10,000 questions about our MC, everything from gas mileage to interior space to is it really a BMW?

 

its funny to know that other ppl get off on this, I live in bumble**** Chattanooga home of FORD mustangs and HONDA & TOYO buzzboxes, the closest MINI dealers are 2-2 1/2 hours away and to see 2 of these cars tgt is very rare.
realistically theyres only about 20-30 MINIS in the whole town if that many

db

 

If you had an original Mini and you would get sick of the same ol ?s over and over...
when I owned a 62 Cooper and later a 66 Cooper S the one I got over and over was either "is it a 2 cylinder or 3???"
then theres the "is it a Fiat?", "is that what the Shriners drive?" prob the stupidest was "is it electric?" I would usually tell them, "why yes it was the first electric car made back in 1962....

Ive gotten some pretty goofy comments and quests about the MINI but not as bad as the old Mini did.

I think the one thats going to drive me nuts about the MINI is the BMW question and having to explain that.

db

 

I've posted this once before, but I had a gas station encounter with the car I had at the time, which was a Porsche 914-6. The guy at the other pump asked what it was, I said a Porsche, and he asked, is that made by Ford?

I always try to acknowledge other Mini's with at least a wave.