This past Friday, I went with my fiance and (soon to be) brother-in-law to the Denver Auto Show. And I'll be damned, but there weren't any MINIs at the show. The BMW guys didn't even have any MINI literature, but they sure did have every BMW on the planet.

Now, I know Denver isn't the biggest city for an auto show, but I was surprised at the lack of MINIs because of their recent popularity, accolades, demand, etc.

In fact, the thing they didn't seem to have any shortage of was trucks! And big ones at that...

 

You sure there isn't a MINI inside any of those trucks? Maybe inside the cabin of that yellow behemoth?
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2003 Cooper, Borla exhaust, Moss intake, Magnecor plug wires - Brookline, MA

 

yeah, like that stupid Cadillac commercial where they put the little car into the truck bed at the parking lot?

the thing is, it's hard to tell from the picture how absolutely fricking huge that yellow truck is. it's the Ford Tonka Truck, and i'm not kidding when i tell you that it was nearly 8 feet tall, and as long as a mobile home.

 

So sad...

 

Although we had MINIs at the Pittsburgh Auto Show (As witnessed by the thread: MINI named "coolest car" at Pittsburgh Auto Show), we didn't rate well enough to get more than a handful of concept cars. I would be curious to see that blue Toyota deal up close and personal - just for curiousity's sake (not cause I'd want one).

 

I was really disapointed at Mini's absence. Did you see the Volkswagon SUV ? The salesman said they expect to release a turbo diesel in 04 with 38mpg. The Subaru WRX sti looks like a pocket race car (250hp) for a mid thirty thousand dollar tag. The tail fin looked ridiculous. Reminiscent of a 70's Roadrunner.

 

yeah, that was the FJ Cruiser from Toyota. interesting concept, it basically looked like a mini-Hummer for the masses. according to Toyota's website, it's basically a modified Tacoma. it had front and rear winches, removable/portable GPS, and the cargo area is basically a truck bed (no seats).



there were only a couple concept cars at the show, notably from Ford, Chrysler, Mercury, etc. nothing really original, IMO.

 

>>I was really disapointed at Mini's absence. Did you see the Volkswagon SUV ? The salesman said they expect to release a turbo diesel in 04 with 38mpg. The Subaru WRX sti looks like a pocket race car (250hp) for a mid thirty thousand dollar tag. The tail fin looked ridiculous. Reminiscent of a 70's Roadrunner.


the VW Touraeg (sp?) looked pretty cool, i guess. i do like the fact that a lot of new SUVs are coming out in the modified car/station wagon size platform instead of the bigger is better style. the cool thing about it was that it had a driver adjustable ride height to accomodate for variuos conditions, i.e. highway driving versus serious off-road use (yeah right).

the crazy fin on the WRX was because it's the STI version, the super crazy fast and more expensive brother to the WRX. but at least they got rid of those huge bug-eye headlamps this year...

 

Isn't the VW Touareg almost a twin of the Porsche Cayenne? I've never before seen an SUV with a speedometer that goes up to 160! (I think the VW was 140, but I can't recall for certain.)

 

yeah, they were strikingly similar. except for the $40k price difference!

 

I was under the impression that they shared a platform and most components. Aside from badging and whatnots, I think they are identical. IF (that's a big if) I were to consider one, I would get the VW and save the 40G's - but then again, I'm not in the income bracket to consider the Porsche anyhow.

 

The Subaru WRX sti looks like a pocket race car (250hp)

Actually its 300hp and mid 4's sec 0 to 60...pretty amazing for mid 30's price compared to modified 911's...too fast for me. I'll stick with my MCS

 

Despite being a "bargain" compared to the Cayenne, the VW is still, regretfully, pretty damn expensive. I'd like the turbodiesel model when it shows up in a couple years, but I'm afraid $45-$50K is more than I can fit in my budget. On the plus side, Jeep will be releasing a diesel-driven Liberty next year. On the minus side, the Liberty rolls with more junk in the trunk than J-Pez. That is, it looks like it has a rather large aft section.

 

No one has mentioned the white roof on that Toyota! What's next - bonnet stripes?

 

yeah, my (soon to be) brother in law was really stoked on the FJ Cruiser. looked like a hunk of junk to me, but what do i know. definitely looked like it came out of the Scion design group, and kinda reminded me of the new Honda Element - which was pretty interesting i must say but seriuoly ugly!

 

I have to say that I'm not with everyone on the Element being ugly. As SUVs go, I sort of like it. First of all, it's far from a behemoth. I think it's on the same platform as the CRV, but I could be wrong. It gets mid-20s mpg - pathetic by any modern standards, but not as pathetic as most SUVs. It's got a whole lot of functionality built into it, and seems to actually serve a purpose and have a point, as opposed to most SUVs, which are built because xxx manufacturer needs to have an SUV in the xxx segment, so they build something truck-like on xxx platform and laugh all the way to the bank.

 

Even though no MINI's were at the Denver Auto show - according to the Denver Business Journal - MINI was selected as best economy car of the Rockies. We won a prize & we weren't even there??? Boy, we are good. I was told by the Colorado dealership that MINI made the decision not to have any MINI's at the Denver Auto show. MINI did not believe there would be enough interest in the Denver area???

MINI Denver Business Journal article

 

"Wheres all the mountains and trees? That John Denvers full of ***** man!!"

-Dumb and Dumber

 

>>I was told by the Colorado dealership that MINI made the decision not to have any MINI's at the Denver Auto show. MINI did not believe there would be enough interest in the Denver area???

?????

You gotta be kidding me. Not enough interest? Then how do they explain the wait list for an MCS at Schomp still being 8-10 months??? Freaking ridiculous.

BTW, thanks for the link.

 

You're welcome for the link, Socks. Schomp wanted to be there but they made it sound like it was a corporate decision. Very strange indeed. BTW, I clicked on your link and your bungalow looked much like our bungalow during the blizzard. Cute dog pics too!

 

Considering to Taureg costs 1/4 of the Cayenne, it seems like a pretty good option to me (if I wanted an SUV). The WRX STi comes with around 275 hp, and there is a PPP performance package that bumps it up to 300. There's also a PPP package coming out for the standard WRX that makes it 250. And yes, it's still ugly. Just more cross-eyed than bug-eyed this time

 

>>Cute dog pics too!

yeah, those are my babies. still haven't decided if I'm gonna let them ride in the MINI yet... okay, who am i kidding, those dogs run the household, and are spoiled rotten car-riders.

i still can't believe that Schomp/MINI/BMW didn't want a presence at the show. granted, the Denver show isn't the biggest ever, but they got a pretty good crowd, in spite of the nasty weather.

cool about the MCS being voted best economy car of the rockies, although the article really didn't go into what made the decision...