Must say, it sure was cool. I was looking at this car while I was on one side of the light and he was on the other thinking to myself "either there's a really small driver or the sun in my eyes is playing tricks on me". I drove by and the guy goes at the same time....there he is, driving on the right hand side. I was blown away...really cool looking and really unique. Guess I'm just not used to it. He gave me an ecstatic wave and I of course did the same. I was thinking about making a U-Turn and follow, but I wanted to go home.

Is this more common than what I'm making it out to be?

FYI, this was in Vegas. Looked like either a Dark Silver or Royal Grey. It had projectors so I'm assuming it's a late model Mini.

Definitely sweet!

 

Here's a question, do all the owners manuals show the cockpit with the wheel on the right side?

 

Mine doesn't, nor does the PDF version you download from the Owners lounge.

 

Duck, that is the first right-hand drive new MINI I've heard of someone spotting in the US. I'm guessing the person had it shipped over when they relocated here. Very cool!

 

Haven't seen it myself. My best guess is to agree with Clover. Probably one of them damn air force people, bought one while stationed in England and shipped it back.

 

Do you have to have a special permit to drive a right sided car in the States?

 

my grandmother ordered her 2000 jeep cherokee from the factory like that. she was a mail person and needed to be on that side. i dont know if she had special permission. very scary driving with her

 

I would so kill for one of those! And by "kill" i mean, "kill my wallet, checking account, and all credit cards for the opportunity." That is about as you-i-fied as it gets in the U.S! (perhaps pulled out of an expensive garage for MTTS?) btw- what is this "projector" of which you speak?

 

When I was in England (Manchester), I was surprised at how simple it was just to get a hold of a car and drive it there, no questions asked, except whether I had a drivers license. I made all the arrangements over the phone from here (NY), flew over, showed the rental agency my license at the airport, and they gave me the keys to a normal-for-England, right-hand-drive car (a Vauxhall, I think it was)! 29 years worth of driving-in-America-instincts notwithstanding!

I only made one bonehead move in the 9 days I was there by turning right, across traffic, into the right-hand side of the side road <DOH!> There was no one in that lane which is why I made that mistake. If there was a car waiting there to enter the main road, I would have made the turn correctly. Roundabouts (traffic circles), which are everywhere, were a panic! =oO

 

No. My stepdad used to restore old rolls royces, he had two different right hand drivers... when I was a kid, people would freak out when they saw me riding shotgun in the driver's seat. It was neat.

 

When I say projector, I was talking about the headlights. '05 and '06 have project headlights. Man, I'm really regretting not making that U-turn now! Damn that thing looked so cool!!!!!!!!

 

He is referring to the updated Xenon headlights when he says "projector." I wish you'd had your camera handy, Duck!

 

Ok, cool, guess mine's special then since my MINI was bought in Europe

 

No special permit needed in Mo. I wouldn't want to have to pass another car on our hills though. Scary!!

 

There's one that I see here in my town of Nanuet... I think the guy works at a music store... anyway, I waved at him once before on RT 59 but got the cold shoulder response. I'll have to take a picture of it.

 

We lived in England for 3 years and we drove around in our US spec Mercedes...let me tell you it is a challenge. passing without being able to see around a Lorry (truck) was hard. Especially on the A-4! But when you head over to europe, you are back to the Normal.

You do get lots of looks.
We left one day, me riding shotgun, and hubby at the wheel, but he forgot to drive on the left side of road. A neighbor saw us and started laughing. when I next saw her, she commented how I had messed up in my driving, and I got the last laugh and asked had she not noticed we had a left hand drive and my hubby was driving...LOL!

I told myself in preparing for the move to the UK and driving, if the mail carriers can do it, so can I! LOL (no offense..).

It is cool to see, but you wouldn't want to drive that way forever. Shifting was different too, with left hand instead of right. Like anything, ya get used to it...But safety and visability issues really are in question.

BTW: Drove a Smart Car in UK last year, that was fun.

 

Wow it must be an epidemic cuz I just saw one yesterday on my way home from work, it was a clasic mini, blue. I was like where is the driver, oh there he is ON THE WRONG SIDE, haha. but yeah it was cool he didn't even give me a glance though. Oh this is in the Western subs of Chicago.

 

My classic is RHD. Driving back from Cleveland, I got pulled over in Iowa. The cop walked up to the wrong side so I stuck my arm out the window and said "Dude! I'm over here." He let me off the speeding ticket.
The biggest pain was the tollbooths in Ohio and Illinois. Fortunately, the car is small enough that I didn't even have to unbuckle the seatbelt to roll the passenger window down and get my ticket/pay the person. I got a LOT of questions/smiles/thumbs up on that trip.

 

on the "over here" comment. Totally funny.

 

I had a 1967 Lotus Elan coupe that was right hand drive for 2 years that I
lived in Wash DC and believe me it was not all fun and games. The worst
was trying to pass a truck when you were by yourself. Also trying to pay
a toll at the Bay Bridge going to the beach was a royal chore. However,
the car was a blast when it wasnt in the shop and looking back I wish I
didnt sell it. Just remember what LOTUS stands for (LOTS OF TROUBLE
USUALLY SERIOUS)

 

Hadn't heard that one before....classic!