I've got tickets to a front row seat - cost is only one retro gas cap!

 

Would love some D! Something to drink? It's not a slurpy but....

 

OK - rub it in. But tell me you wouldn't trade places if you could!

 

I wouldn't trade places if I could...

What was the point of that?

 

For the 9th year running - Winnipeg is the Slurpee capital of the world again...

 

Me either! Have you seen my Malcolm??? He is finally coming along. Baby just needs some new wheels and He'll be even more gorgeous!

 

Yeah - I guess you're right. But getting up in the middle of the night to check your production status or see if your car has arrived at the dock - or missed the ship - gets the ol' heart pumping! It has been an emotional roller coaster ride.

 

In looking at the Wallenius Wilhelmsen tracking page, I just noticed that the vast majority of the vehicles were loaded onto the Porgy between 8:20 am and 3:30 pm - but, there were 7 cars loaded a couple minutes before 5 pm (four were MINIs). One of those four MINIs was Twiggy. Talk about cutting it close!

The Porgy was originally scheduled to depart at 6 pm - so I am very thankful that someone held the boat for my MINI. Twiggy would have been very lonely if she had to wait another two weeks on the dock.

 

Ray, Twiggy is so light that she could have skipped across the ocean without getting her tires wet! No worries...she's working her way to you!

 

That's pretty cool ! But I still don't get it - where do you people have this information from ? somewhere on the Internet ? directly from your MINI dealer ? why, yes, I'm curious

Glad to hear your Twiggy has made it to the ship btw hang in there, she'll be yours soon !

edit : now I get it... you guys call 1-800-ASK-MINI, and some nice lady gives you the info we don't have that over here... all we can do is sit and wait.

Seriously, I did go through the topic you mentioned... really very interesting ! It's amazing how much information you guys find out about the production process of your MINI ! Here in Europe (well at least in Switzerland) it's completely opaque. My MINI dealer probably hasn't the foggest idea about it I think it's a special service for North American MINIs and especially MINI USA (I also read this topic). No, we Europeans, if we want to know how our MINIs are built, we have to pilgrim over to Oxford and visit the plant (which we did for MINI UNITED).

 

About a dozen people who were having a MINI built last week shared information on the NAM website. We formed a thread just for Week 34 Production Support. You can see the posts at:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ort-group.html

We quickly learned the "Owners' Lounge" at the ol.MiniUSA.com website was not a good source of information about our car's production status (although that was the only place I could get my VIN from - which is essential to tracking which ship a car is loaded on). You set up a personal account at MiniUSA using your production number.

A better source was the 1-866-ASK-MINI call center. I think it is aimed at U.S. owners and customers, but I suspect anyone could get information there. But, I wonder if people outside the USA can call that toll-free number. Anyway, they have an automated vehicle tracking site there that is updated each day (around noon England time). The info is usually a day slow in getting updated. There is also a live customer relations desk at ASK-MINI - it is open 9 am to 9 pm Eastern time, Monday thru Friday. You give them your production number or VIN and they look up the current production status - things like:
Your vehicle is scheduled for production with no confirmed production date;
Your vehicle is in production with an estimated completion date of mm/dd/yy;
Your vehicle is in the body shop and is scheduled to be completed mm/dd/yy;
Your vehicle is in the paint shop and is scheduled to be completed mm/dd/yy;
Your vehicle is in the assembly phase and is scheduled to be completed mm/dd/yy;
Your vehicle production is complete and is waiting to be released to the carrier;
Your vehicle was released to the carrier and is awaiting transportation to the port of exit;
Your vehicle is being transported to the port of exit;
Your vehicle is at the port of exit waiting for a shipping vessel;
Your vehicle is in transit, Contact your MINI dealer for more information.

In theory, your MINI salesman can also access that information, but I was reluctant to call him every day (or more frequently as production actually began ).

Once your car is at the Port of Southampton, it gets loaded onto a ship. One website shows all the ships that come and go from Southampton - with scheduled arrival and departure times - and where the ships are going to - so it is easy to figure out which ship you will probably be on. Cars destined for the USA or Canada are transported on either a K Line or on a Wallenus Wilhelmsen Logistics ship. Tracking cars on the K Line is difficult, but WWL has a web site where you just enter the car's VIN and, if the car is at the dock, it tells you when it arrived (and when it is loaded on a ship). On the WWL site, once you find your VIN, you get a Cargo Details page for just your car - showing the booking number, ship name, voyage number, port of loading, estimated departure time and date, destination, estimated date and time of arrival, when your car was booked on the ship, when it arrived at the dock, and when it was loaded.

Another website shows a Google-type map of the Southampton Harbor, with the location and direction of every ship in the harbor (it is updated every 30 seconds). You can hold the mouse pointer over a ship icon to see the name and speed. There are two webcams on that site that allow you to see your ship as it arrives and departs the harbor.

That is about all I know so far. We have not found any good sites to monitor the ship arriving in the USA (maybe because of the 9/11 paranoia?). And, tracking the ship across the Atlantic is not possible - once the ship cleared the southern tip of England, they quit broadcasting their GPS signal. Once it gets close to the Pamama Canal I am sure they will show up on the vessel traffic maps again, and there are cameras to watch the ship go thru the canal.

But, I am not going to worry much about the rest of the trip - just knowing how the production process was going was all I wanted (or could stand!). I do not want to worry about hurricanes, icebergs, or pirates.

 

That's great, Ray. Thanks for sharing all that information !

 

Yes...this feature is only for MINI USA...we can't do all those things from Canada...we don't get that kind of info. USAers get to track the car thru the plant at Oxford (by the way Ray, I was 20 miles from the Plant in May and didn't go for a tour - what a loser, eh?) and then track the ship via GPS across the ocean.....technically very cool and amazing, but surely a way to drive yourself insane?

Canadians just don't need any extra help in that department!

 

Yep - all pretty cool and, like you say, a sure way to go nuts!

Right now, four of the Week 34 Group are worrying about where the Porgy is - the GPS tracking system lost her just as she sailed into the Atlantic. Another ship that left a couple days earlier is sending a ping every 6 hours, and is halfway to New York (although it slowed down and will be a day late thanks to Hurricane Danny).

 

I don't think I need to say another thing! Ray...you're definitely NFR Support Group material...as a matter of fact, I'm voting you as president!

 

Sorry Dennis - I'm simply not qualified. Like I said earlier, I can only see Oregon from my back porch, so I can't even serve as VP.

 

uh, not a loser, but that's a pity you didn't take the tour. Visiting the plant was for me one of the highlights of MINI UNITED. Think of it next time you're in England, because plant tours get organized every day, not only for MINI UNITED

Yes, I totally agree... I would have gone nuts if I had to worry like Ray does right now -

I mean, sometimes the less you know, the better it is for your (mental and physical) wellbeing

 

Betty: Are you planning on United 11? I heard rumblings that it will be in Barcelona next...I'm already planning on the next one!

 

Hi Dennis !
Indeed, it's going to be somewhere in the Iberic peninsula, but the rumors I heard stated Portugal rather than Spain. Wait and see... I'd certainly prefer Barcelona as it would be much closer to drive there.

For the time being I don't have any plans, it's too early. I'd love to go, though. We'll see in a year and half or so.

 

Either way, I'm flying! See you there in 1 & 1/2 years!

 

Has anyone heard from Ray lately? It's been a few days since our last report; I just hope he's not swimming the Atlantic looking for his boat..er...his car...er..his MINI!?

RAAAAAYYYY......(visions of a volleyball with a face floating across the water come to mind!)

 

I'm still here. I guess I got a little pre-occupied watching the last four cars in my Week 34 production group - they were supposed to be loaded on the Electra today. But, one MINI didn't make the ship even though they changed the departure time twice (for a total of 4-1/2 hours). That MINI had been scheduled for completion on Saturday (August 29th). But, it got hung up in the paint shop for over four days. It was completed late last night or early this morning, but unlike my Twiggy, his car never made it to the dock.

Needless to say, the guy is bummed out. Fortunately, he only has to wait a week for the next ship (I would have had a two week wait if Twiggy had missed the boat). I guess this just proves what Betty Boop said earlier - a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

I have been unable to track the Porgy across the Atlantic. Turns out the Porgy is a new ship - so new that it has not yet joined the weather tracking network that is the only way the public can see where a ship is anywhere in the world. Oh well, I really don't need to verify that my car is on a ship in the middle of the ocean every day for the next three weeks!

 

Oh man I'd definitely not want to know where my MINI is. I'd probably go crazy....

 

Well, Twiggy has been sitting in the harbor at the east end of the Panama Canal for almost 24 hours now. Looks like the Porgy will go thru the first lock at 8 am tomorrow - I will probably get up (6 am my time) to watch on the live webcams.

Yes, I've got the MINI fever - bad!

 

getting up early to watch a container ship go through a lock. And I thought I wasn't quite normal........