So we bought another MINI =D

It's taken me a while to get around to this... but I was thinking today as I was cleaning the house.  Do you remember when you first got your licence and you would just jump in your car and drive aimlessly for God only knows how long (or for how long the petrol you could afford would allow).

The MINI makes me feel like that :)
I just want to put the top down - get in and drive aimlessly...

For those who don't know.  We've bought a 2005 Mini Cooper S Cabrio.  It is seriously the most fun car we've ever bought!  It's not as hardcore as the Checkmate we used to own and it's also much easier to deal with than the MX5 (and it's far prettier than the MX5).

Owning a MINI again is fun!  People actually talk to you :)

Although I suspect half of them are trying to work out why the tall freak is driving around with the top down in the middle of a Melbourne winter! I've had a couple of people ask me about owning a cabrio, kids tend to smile at you, other MINI owners tend to smile at you!  Although I do think there is that other cabrio owner I drove past on Sunday who laughed at me probably because she thought I was frigging nuts for having the roof down ;)

My Mini Story

So this was fun...
I got an email this morning from the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan asking for my Mini Story.  They had seen one of my Mini photos on flickr and wanted me to share my story.  I had to stop and go ok - yeah that's cool...

The email:
"Hi Michael

Was this your first car. Looks like there may be lots of great stories to tell.

Just came across the photo of your car and would love share the story around it. Did you like/hate it? What were your memorable moments? We’d like to include it in our social conversation as we open our new exhibit “Driving America” in Henry Ford Museum, in Dearborn, Mich. It’s going to be the country's greatest automobile exhibition because we’re looking at cars through the lens of the people who use them. May we share yours? The links are below. You can see what others have done and share your own photo, video and story."

And my story:

I guess technically the Mini wasn't first car (that honor goes to my 1981 Honda Prelude) but it was "our" first car.  It was the first car that I owned with my partner.  It was a 2006 Mini Cooper S Checkmate (a special edition - with decals, upgraded stereo, sports interior and absolutely gorgeous wheels).

I've been obsessed with Minis for years.  When I first heard that BMW was bringing back the Mini - I became a fan!  I was prepared to beg, borrow and steal to get to the launch.  Which I didn't have to - the folks at Brisbane BMW were kind enough to let me attend the launch.  I fell instantly in love with the Mini.

So fast forward 6 years and I'm on a dinner date and I am completely blown away by my (now partner) date.  And to top it off he drove a Mini!!! It was funny I was chatting to a friend about the date the day after and I was all excited because he drove a Mini! That was the first thing I told her - she laughed at me (people tend to do that with me) and then got to the pressing business of all the questions about the actual date etc...

The Mini and I had an interesting relationship.  It was the car I actually learnt to drive a manual/stick in.  Up until that point in my life I had only ever driven automatics - I always meant to learn how to drive a manual but I now had a Mini that I could drive.  So I had to learn how to drive a manual.

There were so many country trips in the Mini - so many good memories of myself and Larry just blasting down the highway singing along to the stereo (I can't hold a tune - I seem to be tone deaf but it doesn't stop me from having fun).

Then there were also the times where I would just jump in the Mini and go for a drive.  We were very fortunate that we lived in a part of country Victoria which has some sensational roads that were just absolutely fantastic to drive the Mini along.  I really miss that - just being able to tune out and feel one with the car and the road.  Having the sunroof open, enjoying the sunshine and listening to the snap and crackle of the engine (or listening to loud music).

As Madonna sings in American Life "I drive my Mini Cooper, and I'm feeling super-dooper" - having owned a Mini I can completely relate to that.  It's the first car that I've ever owned where you would be constantly smiling.  I think they have that effect - they are so much fun to drive and they also make people smile.  There were so many times where we would get people stopping to talk to us about the car.  Generally older folks who remember  the original Mini Cooper.  I also used to love seeing kids with smiles on their faces when they saw the Mini or getting the thumbs up from them as we'd be going down the highway or the road.

Unfortunately when we moved back into the city we had to part ways with the Mini.  We couldn't really justify having two cars in the inner-city.  So after 5 years of trouble free ownership we parted company.  

I still live in hope of being able to get another Mini - we were looking at a Mini Countryman but I am trying to convince my partner that we really need a Mini Roadster.  We'll see how that goes though!

I'd like my mid-life crisis Porsche now please...

I think I need a cheery, zany post to lift the mood of the past couple of posts. It’s gotten a touch serious really hasn’t it?

Let’s divert back to the now…

I’m struggling to find a spot where to pick up the thread of my story again. I guess even after all the revelations it’s a bit hard really.

So we’re back living in South Melbourne (the real estate shenanigans is another blog post or three) and I think your Dad is having a few problems adjusting to having a normal life again where he can’t vanish into a garden for 6 to 8 hours a day. So he’s gone slightly (not in a bad way) mental looking for a car. The Mini Cooper he did have was sold – we don’t need two cars, we really don’t, we can justify having two cars.

With the baby seats in my car, it’s basically become a two seater as the middle seat between the baby seats is basically inaccessible. Trust me – I’ve had to clamber back there a few times to feed you both! It’s not easy squeezing back there and then trying to squeeze back out.

We’ve traipsed around parts of Melbourne looking at cars, from Japanese import 300ZXs in overly flamboyant paint schemes (the bright oranage one was a looker) to older BMWs and Volvos.

Let me just ask the question here – which interior car designer feels that it’s a good idea to put a black wheel centre in a beige interior? Swedes are supposed to be known for stylish design. I’m guessing in the late 1990s-early 2000s someone at Volvo missed that memo. Although Peter Horbury was designing at Volvo then and he is British so that may explain it.

Anyway, so there’s a car dealer in the back of Port Melbourne that your father wanted to have a look at some cars at… one of which was the aforementioned Volvo & a BMW. We had also arranged to meet your Uncle Mike for lunch. As per usual your father and I were running late (you will just learn that running late is a fact of life for this family – I’ll resent it and your father will just tell me to relax and go with the flow), so he asked us to go meet your Uncle Mike at the Café we were supposed to meet him at and he’d meet us there.

Your father showed up in a Porsche Boxster. I had never driven a Porsche before. I actually managed to get through lunch before I asked your father for the keys. I took Louise out with me to have a look at it – she was on my lap at the time. I then waited until after your father had finished eating before I took the Porsche for a drive. I was very much smitten with it (this is pretty much an understatement), I did ask your father if we could buy it and we did seriously consider it for about 5 minutes before reality sank in.

I told your Uncle Mike on Sunday when we were trying to take photos of his car for sale that I would like my mid-life crisis Porsche now please…

So no Porsche :(

Although it was an entertaining afternoon looking at cars and you both did seem to enjoy it.