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BMW F1 Celebrates MINI Turning 50

Whilst we were all busy celebrating MINI’s iconic 50th birthday this weekend at the Silvertone circuit with thousands of other MINI fans the BMW F1 team was at work racing in Monaco.   They couldn’t be at the celebration but that didn’t stop them from joining in on the celebration by wishing MINI a happy birthday.

Hopefully I’ll be around to watch Mini turn 100, granted I’d be 90 by then but damn it I’ll be at Silverstone driving my Mini badged walker.

MINI United 2009 – Day 3

Last night, onstage they unveiled the two new models to celebrate the 50th anniversary the MINI 50 Mayfair and the MINI 50 Camden.   This morning I was able to get up close and personal.

The Mayfair features Hot Chocolate brown with Leather Lounge Toffy interior, 17″ Infinite Streem wheels and unique mirror caps,  toffy bonnet stripes, side scuttle and bi-color steering wheel amongst a few other cosmetic items to make it unique.  

 The Camden is finished in a rather nice White-Silver and has a combo cloth/leather Ray Tech White interior and 17″ Silver Shield Camden wheels as well as unique side scuttle and mirror caps and xenon headlamps.  The Camden will come standard with Harmon Kardon which after a few years absence will be available for the R56.  The new HK system is supposed to boast 10 speakers and 480 Watts and does sound very nice though not sure its better then the DPSM.

Found and signed the Birthday Wall which was behind the stage where selected owners with unique or compelling cars could bring their cars onstage. GPMick arranged to have two GP’s come up to help celebrate yesterdays 62 GP gathering/track drive.  It was a real site to see 50+ GP’s on the track at the same time. 

GPMick pointed out a rather unique GP, GP0727 which was repainted white and has a tremendous amount of carbon fiber bits I have not seen previously offered anywhere.  I never met the owner to query on where he sourced the many unique carbon fibers pieces which many I wouldn’t mind adding to GP0154.  Personally I would not have repainted a GP a different colour but guess that is what makes this one stand out amongst a crowd of 50 others.   If I had a choice of the GP being a different color I do have to admit it would have been white with the red mirrors though really glad it is Thunder Blue.

Having covered most areas in the prior two days and since we were scheduled to go on a MINI USA sponsored track drive in the afternoon I chose not to do any of the several driving programs offered, some repeats of MU2007 though if I had Red with me I would have gone on the drive your Mini on the track. GoMiniGo!

After breakfast in the hospitality tent it was time for the Mike Cooper guided tour of the Challenge Garage area which provided a great opportunity to get some more autographs and pictures with Mike Cooper.

afterwards we had an opportunity for a Q&A with Mike and I inquired if he still owns any classics and appears that most of his family either have a classic or a new MINI and that he will be getting one of the 250 WC50 aka F1 cars.

After the tour it was time for Lunch with Mike Cooper and MINI USA provided us a copy of the MINI 50 Years book that we could get Mike to autograph.    As chance would have it Rauno and Paddy came in around the same time and provided the perfect opportunity to have Rauno autograph the model of the Mini he won the Monte Carlo in.   My deepest thanks to all three gentlemen who were so generous with their time as  they had an incredibly hectic schedule over the weekend.  I must one of these years go to Finland and attend one of Rauno’s driving clinics.

Then we had an opportunity to watch the Challenge race from one of the hospitality rooms overlooking the track which provided a fantastic view of several cornersand would make for a fantastic area to watch F1 from.

Then it was off for another walk around to see if any new cars came in today that I had not  seen previously and as luck would have it I spotted this absolutely stunning Mini 40 in the 50 years section and it was for sale!  Where are my pills?… So I ask you my kind sir, what does a man with a Blue and Red Mini need?  Yes, you are correct… an Old English White Mini and probably a straight jacket and a 12 step program.   The Mini 40 was a very limited edition car offered in 1999 and limited to 250 cars in the UK in Old English White, Mulberry Red and Island Blue.  This Old English White with blue leather interior would be a fine addition to my stable.

As we waited for the Track drive to take place several went off to take a helicopter tour around the track.   When it was time for our laps I ran solo in a Clubman which was right behind the convertible driven by Mark.   The pace cars kept us at a snails crawl as they probably figured these damn Americans can barely drive stick let alone RHD though I was able to sit back a bit and rush into the corners a few times.  There’s a reason I don’t do track events.  I have Montoya disease and spent most of the time fighting the urge just to overtake the cars in front up me in the turns.

And then it was time to bid everyone a farewell goodbye as the festivities had come to an end.   Walking out of the track everyone had gone and the dismantling had begun. 

Several of us (Robert, Jennifer, Mark, Teresa, Kat, Brent and Olga) decided to go to dinner at the same pub MINI USA brought us to on Friday night so we all got into our cars and made our way up to Rose & Crown only to find it closed, then off to the Red Lion and yippee they were open but only offering drinks and no food. Guess not all pubs offer food on Sunday.   (had Ian came he could of told us that   )  So we head down the road to another Red Lion we had passed earlier and yippee they were open but had just missed serving hours. We had a drink there and then headed to Britannia which the folks at Red Lion were nice enough to recommend and verify they were serving food.

It all worked out in the end as we had a great meal with great friends capping what was an epic weekend at MINI United and Many many thanks to everyone at MINI USA who made this weekend even more memorable!

Click For Day 3 Pictures

MINI United 2009 – Day 2

The festivities continued on Day 2 and we could not have asked for any better weather.  Believe it turned out to be perhaps the warmest day of the year.   Attendances was up over yesterday but due to the massive size of Silverstone it is difficult to gauge if attendance is higher then in 2007 where MINI reported 8000 people and 3000 cars.  I am pretty sure we should top 2007 but we’ll see by how much.

Started the day by heading to the ‘Mini 50 Year’ area where they have on display the First Mini, George Harrison’s Mini that was handed over to charity and the 1967 Mini Cooper S Rally Car.

Then off to the ‘Best of Mini Originality’ area where the collection of unique cars are on display.  Everything from the most recent Crossover and Geneva concepts to the  Classics of Mr Bean,  David Bowie and Paul Smith to the more recent Madonna and Alan Aldridge MINI’s.  There was no stopping the bears they wanted to sit on everything.

Headed over to the garage area where the Mini Seven cars had just finished racing and I left the bears with their new friend who promised them a track ride.

The MINI Challenge cars were preparing for their race and spotted some drivers relaxing prior to the race.   Amazingly the Mini Seven race laps were just .05 seconds off from the Challenge car races.

 Special Guest’s in attendance, the legendary Rauno Aaltonen and Paddy Hopkirk who both won the Monte Carlo rally with their respective classics as well as Mike Cooper who entertained fans playing guitar with his Band.

 

Met up with Robert and his sister Jennifer who also attended MINI United 2007 and MTTS  and the always very hospitable dutch friends prior to taking in a few minutes of Paul Weller before calling it a night.

 For all the Day’s Pictures

MINI United 2009 – Day 1

I arrived at Silverstone about 30 minutes prior to the official opening and there were already a large number of cars/attendees queuing up for registration.

At the entrance way to greet everyone there was a Red MINI and a Tahiti Blue Cooper Sport.  Something seemed familiar about the Cooper Sport,  the registration X5230FC belongs to my Cooper Sport.    My Cooper Sport was a former Mini UK Press car that they exported early last year and I checked that X523oFC has not been reissued and still shows  assigned to my vin so they must have had an extra set of plates laying around that they placed on this LHD for the display.  So Blue is here in one fashion

In the lot there where lots of cool cars, plenty of GP’s as well and counted 20 roof numbers during the day.  Pictured is ‘Snowie’ who just acquired his second GP earlier this year and it is fitted with the R56 JCW Brakes indicating that it is indeed possible to fit them to the GP but more on that on a separate post next week on GPMINI.  Also pictured is perhaps the most drastically altered GP though I was pleased to find out it is just a body wrap and underneath it is still Thunder Blue that can be set back to original.

Inside the setup was similar to  that of MINI United 2007 but this year they had added a few more areas.  ‘Flaunt your Mini’ – Prior to the event attendees were able to post pictures of their cars on the Mini United site and of all posted 100 were selected by the Mini Design team to be on display for a car show with a winner selected on Sunday.  Red was selected to be on display but unfortunately she’s in garage grounded from the road travel but she would have faced stiff competition from this Mini 40 who I first met last year and has won just about every event its been in.

The MINI 50 Year Anniversary area has place holders to cover all 50 models years and was growing as the day progressed and YES in the GP spot is indeed GP0001.

They also have a Traders area and a MINI United Club tent area that has various clubs setup like Russia, Holland and also where I found the MINI USA tent shared with White Roof Radio.

Across from the MINI USA tent is a John Cooper Display to support the new JCW Championship 50 aka F1 all finished in nonmetallic British Racing Green.   I was asked what I thought about it and it is an attractive car but not something I would add to my fleet (personally would not get a green car)  Only 250 are to be made and it doesn’t look like the US will get a single one so that just makes my decision easier though I do have to admit I had inquired about availability at my dealer a few weeks back.  Yes it will be a limited edition and  outside of the unique paint and a few badges it does not sound like there is anything separating it from a normal JCW car.   I guess if I was a green puff I’d be drooling over this and had this been some really cool blue variant I’d be all over it.

Lots of GP’s in attendance, documented 20 roof numbers but I’m sure there are more out there I didn’t catch.  We’ll know tomorrow night at 6pm when 50 GPs are schedule to take to the track in a parade lap.  Should be the largest gather of GPs.

The bears had a great time as well taking a ride on this Riley and playing with Scooby.

Met up with Mark ‘GP1996′ and his newlywed wife Teresa and her mom Olga who are making Mini United their Mini Honeymoon.   Later that evening we all attended the Mini USA sponsored ‘Pub Crawl’ event where we headed up to the wonderful village of Yardley Hastings to two very traditional pubs for initially drinks at the Red Lion and then dinner in the later at the Rose & Crown.  An absolutely fantastic setting and a lot of very familiar faces with many of the attendees having previously attended MTTS ‘06, ‘07 or Mini United ‘07.  Well done MINI USA.. again!.

For all the days pictures

MINI United 2009 – Day Before

Well I made my way up to NorthHampton where I will be staying for the weekend which is just 15 miles northof Silverstone.   First stopped at Mini Spares to pick up a set of proper fitting (LHD) floor mats for Red.  Walked in and found their display of parts and two classics.   Oddly I had asked if they were attending the Mini United event and got a ‘the BMW event?  No”  Guess there still some issues with the die hard Classic folks and the new MINI.   Guess they forget that Rover was the one that did most of the development MINI.  Anyhow guess we’ll see how many Classic’s show up for the event.

Next I figured I would stop by Silverstone and take a sneak peak at their progress and at the entrance ran into ‘GPMICK’ who heads up the UK GP Owners Club who I first met last year at the Santa Pod event.  He was getting his badge out and heading in to check on his tent setup so whilst the security guard was looking the other way I drove right through.  Sounds like we should expect between 25-30 GP’s so I’ll be looking forward to their line-up. 

I then starting driving around the place and found where they are keeping all the MINI’s in the back, couldn’t spot anything special in the lot but figuring those special models are already in place in their tents.

While I was in the area I figured I’d try to find the home of F1 team BrawnGP and I did and yes their GP lettering is very similar to our GP lettering. 

Then I was off for some backroad driving enjoying the wonderful countryside.

Came across a tank and had to stop in.  Place is Tanks A Lot and they have some 130 tanks.  Got a tour of the place and some of their unique items by a former SAS who runs the place.  That’s a 32 litre Rolls-Royce Diesel that powers this Challenger tank that he is in the process of rebuilding.  Rather impressive collection of tanks check the Gallery for all of them.

I made my way to Tesco to grab something to eat and ran into this MINI from Russia.  Yeap Russia!.  Chatted briefly and he said he left Russia on the 15th and made his way here via Finland, Sweden and Normayand over to Scotland which he said was just stunning.  That had to be one awesome trip with lots of ferry rides.  Finally back at the hotel GP0521 was checking in.   12 hours to go!

 For more pictures in the gallery

Visiting Red

Well back in the UK for the upcoming MINI United 2009 event this coming weekend and came out a few days earlier to get Red (Blue’s twin sister) road legal in order to be able to attend the event with.   I visited her where she’s being kept at Vmax Scartwho installs the MINI Eaton superchargers into Classics boosting them to 130-150hp output.  Rather impressive output for the lil engine.

Unfortunately we’ve run into a snag.   Although she is insured and completed MOT and the paperwork was submitted last week we had expected the tax disc to arrive yesterday but instead got a letter from the DVLA that the registration is being held up until they perform a physical inspection but they can’t do it until next week.   

She was officially exported out of the UK by MINI last year and now it looks that importing her back requires additional scrutiny than just the normal process so we didn’t leave enough time.    Guess she won’t be competing in the MINI United ‘Flaunt your Mini’ contest where she was a one of the cars chosen by the MINI Design team to be displayed.  

So it is looking like I will  be attending the event in a Vauxhaul   She should be road legal next week and plenty of time for the IMM2009/Mini50 event in August though.  Eventually she’ll make her way stateside to spend out her days with her sister.