That’s the rather excellent, and also quite true quote that leads an article on the MINI “brand” focused around an interview with Kay Segler, Global Marketing Director of MINI, appearing in the Globe and Mail.
In the interview he speaks about the Rover “experience” from which those involved with MINI had “learned to be humble from”. It’s a fairly broad reaching article, focusing heavily on the concept and realisation of the MINI brand, and what that means to Kay and others at MINI HQ.
Certainly worthy of a read, you’ll find it on the Globe and Mail website.
Remaining in the Canadian media, if you’re also looking for a nice, ego boosting review of the MINI Cooper S pitted against the Volvo C30 and VW Golf, then you should check out this article on Driving.ca, in which author Paul Byrne concludes:
However, if performance and a thrill ride are your objectives, then the Cooper S stands out from the others. It also offers the best handling and fuel economy of the trio.
To us at MINI2, that “thrill ride” is every bit as important as the brand image. As nice as many of the MINI branded accessories and products may be, you only get that thrill when you’re behind the wheel on the open roads in your MINI.
This summer MINI (and the recently released MINI One in particular) are an official partner of the Skipper Beach Tour 2007 and will be touring the beaches of Italy, from Rimini to Milan.
The Skipper Beach Tour is an established event that tours the coasts of Italy bringing Music, Sport and a good old fashioned Part Atmosphere to popular seaside resorts. The MINI One will be on show as the official car of the tour, and MINI will have a stand with accessories and collectables on offer at each event.
The tour calendar is as follows:
- Rimini 29th June to 1st July
- San Benedetto 6th to 8th July
- Cagliari 20th to 2nd July
- Cattolica 27th to 29th July
- Vasto 3rd to the 5th August
- Ostia 10th to the 12th August
- Jesolo 17th to 19th August
- Milano 31st August to 8th September
So if you live nearby, or are visiting on holiday, why not check it out. Looks like a good giggle to us from where we’re sat, in an overcast and gloomy English village.
To be honest, we were never really out of a MINI.
That’s because our family, mostly due to us leading them astray, have almost all been bitten by the MINI bug to a greater or lesser extent. This in turn meant we were very fortunate in being able to borrow a MINI while without our own means of transport.
You see, when our ill-fated Cooper S was left at the dealers for good early in 2007, we can’t deny feeling a little empty and wondering just what to do next. Since 2002 we’ve owned at least one MINI. We love the MINI, the MINI scene, MINI2! What would we do?!
Well, we’re in a quandary no more. We now have a Cooper S, but it’s not just ANY Cooper S. It’s not a new Cooper S, but it is a very special MINI Cooper S, a second hand MINI that as MINI UK would put it, is truly “Cherished”.
Continue reading Back in the MINI Saddle Again
Following on from our earlier report on the 2008 MINI Challenge Australia, which will feature the second generation MINI Cooper S in full challenge car spec, MINI Australia have Today released their full press release on the upcoming MINI Challenge series. It’s a bit OTT, but we admire their enthusiasm, so it’s reproduced in full for you below!
MINI RISES TO THE CHALLENGE IN 2008
- Ultra-competitive one make MINI Challenge Series announced
- Affordable, fast and fun
- Australian debut for New generation R56 MINI Challenge cars
- 8 race weekends take MINI Challenge across Australia
MINI will race heart-rates off the clock around Australia when a grid full of potent MINI Cooper S hardtops catapult the 2008 MINI Challenge Series into the very-fast lane.
A swarm of angry bees or nest of exceedingly disturbed vipers would pale into insignificance compared with the swashbuckling bump-and-grind apex arguments that will divide the victorious from the vanquished in this modern-day joust between multitudes of jostling knights in shining armour.
Testosterone levels will reach critical as MINI Challenge visits eight of the most exciting tracks across all Australian States and Territories.
Continue reading MINI Challenge 2008 - Australia
Following on from our report that the Tritec Engine Plant had apparently produced it’s last MINI engine and shut it doors, while waiting for any kind of official response from MINI we did a little research of our own.
It turns out that Chinese billionaire Yin Mingshan has set his sights on buying the Tritec engine plant, and moving it lock stock and barrel to China! The full story follows:
It is a plan that is as simple as it is sweeping in its sheer scale and ambition, and if anyone can do it, it must be Chinese billionaire Yin Mingshan — assuming, that is, the Brazilian government will let him.
Brazil has told us we can buy the factory, but only if we agree not to move it,
said 69-year-old Yin, the founder and chairman of Chongqing Lifan Holdings, a giant in motorcycles now hoping to make money on autos too.
The plant in question is a half-billion-dollar 50-50 joint venture between DaimlerChrysler AG and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG located in Campo Largo, southeastern Brazil, which produces 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre Tritec engines, which feature in the first generation MINI vehicles, including the still in production Convertible range.
Continue reading Billionaire to Move Tritec Plant to China?
Scouring the net for MINI stuff recently we encountered MINI #37, a website belonging to MINI South Africa which we thought looked extremely cool! Only one problem, the due date for release was given as May 2007, and search as we may we could not find the game to download and play!
Anyway, after some digging around we came across the website of Luma, the game developers, and via them we found the games development site of Dale Best. So we dropped Dale a line to find out when we may be able to get our hands on a copy of this very cool looking MINI arcade game. Dale came back very fast, and with some encouraging news:
Continue reading MINI #37 - MINI Arcade Racer
The Brazilian Tritec Engine factory has closed it’s doors after producing their last engine for the MINI Convertible, reports Just-Auto.com (subscription required).
Tritec Motors was launched as a joint venture between BMW and Chrysler in 1996 with an investment of $484,000,000 (USD) to supply 1.4 and 1.6 litre petrol engines to both companies, and all the first generation MINI petrol engines were produced at the Brazilian plant, including those fitted to the continuing MINI Convertible model.
The Tritec power plant, while arguably relatively inefficient and heavy by standards of Today, had been highly regarded during it’s production cycle. The Supercharged derivative which powered the first generation MINI Cooper S was crowned International Engine of the Year in 2003.
So the question (already raised on the MINI2 forums) is “What about the Convertibles?!”. We’ve asked MINI, and are awaiting an official response to the supply situation, but we’re sure this has been thought through in advance.
The ALTA Performance Group is pleased to announce the acquisition of its new headquarters in Hillsboro, OR. The 30,000 sq ft building, which is adjacent to Intel’s™ Hillsboro campus, will accommodate all of ALTA’s manufacturing, assembly and sales staff as well as a boutique style outlet & dyno tuning facilities.
In a statement on the completion of acquisition of the Headquarters building, ALTA’s C.E.O. Adam Taft said:
I am extremely pleased to make this step forward for our company. The new facility will enable us to gather all of our staff, machinery and vehicles into one building as well as have an extraordinary show room. We finally have a gathering place for like minded automotive enthusiasts.
Continue reading ALTA Performance Group Opens New Headquarters
Today we are delighted to announce the 2007 MINI2 Charity Ball raised over £10,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Thanks to the incredible effort, generosity and heart of the new MINI community on MINI2, our third annual Charity Ball raised as much as our previous two events combined.
All those associated with the organisation of the MINI2 Charity Ball would like to extend our thanks to everyone who supported this years fund raising, from our commercial sponsors and donators, to those who gave what they could afford via “Just Giving”, or shook a bucket at a MINI meeting to help the cause. You’re all brilliant, Thank You!
But don’t take our word for it, the following is a message from Liz Allen, Community Fundraising Manager for Marie Curie Cancer Care:
I would like to say a huge thank you on behalf of Marie Curie Cancer Care to everyone involved with the MINI2 Charity Ball. It has raised such a fantastic amount of money for Marie Curie Cancer Care and sounds like a brilliant event greatly enjoyed by all! All the money raised will go towards the work of Marie Curie Nurses caring for cancer patients giving them the choice to die at home and at our hospices across the country such as the Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead.
For those of you wanting to do it all again, or indeed for the very first time, the MINI2 Charity Ball Website will soon be updated with the complete details of next years event. Please also pop by the MINI2 Charity Ball Forum for news and gossip from the record braking 2007 Charity Ball, and information on how to get involved.
An eagle eyed MINI2 member spotted these photos of a Lightning Blue and Silver MINI Clubman Cooper S out “in the Wild” on the web and posted them in our MINI Clubman forum.
The photographs very clearly show the exterior design of the new MINI Clubman in all it’s glory and in great detail. There’s no surprises here thanks to previous leaks of information, spy shots and design sketches we’ve already seen, but these are by far the clearest photographs of the MINI Clubman yet.
Of note and interest to many will be the rear window and panel split on one side only for the single suicide door, to see the interior configuration in photographs check this previous MINI2 news story. How well this works is certainly an issue of debate. At this stage we cant help feeling we’d rather they’d gone all (a matching pair of doors) or nothing (as with the wonderful MINI Traveller Concept vehicles). But time will tell how well this works in real world driving conditions.
Continue reading Undisguised Blue & Silver MINI Clubman Photos
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