Ok Stuart, you were right. Thank you for your encouragement, the GP is worth every penny and every sleepless night.
Picked up 0019 today at 1200, and took it to COSTCO for the first test. It passed the MegaPack of Diet Pepsi loading test with flying colors, and handled the curves of CA Highway 1 with no problems. I was impressed with the low end torque, and immediate power response. No high RPM trials, lots of time to get it up in revs after running in. No squeaks, no rattles, and MINI USA did a bangup job of prepairing the car.
A small item, but a nice touch are the GP floor mats. They will get replaced with black rubber for daily use, very sharp. I liked the black boot handle, and had not noticed before that the inside of the scoop is black. The MINI USA rep called it carbon fiber, but I would not place money on that. Carbon black would be more my guess.
I did scrape the front air dam a couple of times, I am just going to consider them consumables. It is a real car, and we are going to drive it like one.
John Cooper was gracious enough to autograph the Dash panel over the glove box, and that was worth the trip to California.
The first item placed on GP0019 was the MINI2.COM sticker on the rear window under the center brake light. Sneaked that on before the presentation ceremony.
