[Blacky]

I only walked past a dealer last week and they still had the old mini in the windows, but yesterday I saw my first new mini "Yellow" Cooper S.
I must say not as ugle in the flesh as I thought from viewing pictures etc.
However I must say it looks like it could be a real off roader with the extra ground clearing from the front and back!
Maybe it is true Mini are going 4 x 4
Unfortunately I only got a quick look as I didnt get through the light with the little beast, but no too bad.
Oh, and what a coincidence as I was driving the GF's S, as the 130i was in for a few little warranty issues
Has anyone else seen some new minis on the road?

[russellgreenwood]

Yep, I saw a laser blue (whatever it's called now) one on the back of a car mover on the Geelong freeway the other day, piled in with a bunch of BMW's....

[swamos]

Fascinating thread this. I takes me back to the old days.

I hope its not like the early days where the early owners are the disgruntled owners of tomorrow! I don't think it will be... surely they've learnt.

[Mr G]

Quote: Originally Posted by swamos (original)

Fascinating thread this. I takes me back to the old days.

I hope its not like the early days where the early owners are the disgruntled owners of tomorrow! I don't think it will be... surely they've learnt.

We certainly have

[snoopy]

hmm well i have too seen them too, and had a good going over them ie seats, radio, boot, bonnet only thing i did not do was drive one (dealer did not have one is stock, all sold to clients waiting to pick them up)

As the look of things is a personal opinion, all I will say is I will keep my old 2002 going for a bit longer. .... the dealer told me the look will grow on you, well the MINI has grown too and to me now looks to big, it looks well bloated.

Swamos..... don't worry they have had people coming back with creaks and rattles and things falling off, so hope they get it right before the Traveller comes.

Now the GP I saw I at the dealer liked much better, thunder blue is a nice colour, and the front dam is very low. Very nice MINI, shame on MINI Au not bring them in.

[cct1]

[quote=Blacky;2869646]However I must say it looks like it could be a real off roader with the extra ground clearing from the front and back!
Maybe it is true Mini are going 4 x 4
[quote]


Its an optical illusion--the suspension actually sits just a smidgeon lower than the outgoing model. Hopefully this will be corrected on future facelifts, as IMHO it really detracts from the appearance of the
R56, and could be easily fixed by making the black wheel arches smaller, painting the struts a dark color, dropping the suspension, and/or modifying the front and especially rear bumper to make it appear to sit lower.

[Blacky]

Thanks for your comments cct1, but I did not refer to the suspension height!
It may in fact be lower, but from my point of view the car looks higher and this is all that matters.
I will stand by my original comment, it would make a good 4 x 4, but that is nothing that a set of lowered springs would not fix.
I look forward to see a few more, or even better seeing them in some dealers up close and even getting a thrash.

[brett]

[quote=snoopy;2870113]As the look of things is a personal opinion, all I will say is I will keep my old 2002 going for a bit longer. .... the dealer told me the look will grow on you, well the MINI has grown too and to me now looks to big, it looks well bloated.
QUOTE]

The speedo is in the centre Greg!! FACTORY FITTED

[Michael Strachan]

While driving over the Westgate Bridge on the 18 Jan i saw not one but two transporters, filled with R56's heading outbound from Melbourne. A lot of Laser Blues and a few yellows, reds, silver, white and others!
Knowing where they were more than likely heading, I called in and did a little searching and took some pictures (until the security guard told me i was trespassing, and asked me to move along after taking down my details!!)
There were a lot more R56's around, but I could only get the pics of a Laser Blue and a Mellow Yellow MCS.
They do really look better in the flesh.
The pics are in the Aust car spotting thread.
Then on the 23rd I saw another truck load, they are now starting to get about.

Got told today that I am looking at getting delivery on the 16th March

[minigolf]

Have you been able to secure a VIN from your dealer? If you have stick it into the Auto Cargo field on this website:

Cargo Tracking



Cheers Liam

[Michael Strachan]

Thanks mate , got given the VIN on the 12th Jan, tried the website, sensational!!!

Car was booked for shipping on the 10th Jan,
delivered to Southhampton docks on the 19th Jan
boarded the ship "TURANDOT" on the 21st Jan

Thanks again!

[MickyD]

That's the same ship mine came on.

[The Artist]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blacky (original)

I only walked past a dealer last week and they still had the old mini in the windows, but yesterday I saw my first new mini "Yellow" Cooper S.
I must say not as ugle in the flesh as I thought from viewing pictures etc.
However I must say it looks like it could be a real off roader with the extra ground clearing from the front and back!
Maybe it is true Mini are going 4 x 4
Unfortunately I only got a quick look as I didnt get through the light with the little beast, but no too bad.
Oh, and what a coincidence as I was driving the GF's S, as the 130i was in for a few little warranty issues
Has anyone else seen some new minis on the road?

Awesome that you have seen one in the flesh. Do you mind me asking which dealership that was in?

[cct1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blacky (original)

Thanks for your comments cct1, but I did not refer to the suspension height!
It may in fact be lower, but from my point of view the car looks higher and this is all that matters.
I will stand by my original comment, it would make a good 4 x 4, but that is nothing that a set of lowered springs would not fix.
I look forward to see a few more, or even better seeing them in some dealers up close and even getting a thrash.

In your original post, you stated it cleared more ground front and back--actually, it clears less, it just looks like it clears more--that's where I'm coming from. The first generation would actually be a better 4x4....

I agree with you on the looks--it does look higher, but from a practical standpoint (which is what matters to me; this is where the performance aspect comes into play), it's actually lower.

[Michael Strachan]

Quote: Originally Posted by MickyD (original)

That's the same ship mine came on.

Thats cool, just hope it doesn't sink on the way!!!

Here's a happy snap of the "TURANDOT", its 199.1 metres long and has a gross weight of a mere 55,598 tonnes.

[MickyD]

[twotwoz]

I'm pretty sure this one docks in front of my building in Sydney all the time. Must keep an eye out for it and see if any are offloaded here.

[MickyD]

Wallenius has a whole fleet of ships that look identical. Most of them are named after famous Opera characters:

:: Wallenius Lines ::

[minigolf]

Quote: Originally Posted by Michael Strachan (original)

Thanks mate , got given the VIN on the 12th Jan, tried the website, sensational!!!

Car was booked for shipping on the 10th Jan,
delivered to Southhampton docks on the 19th Jan
boarded the ship "TURANDOT" on the 21st Jan

Thanks again!

Nice one. I look forward to hearing about it's progress.

Let me guess ... due in to Melbourne on 23/02/2007, and Sydney on 25/02/2007?

[Michael Strachan]

Quote: Originally Posted by MickyD (original)

Wallenius has a whole fleet of ships that look identical. Most of them are named after famous Opera characters:

:: Wallenius Lines ::

They have about 42 dedicated car/truck ships, at a rough calculation they can be moving approximately 250,000 cars at any one time!!! I also read that recently they had cut a few of their ships in two and extended the length by 28 metres to increase the capacity on board.
Thats a lot of $$$ worth of cars on the water at one time.