[Siddhartha]

It's official. Sad Arthur has arrived at the dealer and is "waiting to meet me". Like many, I couldn't find a good MCS deal in Cali and so ventured out on the net to find one elsewhere. Biil Jacobs MINI in Naperville, IL got my business with their MSRP price and their 8 week wait. I used a credit card for the deposit and they immediately ordered my Chili Red/White MCS with white mirrors, bonnet stripes and 17" S-Lite wheels with performance run flats. Other stuff includes the Sport package, JCW kit, auto air, computer, HK sound, MP3 Aux Input and 4 cute little valve stem caps with the Union Jack on them.

I had my MA lock a cover on it as soon as it rolled off the truck, so I'll spend a day detailing it and then applying as many coats of Zaino as I can before my arm falls off. Saturday we head for Berkeley along the Lincoln Highway, a designated Scenic Byway and the first paved highway in the US. Lots of opportunity for changing speeds during break in. I figure we'll hit Wyoming by the time 1250 miles rolls up and that seems like a good place to start letting it unwind. I wonder what 143 mph looks like in Nevada at about 3 in the morning? I know what it looks like on the A3 from Frankfurt to Cologne, but that was in my A6, a much heavier car.

We're scheduled for a Jim Russell High Performance Driving Class at Sears Point on the 30th. I'll be very interested to see what else is on the track and how the MCS does on it's run flats.

So look for SAD RTHR in the East Bay in November!

[red03miniS]

i will be waiting for my first jcw ride in your car, as promised