MTTS 2008 Miami: Not-So-MINI Caravan

You may remember my post about the Jacksonville – Miami caravan taking place on Friday the 13th for the MINI Takes The States kick off in Miami, FL. You may also remember me mentioning that the caravan was stopping at the Queen Mary British Pub in Jupiter, FL for lunch on the way down. Well, this caravan has grown and grown and is now becoming one of the major events of the MTTS weekend (official or not)! MINI owners from all over the state (Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, etc.) are planning routes to all meet at the Queen Mary British Pub for a buffet lunch being sponsored by Tom Bush MINI of Jacksonville and Downtown MINI or Orlando. Huge thanks to Nick Froehlich (Tom Bush MINI) and Larry Taylor (Downtown MINI) for stepping up and treating us all to lunch to kick off one awesome weekend of MINI fun! After lunch, the group of 50 or so MINIs will be heading south to Vista MINI of Coconut Creek for a pit stop before the last leg of the journey to Florida City, where most of the Sunshine MINIs members will be staying. For more information about the caravan, check out the Sunshine MINIs website. See you in Miami!

Lime Rock Wrap Up

After a tough weekend at Lime Rock, RSR Motorsport team owner, Randy Smalley gives us the weekend wrap up:

RSR MINIs at Lime Rock
Photo by Mark Lindsley

Some good news and some bad . . . 1st the good.

We had the fast time of the weekend and now hold the ST record at Lime Rock with a 1.00.191 @ 91.509 mph avg. Owen Trinkler was behind the wheel and backed up the time with multiple sub 1.01 times. The cars were FAST and the paddocks were buzzing all day.
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Remote Control MINI Convertible

Brando Workshop has released some cool remote control cars featuring 2 versions of the R52 MINI convertible. What a great way to pay tribute to the end of the production of such a wonderfully designed vehicle!! Yes – you heard me right – the R52 convertible will be ending production later this summer to make way for the new 2009 convertible. If you have been procrastinating on getting one, now is your last chance to get a new one. Once their gone, you will be stuck with this tiny RC version (which is very cool too!) :).

MINI Cooper Convertible Remote Control Car

[ RC MINI Convertible @ Brando Workshop ]

MINI – Kelley Blue Book Top 10 Road Trip Vehicle

Once again, the MINI has made it onto another top 10 list. This time, Kelley Blue Book picked the top 10 “Best Road Trip Cars”:

In putting together our annual list of top 10 “Best Road Trip Cars” for 2007, the editors of kbb.com wanted to include a vehicle for every journeyófrom weekend jaunts of one or two people to week-long escapades that involve one or two entire families and maybe a dog and a boat. Our selection criteria included all the tangible and intangible need-to-have attributes: driving enjoyment, passenger comfort, fuel economy and cargo space. The fact that entire vehicle segments are filling top to bottom with desirable models made compiling this year’s list more challenging than ever.

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Unofficial MTTS Jacksonville – Miami Caravan

If you are planning on coming to MTTS 2008 – Miami for the weekend of June 13-15th and you are driving down I-95 or Florida’s Turnpike, you may want to check out Sunshine MINIs‘ website for information on a caravan that is taking place down the state on Friday the 13th (hmmm just realized that date). A caravan is starting in Jacksonville, FL on Friday morning and heading down south, picking up MINIacs along the way. At lunchtime, the caravan will make a stop at the Queen Mary British Pub in Jupiter, FL for some great food and stretching of the legs. I plan on meeting the group at the pub and driving down the rest of the way to our hotel in Homestead (the majority of the Sunshine MINIs club is staying at the Travelodge in Florida City which is right around the corner from the Homestead-Miami Speedway). Hope to see you there!!!

MTTS 2008: Miami Update

Finally getting through all my e-mail from when I was out of town… MINI USA sent an update on the Miami MTTS 2008 kick off. In case you did not get it, here is what they have planned as of now:

Friday, June 13th, 7:30 ñ 10:30 pm
Bicentennial Park, Miami FL

Kick-off the weekend amongst friends with a fun evening and a movie under the stars in beautiful Bicentennial Park. Be sure to bring your blankets and lawn chairs for the movie, and your MINI key fob to get you and up to 3 friends into the fun.

7:30 MINI Owner Meet and Greet
8:30 Movie Under the Stars (brought to you by Fade In magazine)
10:30 Movieís over. Head back to your hotel or go out for a little taste of Miami night life.

Continue reading MTTS 2008: Miami Update

JAMMing

This past weekend I had the pleasure of hanging out with JAMM – the Jacksonville Area MINI Motorers while I was up in the St. Augustine area. We had about 20 MINIacs take over the Prince of Wales British Pub off of St. George St. in St. Augustine on Saturday. What a great group of people! We had people from as far north as Georgia and also a few from Orlando come out for some great food and good times. A huge thanks to all who came out and showed me and my family a great time. It is so cool that you can go to almost any city and find MINIacs willing to come out and hang. We have the coolest group of people :).

MINI Coopers on Magnolia Avenue

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