Have car, will vacation: MINI fans among those who gather with like-minded car buffs

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  1. Nathan

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    Written by Maureen Wallenfang

    From - Appleton Post Crescent | Appleton news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Appleton, Wisconsin | postcrescent.com

    NOTE: The author was in attendance at MOTD and was a volunteer at registration too.

    For one type of vacationer, getting from point A to point B isn’t the point. Nor are they likely to ever say, “Are we there yet?â€

    Car-centric vacations are all about driving, even with near-record gas prices. Getting “there†happens as soon as these car nuts leave their garages. And once they arrive at a destination, the main activity is, well, driving some more.

    Car-specific gatherings take place around the country from spring through summer, drawing owners of tiny Mini Coopers to vintage Corvairs to high-end Porsches. These holidays are typically organized by specific car clubs, and go to places that are fun to drive, like twisty mountain roads or tracks.

    While other people are heading to beaches, theme parks and family reunions, these vacationers opt to hang out with like-minded car buffs, sharing their devotion to metal, rubber and speed.

    “You can’t talk to people at work about this. They don’t understand,†said Nancy Baskin of Little Rock, Ark., a nurse who spends a lot of her free time organizing and attending events centered on Miatas and Mini Coopers.

    She and husband Jim braved spring storms to attend Minis on the Dragon, an annual gathering of Mini Coopers that’s the epitome of a true car-centered vacation.
    The MOTD, as it’s known, takes place in late April/early May at Fontana Village, a Smokey Mountains resort in North Carolina. It’s near the “Tail of the Dragon,†a treacherous 11-mile, 318-curve stretch of U.S. 129 that starts at Deals Gap, N.C., and winds into Tennessee.

    Several smaller groups driving Audi Quattros, Mazda RX7s and Lotuses also gathered at the Dragon at the same time as the Minis for the same reasons — to feel rubber hitting the road, talk about cars and navigate the “twisties,†as they call the hairpin turns.

    Minis are the tiny British cars redesigned in 2002 by BMW and imported since then to the United States. The car has passionate devotees who appreciate the go-kart handling and throaty rumble.

    This year, the ninth annual MOTD registered a record 823 people, driving 543 Minis. They came from 37 states plus Washington, D.C., Canada and Germany.

    People behind the wheel ranged from teachers and retired business owners to computer wonks and graphic designers — all seemingly racecar drivers in former lives.

    Attractions included driving the mountain roads in groups, seeing vendors set up in tents, attending tire seminars, posing for group photos and assembling for massive outdoor movie nights on a baseball field to see films like “The Italian Job†and “The Bourne Identity.†Whenever a Mini appears on screen — and that’s of course the main criteria for picking a film — everyone honks in appreciation.

    Car events aren’t quite as narcissistic as they may sound. Many link in to charities, like the American Red Cross. MOTD tries to beat its own record every year with cash and food donations to the local Graham County Food Bank. This year’s record was more than $5,000 and an estimated 4,000 pounds of canned goods.

    Volunteer MOTD organizer Barry Patascher from Florida is impressed with both the donations and the huge attendance, given that Mini drivers aren’t known as excessive spenders. “For most of us, this is the most expensive car we’ve ever owned,†he said.

    “Last year we had 635 people, so it’s almost 200 better. I can’t tell you why this is so big this year,†he said. “Maybe because there are more Minis on the road. Or because AMVIV (another large Mini gathering called A Mini Vacation In Las Vegas) moved their date.â€

    Patascher said no one cancelled because of gas prices, partly because the cars get good mileage. “Maybe it’s $50 more for the trip. It’s not that much more,†he said.

    “I don’t think gas prices kept people away,†said Nathan Freedenberg, the Columbus, Ohio-based owner of motoringalliance.com, the largest independent Mini forum. “There are pockets of the economy coming back. I’ve seen that Corvette sales are up.â€

    “It’s fun to be with a group of people who like the same thing,†said Mini owner Kelli Creighton on why she drove all the way from The Woodland, Texas, to attend the event.

    Angela Qualls, a young mother and new Mini owner from Bryant, Ark., echoed that sentiment. “You feel like you belong.â€

    Besides her Mini, Qualls also owns a minivan, but she left that and her kids in the care of relatives so she could feel the freedom of the road for a couple of days.

    Another driver, Bob Whitney, a mild-mannered, 60-ish computer consultant from Winfield, Ill., said he attends several annual car events, including MOTD and Minis in the Mountains, to unleash his inner speedster.

    “Basically I want to push the car to its performance limits, legally, on public roads,†he said.

    He came solo because his wife doesn’t understand his deep love for his super-charged Mini convertible.

    “My wife told me, ‘You didn’t buy a car. You joined a cult.’â€

    Whitney didn’t consider that an insult.

    “Car vacations are sporty car vacations. You’ll see sporty VWs, Mitsubishis, Audis and Jeeps. You’ll even see Hummers get together to do off-roading,†Whitney said. “You aren’t going to see Camrys, minivans or Buicks.â€

    His wife, incidentally, drives a Camry.

    WISCONSIN CONNECTIONS

    While people came from 37 states to Minis on the Dragon, Wisconsin wasn’t heavily represented.

    My husband Mark and I may have been the lone northeastern Wisconsinites to make the 12-hour trip, and we heard that just a handful of people drove from Madison and Milwaukee.

    More Mini drivers might show up in the future, however, now that the car is getting more popular in the state. Dealerships opened in Grand Chute in December and Madison last June. Until 2010, the only Mini dealership was in Milwaukee.

    Two Mini owners clubs are active in Milwaukee and Madison, according to MC2 Magazine, and some in the Appleton area are looking into the possibility of starting a Fox Valley owners’ group.

    Source - Have car, will vacation: Mini Cooper fans among those who gather with like-minded car buffs | Appleton Post Crescent | postcrescent.com
     

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