Dave, welcome to Motoring Alliance, and though I did not quote your whole post, saving bandwidth that is one of the best posts I have read in a long time:cornut: Mark
The mini is my one and only But I'm young.. there's time. Hopefully something like this will actually become a reality some day and the mini can finally become the toy I've always wanted it to be:
Ok here's my list of cars I've owned since I was 15 1. 1960 Corvair, was all original 36k miles and still not cool 2. 1969 MGC 6cylinder, rare car but was really rusty 3. 1985 Mercedes 190E, Drove for yrs, and converted to 5spd manual 4. 1966 MG 1100, took apart sold never finished 5. 1988 Dodge charger, bought for $25, fixed it and drove it home 6. 1987 Honda Accord, bought out of junk yard drove home and still running today 7. 1987 Mazda 626, Bought at used car lot $5 car sale, was $68 with tax 8. 1966 Mini Cooper S, bought from old lady that husband died, true story 9. 1996 Geo Metro, Got 50mpg till motor blew 10. 2004 MINI Cooper S, Had everything 11. 1977 MGB, guy was trading it on a MINI 12. 1993 Ford Escort, bought for $250 sold next day for $700 13. 1953 MG TD, In boxes may restore some day 14. 2004 MCS, was rolled and become race car 15. 1996 BMW 318, drunk driver blew engine, fixed it to sell 16. 2006 MCS still daily driver 17. 1993 Miata had bad motor, sold week later 18. 1991 Miata, wrecked didn't fix drove and autoXd, sold months later 19. 1994 Miata, wrecked bought for hardtop, sold for parts 20. 1996 Miata bought to part 21. 2004 bought wrecked parted out 22. 2002 was shell only when bought used parts to make complete car 23. 2006 MCS was wrecked. planned to fix but engine was broke, sold it 24. 2004 MCS, was totaled, fixed sold 25. 2005 MCS, was totaled, fixed sold to dad 26 2002 Cooper, had bad clutch now WMW loaner car 27. 2004 MCS currently parting out 28. 2002 MCS currently parting out It runs in my family, my dad has had more cars than I can name.
Wow... I feel like such an automotive noob following that (and in comparison, I am! ) 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlas Cierra - Was my parent's car, my first regular driver, and where I first learned to detail... the deal was that they paid the payments and insurance... I kept it maintained, gassed and ready for them to use whenever they wished. The kid in the house got to drive the nicest, newest car as they took a lease on it then jobs changed and the commute was more miles than the lease would allow. Bad for them, but it was a beautiful car! 1987 Toyota Corolla - The first car of my own... a hand-me-down from my brother. An ugly little car, but girls loved it... still unsure why. Metallic light-blue with the classic velour 1980s blue interior. My father didn't want me taking it Houston for a summer on an internship, so we traded (his newer car) for the summer. I found out, when I returned home, that he didn't like driving the Toyota, so he sold it and the Mazda became mine. 1989 Mazda Protege - Loved this little car. Great commuter until my commute became 90+ miles each way in the NY area and I needed something a bit bigger and more stable at speed. 1997 Nissan Altima - The last of the first generation of Altimas. This was my first new car purchase and I kept it for 7-8 years when I sold it and bought the MINI. In the last few years of ownership, I honed my detailing and buffing skills on this car, making some mistakes (buffing off the single stage black paint on the window frames in about 2 seconds) and getting it into pristine shape (the appraiser who looked at got about 20 feet away, turned to me and said "There is no way I can give you what this car is worth. If the rest of the car has been cared for like the paint, it should sell like it has 20,000 miles." (it had close to 100k). 2006 MCS - Jango! Also took care of my wife's cars: - A late 80's Nissan Sentra - Two Nissan Pathfinders - 2002 Nissan Murano - 2006 Cadillac STS - Black w/ dark tint and a chrome wire-mesh grill. Imagine Tony Soprano's dream car... this is it! - 2010 Volvo xc60 And an old roommates car... the first one where I actually got greasy other than doing the occasional DIY oil change in the driveway with my father: a 1970 Porsche 914.
I'm working on my list, but be warned - after being in the car bidness for 30 years and being as old as dirt, I've owned a LOT of cars over the years...... Even so, I'm sure I'll forget some......
'72 Datsun 510 '73 Datsun 1200 hatch '78 Renault 5 'Le Car' '80 Toyota Corolla '82 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 '88 Honda Civic Sedan '92 Honda Civic Sedan '92 Honda Civic V-Tech hatch '95 Mitsubishi Montero Sport '00 Toyota RAV4 '01 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 '02 MINI Cooper S '04 Audi A3 The final three still reside in our garage.
Actually there may be. I know of one or two that I may have only owned for 2hrs before selling. Plus maybe a parts car or two that was given to me. Hey when you have MG's you need parts.