So I've decided to part with my MINI for several reasons, and I thought I'd start by simply detailing it up nicely and parking it at the end of my driveway and see if anyone shows serious interest, before I take the time to list it anywhere. Not much chance, I figure; but what the heck. Keep in mind that I live in northwest Illinois, three miles outside of a town with a population of 25,000; basically in the middle of farm country. I don't expect to meet a lot of folks who are seriously shopping for an '09 JCW. So I receive a phone message from a young girl who is interested; I return the call and her mother answers. She asks whether it's a manual or auto, and my asking price. I tell her that it's a 6-speed, and I'm asking $22K. "Okay", she says; "I'll have to go get a loan, because I want to get that car for my 16-year old daughter." I'm flabbergasted, and I proceed to ask her whether she knows anything about MINIs, and of course she doesn't. I mention (among other things) that it's a John Cooper Works model, and I hear her say "Oh!", as I proceed to tell her about the man, where he's from and what he did in life. We talk for a couple minutes, and she mentions that she's familiar with the name John Cooper, and I ask her where she heard of him. "My grandfather used to do some work for him", she said. "No" I say; "John Cooper lived in England, and is world-famous for his work on the original British Mini's." "Yes", she said; "my grandfather came here from England, and he used to tell us about John Cooper." WHOA!!! Here in the middle of flyover country, I meet a lady whose grandfather used to work for John Cooper; unbelievable!!
I thought you might ask. Though she says her daughter "has a good head on her shoulders", she also said that she has a lead foot. She's re-considering. I'm guessing that she's a single mom. If so, and if I were her, I'd be concerned about the fact that my car is six months and 1,000 miles from the end of warranty; I didn't get into that with her, but I will if she remains interested.
I hope she gets it, because I hope the daughter "connects" with her grandfather's history... and I hope she drives it carefully and with spirit. GREAT story!
Good luck selling Doug.... And keep making those great shift knobs. I'm sure at some point I'll need #4 :lol:
Thanks! I got the idea to sell it, mainly to generate funds for skydiving. After doing 17 static line and IAD parachute jumps over the past 34 years, (and being shaky at the thought of freefalling), I finally worked up some nerve and did a 14,000' tandem jump a month ago, and now I'm hooked. So I took the ground school for the AFF course a week later, then did an 18,000' tandem jump this past weekend, along with my son, in Colorado. FUN FUN FUN!!! And it's something that even a geezer like me can enjoy.