Most liked posts in thread: My ride for the day..

Dont want to over-post.. especially on non-MINI related stuff, but here are some more pics from Saturday.. I took my Sunbeam Alpine on a drive with about 30 other older British cars.

It was about 150 miles of Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin back roads ending at a collectors "toy room" to see his collection of unusual British cars, race cars, race motorcycles and memorabilia

This is my longest drive in the Sunbeam since I have owned it

 

Ha!!
Just a little old thing I've owned since 2002..

I knew I wanted a MINI in 2001 when I first saw magazine pics of the MINI, but I had no intention of buying a
first year car. Didnt even go to look at them when they were first released in March 2002.
Friend of mine worked at an associated Mercedes dealership so every week I'd ask him how the MINI sales were going.
One weekend in early April he forgot his wallet at our usual Sunday morning motorcycle get-together.. Told him I'd cover his b-fast, no-problem.. The next Sunday he shows up in a dealer MCS, throws the keys at me and says take it out for a 1/2 hour..

It was amazing!! afterwards my 16 year old Honda CRX felt like a piece of crap.. it didnt brake/accelerate or steer nearly as well, so a couple weeks later I crawled into the MINI dealership begging to order a new car. The wait from the beginning of May till it was delivered in mid-August was brutal for me (I am almost over it now, but not quite), but while trolling the MINI websites online I met some other local people who eventually formed the Chicago MINI Motoring Club, and the rest is history..

 

This is a Lotus Elise (2007 I think) and I've had the pleasure of driving it several times over the years.
The door sills are incredibly wide with a several inch drop to the thinly padded seats which makes for a difficult ingress/egress.. especially when the top is on. Once you are buckled in there is plenty of room as long as you arent too wide around the middle. The cockpit is all business and the pedals are narrow but manageable. The driving experience is incredible. Acceleration is very strong, and the owner has an aftermarket intake which opens a baffle at around 6000 rpms, and it lets out an additional wail behind your ears that sounds like a supercharger whine. The steering wheel is small and steering is right-now direct. You can feel everything going on with the front wheels on turns. This is the most thrilling/exciting car I have ever driven.