^^^ Nicely said. Except for the toggles, I like them. It's adds to the uniqueness and quirkiness that is the spirit of the car.
In my opinion it's based upon where the brand originated. Mini was born in England and achieved it's popularity there. Hence in the public mindset it will always be a British car no matter who owns the brand or where they're manufactured nowadays.
If one is only interested in a "real" British car Morgan is it I believe. All others are owned by someone else. MINI hybrid for me.
The MINI is British IMO. My wife drives a Jaguar XF. When my Roadster arrives, we will have two British cars. :wink:
Every part I pull off my MINI says, "BMW" on it. A lot of parts also say, "Made in Germany" as well. I notice a lot of parts are the exact same parts found on real BMW cars, like my Comfort Access Antenna Receiver. It's hard for me to sense any British in this car, since I don't have any Union-Jack accessories. I know it was assembled there, but it's the individual parts that speak to me. I feel like the car is more German, than anything else. Sorry if that offends anybody.
Any British car in not a British car if it does not have mystery Lucas electric problems. :devil: :lol: I consider my 05 a German car inspired by a British car and modified and perfected by a American.
I'm still looking closely.... Haven't found ANY, stamps, stickers, emblems, indication, what so ever of.... "Made In China" German owned company, made by Brit's (I have a R56).... So I'm OK with mine....
A lot of parts on my Ford say "made in Canada on them", does that make it a Canadian car? I don't think so. Parts for cars are made all over the world. MINI is a British company that is owned my a German company. They source parts from many countries, They even assemble them in countries other than Great Britain, but MINI remains a British car because MINI is a British company. Under Italian ownership, Chrysler continued to manufacture the PT Cruiser in Mexico. Is the PT Cruiser a Mexican car, an Italian car? No, it is an American car that was manufactured in Mexico, by an American company that is owned by an Italian company. In this world's economy, you can't go by where the parts are manufactured or by where the car is assembled, or even where the ultimate owners of the company are based, when determining a car marque's home country. It is where the car company's corporate headquarters are and in the case of MINI, that country is Great Britain. Dave
I summed this up earlier but I think this says it best... Is a ballpark frank still a ballpark frank if it is served in an arena? I don't eat hot dogs so I'll let you processed meat lovers fight over that one.
I work at a Ford assembly plant here in KY and they are "American" just as much as my MINI is British. I consider my MINI British and consider Fords American even though I am constantly driving parts around (fork lift driver) that have Toyota and BMW lids on them because we use some of the same suppliers for some of the parts and the lids just go wherever with whoever's parts on them. In that sense. All vehicles are really just mutts
It kind of depends on the culture of the company. A French company has a 50% ownership in a Japanese company and the vehicles are manufactured in the US, but it is definitely a Japanese company. I guess it depends on who is running things at MINI, the British or the Germans?
Yep that is true. To tell the truth I've only seen a couple of those in these parts. But I'm old & miss stuff sometimes.