Showing posts with label Mini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mini. Show all posts
Mini marriage
Southport and Ormskirk Mini Owners Club made a real commitment at this years' Woodvale Rally in Southport. Two Minis, called Ursula and Woofer, were married by a member of the club on Woodvale airfield earlier today.
While the groom was sporting a bow tie and top hat, the bride wore a veil and pearls around her rearview mirror. The owners read their cars' wedding vows, vowing to drive side by side on motorways as long as their engines may run. Marriage certificates were signed, keys exchanged, the champagne was passed around, and the Mini owners cut specially-made wedding cake. At this time it should be pointed out, that the CARS got married... NOT the owners!!
The Italian Job minus the Mini
Over the last few months my boyfriend, Champion motoring guru David Simister, has planned a Mini event to take place in Parbold.
The idea was to get the Mini SOD club members and other Mini clubs in the area to meet at the Mini SOD's pub of choice Scotch Piper in Lydiate, and then drive in convoy to Parbold. There, the old Minis and Mini Coopers would be displayed in the parking lot of the Parbold Village Hall for an hour, before the 1969 original of The Italian Job with Michael Caine would be shown on the big screen inside.
A brilliant plan, and a rare chance to see the movie in a cinema setting, and lots of people were really excited by it. So was David, planning it, corresponding with the organisers at the Village Hall, advertising it on his blog and on the radio during Martin Hovden's show on Dune FM on Fridays. I was appointed photographer.
Today was the day. The Mini Run took place. So we dressed up in our club t-shirts, washed David's 1983 Mini Mayfair, polished it, cleaned the windows and chrome, filled her up with fuel and went on our way.
The idea was to get the Mini SOD club members and other Mini clubs in the area to meet at the Mini SOD's pub of choice Scotch Piper in Lydiate, and then drive in convoy to Parbold. There, the old Minis and Mini Coopers would be displayed in the parking lot of the Parbold Village Hall for an hour, before the 1969 original of The Italian Job with Michael Caine would be shown on the big screen inside.
A brilliant plan, and a rare chance to see the movie in a cinema setting, and lots of people were really excited by it. So was David, planning it, corresponding with the organisers at the Village Hall, advertising it on his blog and on the radio during Martin Hovden's show on Dune FM on Fridays. I was appointed photographer.
Today was the day. The Mini Run took place. So we dressed up in our club t-shirts, washed David's 1983 Mini Mayfair, polished it, cleaned the windows and chrome, filled her up with fuel and went on our way.
With four people in the car, we didn't want to take the bumpy road over the Moss, so we decided to detour through Formby to Lydiate. As he was the organiser, David insisted on leaving early so we'd be there when everyone arrived. Lucky we left early, because as soon as we turned off the dual carriageway and onto the country road behind the Tesco in Formby, something happened.
While doing 40mph down the country lane, over potholes and round bends, all of a sudden, we heard a bang and the front left wheel gave in. At first we thought it was a blowout, as we skidded to a stop. We were right before a blind bend and luckily had not yet started to turn. But as soon as we got out, we saw what had really happened. The entire tyre had caved in, and was now stuck at an angle underneath the wheel arch. There was no way we could have driven it any further, infact the Mini had to be lifted onto the footpath not even steering it worked. So we called a recovery truck and waited... after 45 mins, a mechanic in a transit van shows up, looks at the car, looks at us and goes "that needs recovering"... you don't say! Another 45 mins later, and the truck finally arrives. By that point, we have missed the set off of the convoy.
While doing 40mph down the country lane, over potholes and round bends, all of a sudden, we heard a bang and the front left wheel gave in. At first we thought it was a blowout, as we skidded to a stop. We were right before a blind bend and luckily had not yet started to turn. But as soon as we got out, we saw what had really happened. The entire tyre had caved in, and was now stuck at an angle underneath the wheel arch. There was no way we could have driven it any further, infact the Mini had to be lifted onto the footpath not even steering it worked. So we called a recovery truck and waited... after 45 mins, a mechanic in a transit van shows up, looks at the car, looks at us and goes "that needs recovering"... you don't say! Another 45 mins later, and the truck finally arrives. By that point, we have missed the set off of the convoy.
A friend and fellow Mini club member took over organising at the pub and coordinating how much space would be allocated to the car display. The truck driver was kind and agreed to drop our Mini off home and drop the keys in the letterbox, so that we could hitch a ride and still make it to the show.
We got there with 10 mins to spare before the film started, exhausted, sunburnt and slightly disappointed that after all the lovely treatment, the car decided to break down today out of all days. In the end, we had eight Minis on display and the screening of The Italian Job was a success. Just a shame that the car we travelled in was not roadworthy anymore. I'm not into cars, nor could I point out all the parts, bolts or anything else attached to it (excluding the engine, lights and windscreen wipers) but I am told it was the driveshaft that gave up and knocked out a swivel joint.
If you go "huh?" at the moment, don't worry I'm not quite sure what that means either, however, I can show you what it looks like:
For all those who can never quite remember how to calculate braking distances, head out towards and past the Formby Tesco, and look for the tyre marks on the road. Measure it, and you'll know how long it takes to go from 40 to 0 in a Mini within a second... We're just glad it happened where it happened, and not on the dual carriageway or in a bend... it would have thrown us right off course and we could have ended up in a ditch or even worse, in oncoming traffic. The car is fixable, I'm told, and we're all in one piece, but that car sure has a way of showing its appreciation...
Mini-ing
What do you do when owning a Mini is not enough for you? If you live in the UK, you go to a Mini Owners Club meeting! My boyfriend owns a 1983 Mini Mayfair, so I have to be careful what I say here, but if your idea of fun is having a drink at a pub you drove to in your Mini (which means that legally, you can't really drink anyway, so why they meet at pubs is a mystery to me) and talk about your car and the spares you bought for it for a couple of hours every week, then the Mini meeting is for you!
Granted, these meetings come in handy when you do have car trouble. Someone there is bound to have a solution, or might be able to point you in the right direction. The same goes for spare parts.
I think it's great that this iconic British car doesn't really cope with Britain that well.... It will throw a tantrum when going up hills or pushing it to 68 mph and it can't stand the rain (unless you have an endless supply of WD40 on hand or alternatively tinfoil behind your grill - though you might want to hang on to the WD40 just in case). They don't have airbags, you can't stretch on long drives and you can't really fit a lot of luggage in the boot. It is still cool driving around in one, though.
I guess Mini meetings are fine when you know a thing or two about cars (Minis in particular) and you have friends there. I have been a tagalong for the last couple of weeks and got an occasional word in, but that's it. I own a rare-ish car myself, a Nissan 100NX, but I've never been to a meeting for Nissan owners... it never even crossed my mind. But then again, I guess you just have to give up this one night a week if your boyfriend's a petrolhead!
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