2008 MINI Cooper S

In 2002, the Motoring Staff here at Outcrop Acres awarded the new MINI the Best Car of the Year for 2002. Ten years later, we aquired one. We have been looking for one for about three years, but had to wait until both the Miata and the Volvo Wagon were fully spent. That day came on July 31, 2012 when the Miata would no longer pass inspection because of its intermittent airbag and inoperative windshield wipers. I had been doing fine using Rain-X but the state inspection people felt that was not sufficient. So we found a nice plain Pepper White MINI Cooper S. Its pretty fun and more visible than our other newish car.

See how I spell MINI Cooper? All Caps for the MINI? That differentiates it from the original BMC Mini, designed by Alec Issigonis. Another thing that differentiates it is about 1000 pounds and a German heritage. Seems its built by BMW.

It acts like a BMW. It has frameless doors so the window goes down just a bit when the door opens. The window goes up after the door closes (at least for now while it is reasonably new). No goofy flags or contrasting colors on the roof or mirrors. There has to be a compromise between invisible and garrish.

Speaking of garrish, stepping in the cabin is like becoming part of a cartoon. It does have a six speed and a two foot diameter speedometer. It needs to be like that cause they accidently put it in the middle of the car. See if you can count all the circles.

In 2007, MINI switched from superchargers to turbochargers on the S model, while keeping the dual exhaust tips in the middle. It has a spoiler above the hatch. The trunk is about 3' x 1' x 1' - enough for an extra pair of shoes and a jar of chutney.

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