It's hard to believe but it's already been two years. I remember very clearly the anticipation that day two years ago was almost unbearable. Waiting to just see the car for two years would do that to you. For those that weren't there here's a little taste of the overall atmosphere at that time.
During those days there was only MINI2 and the often maligned Roadfly in the way of dedicated MINI forums. Of the two Roadfly had by far the most US traffic and thus was the place to really see the crazed anticipation that so many of us had.
First came the reports that there were MINIs at the VPC in late February – pictures followed. Then there were reports of MINIs in San Francisco for a huge press event – pictures followed. Then finally there was word that the cars would reach some dealers on the 22nd and 23rd of March – a Friday and Saturday.
As luck would have it my wife had taken that Friday off because we were travelling that weekend. So around 10am we made out way to what was at the time the brand new gleaming building with no MINI signage whatsoever that was soon to become Knauz MINI. We were greeted by a BMW turned MINI salesmen (and now good friend) David Olenick who was happy to talk MINIs and get us out for a couple test drive. To my knowledge we were the 2nd people in both the MC and the MCS demo they had on the lot (they only had 4-5 cars if I remember right.
In fact here's an excerpt from my review on Roadfly that very day two years ago:
“First off the Cooper is a fine car. Almost fine enough to forget about the MCS altogether. Especially considering I could probably get one next week. However with the MCS I'll be waiting until May/June (as I found out today). The Cooper's main weakness in my mind is the 45-70 acceleration. You must be “involved” with the tranny to get to 70 quickly. But that's part of the fun as well. The Cooper I drove had the 16s and was definitely more harsh that my 325ci with 17s. But keep in mind it wasn't rough. It also didn't have the sport seats. I had to hang onto the wheel while cornering! I think everyone getting a Cooper should seriously considering getting the sports seats.
The MCS was very nice. However it didn't “feel” as quick as I had expected. Because of the smoothness of the power it felt a bit laid back where I would have expected otherwise. The steering in both cars put my 325ci to shame. When I got back into it after the drives for the first time the steering felt very isolated and numb. I was shocked as I didn't realize that much difference when I was driving the MC and the MCS.
The car is small but it's so good looking. It's such a strange thing for such a small car to have so much presence.
Again I have to stress there was a lot less difference between the Cooper and the S than I had imagined. I think many people will go for the Cooper after they drive it. That being said we put our money down and assuming all goes as planned, will have one by late spring. But I can't stress enough the difference between the two is a lot less than the 50hp would suggest and the Cooper is much more compelling after the test drives.”
Despite having earned a huge amount of respect for the standard Cooper we left with a deposit made and a spot reserved for a Cooper S. Of course that night things changed drastically. We were involved in a fairly serious head-on collesion in my wife's tank like '89 Volvo 760. Granted serious for a Volvo like that is fairly ho-hum but it was still a 40mph (both cars were going 40mph) head-on crash. I'll save the details but needless to say it was the fault of the other driver.
After the initial shock of what had happened it became pretty clear that we were going to need something quick – not in three months. So by the following Monday we were back at the dealer picking out a pre-spec Cooper which just happen to have about every conceivable option we could have ever wanted. We were quite lucky as it turned out!
Two years later we've got the same Cooper with no desire to trade it in anytime soon.
Happy birthday MINIUSA – MotoringFile wishes you many more!
Do you have memories of the US introduction of the new MINI? If so feel free to share them in the comments section of this article
Ian Cull Mar 22nd, 2004 Link
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