It's been over a year since Bridger.us/MINI was launched and during that time we've seen many accolades, articles and an incredible number of comments. However there was one thing that Bridger.us/MINI didn't have during this whole time – a proper name.

When I started the site I wanted to create a weblog that was all about MINI news, tips, how to's, and reviews (among other things) plus an area for comments and input from visitors. As a designer I also wanted a place that I could have a bit of a creative outlet. Overall I saw the site as a way to create something that was a bit more refined than the standard automotive forums site (which has been done to death all across the web). And of course it made little sense to create yet another MINI forums site specifically when there were already two solid ones out there. Simply put, my theory was if I got hits that was great, but I was going to create something that I'd want to read on a daily basis and not worry about making the site a popular destination. Before starting the site I wasn't even thinking it would ever warrant a real name or url. I figured most likely that only a handful of people would find it, bookmark and enjoy it and that would be it.

So as the site quickly grew early on it became clear to me that I had an opportunity to create a meaningful resource for the MINI community as well as build something to be proud of. Yet over the months there was just one key issue that kept rearing it's head – it was built on a url that was meant to be nothing more than a personal space for design projects and a general weblog. Granted the connection of the url (and subsequently my surname) to both the new and original Italian Job characters was a nice coincidence, it certainly wasn't enough to justify not giving the site a real name.

So after months of planning and debating, and much input from others, I've decided to change the name of the site from Bridger.us/MINI to MotoringFile (www.motoringfile.com). As some of you know MINI is very sensitive in regards to using the name MINI or Cooper on a private website (just take a look at what North American Motoring went through last year). With that in mind I wanted something that worked in terms of the MINI culture yet didn't use the term MINI in it's title. I also wanted the name to some how relate to it's place in the MINI world. MotoringFile seemed like a natural choice – and the domain was free 🙂

As many of you know this site is a bit more than a one person job. Because of that I'd like to also take this time thank the coder of the weblog software that this site is built on and constant behind the scenes site contributer Matthew Gifford. Without Matt this site simply wouldn't exist in it's current form.

So without further delay I'd like to welcome you to the MotoringFile. Have a look around and let us know what you think!

Cheers,
Gabriel Bridger

PS: Oh and don't forget to check out our new MotoringFile apparel in the CafePress shop section.