MotoringFile reader Eric Zwirnmann brings us this very cool time lapse footage of his MINI slowly getting swallowed by the recent snow storm that hit the Midwest and Northeast US:
[ MINI vs 2005 Blizzard/800k ] (Quicktime)
Here’s more from Eric himself:
About one year ago today, I had no idea what a MINI Cooper even was. Yes, I saw the original Italian Job several times on TV as a kid, but I was still clueless. In March of 2004, a friend invited me on a short rally with the
local enthusiast group, PhillyMINI. Two months later, I put in an order for
a Convertible MCS which was delivered in November 2004. I quickly
discovered and became part of the enthusiasm behind MINIs. I joined up with
PhillyMINI and since have made many new friends; all of which own MINIs.On January 22nd, 2005, we were hit with a Blizzard in the Philadelphia
region. We don’t get snow often in this area but when we do, it’s bad (at
least to us). I typically park my MINI in a garage, but the alley-way
behind my house is horrible when it snows, so I had to park it out front on
the street. I wasn’t a happy camper with this idea, but it was either park
in the street or don’t drive until March.I was playing with my new digital camera, and found an feature that take
photos every couple of minutes. I quickly set up my camera to take pictures
every 5 minutes for 10 hours. The result is a very cool movie of my
Convertible getting covered with snow (about 10-12 inches).MINI owners can see other cool pictures and my online resume at the MINIUSA
Owner’s Lounge.Eric Zwirnmann
(aka MiniLifeCrisis)
<p>Thats what It looks like with a white roof.</p>
<p>COOL!!! not your car being covered but the video! Plus I LOVE Snow.. so :)</p>
<p>Cool video! We got just under 3 feet in my town outside of Boston. Thanks to snow drifts my MINI was completely covered. Only thing you could see was an antenna sticking out of a pile of snow! </p>
<p>Is it just me, or does it look a little like there might be PT Cruiser under there in the last frame?</p>
<p>Wow, that’s cool. Guess you need the DE-Ice-Link :P</p>
<p>PT Cruiser? Funny, I was thinking the same thing when I looked at photos after it snowed. At one angle, the frontend is squared off and it looked like an Element (ick!). :-)</p>
<p>By 10 AM the next morning, I was dug out and motoring while all the neighbors dug out their SUVs.</p>
<p>To Gabe: Thanks for posting this.</p>
<p>that’s awesome.</p>
<p>As the friend of Eric’s who took him to that rally, I am proud to see he has become a MINI enthusiast who seizes every opportunity to have the MINI create some fun in his life, even if it snows.</p>
<p>Go Eric,</p>
<p>mini2nv2004</p>
<p>What kind of camera is that? I would love to do something like this.</p>
<p>Very cool! Grab the slider and drag it back and forth for a good effect.</p>
<p>Here in boston our minis really did get swallowed hole. <a rel="nofollow" HREF="http://photos3.flickr.com/3735060_e615954b73_b.jpg">here</A> is mine after the driveway was shoveled.</p>
<p>Hmmm. Kinda like those time lapse flowers opening, or maggots devouring a rat corpse. Oops, what an analogy! 😉 Sorry ’bout that. This is unimagineable to me, having succesfully avoided this kind of weather by staying a desert rat. Whew. Glad it’s on vid, and not outside my house. Brrr.</p>
<pre><code> BCNU,
Rob in Dago
</code></pre>
<p>Ryan,</p>
<p>I used a Minolta Dimage A1. It has a time lapse feature where you can set the delay. The camera even takes the photos and puts them in a MOV movie file. Gabe was nice enough to shrink the file when posted it. The camera was on a mini tripod on window.</p>
<p>Had the Top not been frozen, I would have attempted a video of me putting the Top down and driving away. Besides that, the owner’s manual states you shouldn’t use the top when it’s that cold out (it was 10 deg. F that morning).</p>
<p>Kinda cool how the trees droop as more snow falls too…
Can still see the antenna!!!
Great video!</p>
<p>It is sad (poor MINI), yet strangely hilarious at the same time…lol…Very cool!</p>
<p>I was waiting for the Jaws theme…</p>
<p>Glad my MINI was staying relatively warm in the garage during the snow.</p>
<p>I live in topanga, CA, no snow, but we have falling boulders…;-) actually with many roads closed due to the recent storms, the MCS has become the perfect zoom through mobile for wet and muddy mountain roads. I love that it has a rally haritage.</p>
<p>Cool video! Do you think a car cover would have helped?</p>
<p>How Cool! We were suffering out west in Colorado with 60+ temps.</p>
<p>rjl,</p>
<p>Not sure if a car cover would have helped. With my dumb luck, it would have frozen to the body or something like that. It is kind of sad, for the first 2 1/2 months he was garage kept. :-(</p>
<p>On the bright side, I love driving this MINI in the snow! I haven’t had this much fun since I had a snowmobile. </p>
<p>I totally agree. I can’t understand why people are afraid or don’t want to drive their MINIs in the snow. It’s so much fun. A little e-brake here and there makes for a whole lot of fun. </p>
<p>Neat video! I hope the weight of the snow didn’t hurt your top!</p>
<p>Now all we need is the ” KING OF THE HILL ” theme song to go along with this awsome clip ~! hahahahaha</p>
<p><em>Off Topic</em>
The King of the Hill theme song is actually called Yahoos & Whistles by a now defunct band called The Refreshments (I like their music). The band sort of lives on as <a rel="nofollow" href="http://azpeacemakers.com">Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers</a>.</p>