In the last 24 hours we’ve heard from several sources that the sale of the MINI division to VW is imminent. This unthinkable news seems to be brought on by VW’s intense desire to regain it’s historical place in the US market.
Word from several of our sources is that VW is considering re-branding future MINIs as “VINIs”. The new VINIs would be slightly different from today’s MINI in both look and available options. For instance the VINI would only feature four colors, two “packages” and an optional toy “VINI” that randomly quotes lines from Joe Pesci in my Cousin Vinny.
Expect the change over to happen late this year. As part of the deal BMW will be getting Skoda , Seat, and an automaker to be named later.
Happy April 1st.
I just got sick…. Gabe!
Ha,
Good one Gabe, You almost got me!
Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy 4/1 Gabe – you had me for a second, till only four colors.
VINI in da haus!
This is great news! The new Cooper S will be slower than the old one!
MINI GTi vs GOLF Cooper S
MINI R32 vs GOLF JCW
MINI TDi vs GOLF D
MINI DSC vs GOLF CVT
What wonderful MINI world!
“Well, it sucks”
Hey maybe they’ll bring back the Split Rear Window design or maybe there will be a 411 MINI? Aufviedersehen Sucka!
Shoulda let it roll longer Gabe!
I think the other mark would be Trabant!
Yes!!!! I’m looking forward to VINI releasing a VW 411 derived new MINI. What a car that would be. My heart be still. 😉 LOL
good try!
OH MY GOD !!!! you just scard the hell out of me.
nice one dude.
mikie
this one was very clever…
411 trans….might be betta that the current Cooper trans. MINI Notchback, YA!
411, a VW for Octogenarians.
Holy crap you scared me for a second there….
Gabe, you forgot to mention the introduction of the new turbo-diesel powered model VW add. It will of course be called the “VINI DIESEL”. It will have a shiney chrome roof, very muscular fenders and a deep growling exhaust.
Gabeeeee…..you @@(*@$&$&@#%^….it took me a minute to press more button……that was NOT FUNNY!!!!!………………:P, good one though
Ok I have to admit you got me, I even called in my wife and was ranting to her about it…then after she wandered off because apparently it’s not important to her, I realized it must be a joke. (whew). 🙂
YEA! More crap in the MINI market 😀
Yeah right!!!! next thing you know 2007 Cooper S’s will be TURBO!!!! LOL…..hehe.
you got me too gabe!
Good one!
Saw the title and thought “Oh sh7t!”
You pulled a good one!
I feel real lucky. Right after my wife got out of bed I showed her this, and she did care! She says the world felt surreal for a moment and thought she was caught in some sort of MINI night mare.
Well done! You had the master! My ’02 MCS has been in the shop for a month after a 16 yr old girl ran a stop sign in front of me forcing me to drive a Dodge Flatus, had to cancel a trip to Ireland yesterday at the very last minute when father-in-law failing health took a turn for the worse and then MINI being sold to VW… I am so delighted to find it is April 1st!
Please go back to picking on LY instead… this was really mean!
Cheers!
Wow, you had me for a second there, and boy was I shocked! Great job, Gabe.
Gabe,I think you made Bernd Pischetsrieder cry.
YOU ALMOST HAD ME GOING!… well until you said VINI.
Great April fools joke….a scary one to say the least…………..
HeHe! Nice one, lads.
BCNU,
Rob in dago
I threw up in my mouth when I read this. Nicely played Gabe.
damn. it.. cereal + milk went up my nose again…..
You have to work harder than that to fool us MINI owners!
LOL……..nice one Gabe.:o)
To be honest you had me until you said “VW is considering re-branding future MINIs as “VINIs .lol
Happy April Fool Gabe.;o)
ha ha ha – got you right off the top. Not really funny but hey . . .
Anyone who follows Apple computer knows that April Fool’s Day can bring news that seems a bit sensational and unbelievable. This story certainly fits into this category. April Fool’s Day, I love it.
Thanks…thanks a lot…visions of Mini 2.0T 4Motion’s floating in my head, then I realize what the date is.
Would have ruined my day if my visit to the local BMW dealer hadn’t already…
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little…
The first mod will be replacing the front scoop
with a flower vase on your next scheduled dealer
maintenance.
Excellant !!!!! Well done !!
ROTFLMAO
Ty
I almost vomited….
But it gave me even more reason to keep my 2002 MCS!!
You had me at VINI!
Gabe, that joke is one of the rare deeds you should be both proud of and ashamed of at the same time. You had me going.
“…and Jaguar was bought by Ford.” Oh wait, that’s not a joke.
Oh man, you had me freakin’ out for just a second until I read the “(posted April 1st)” in the title. Too bad you had to give it away so quickly. I bet you’d have really ruffled some feathers if we’d been held until the end of the article. I don’t think you could have picked a better faux-purchaser than VW either. Just believable enough, and just awful enough. Brilliant.
>Oh man, you had me freakin’ out for just a second until I read the “(posted April 1st)†in the title
Yeah I added that once the day was over so people wouldn’t be overly confused. And then there are the people that will see this in six month looking through the archives who I have to worry about as well 🙂
I missed out on all the panic, being away yesterday 🙂
Did you create this story Gabe, or was it run elsewhere? If you did – well done!
And I’m going to buy Lamborghini from VW!
Cheers
Claus
>Did you create this story Gabe, or was it run elsewhere? If you did – well done!
This one is all mine. The ones that are labeled “Official News” are the official releases.
Been waiting for this one for weeks and then forgot to change months on 04/01 when I logged on. Great job! Well done.
I was looking forward to this day. Google always has fun with <a href="http://www.google.com/romance/index.html" rel="nofollow">April 1st</a>. I do have to admit that They did get me with <a href="http://www.google.com/googlegulp/" rel="nofollow">Google Gulp</a>
Check the <a href="https://www.motoringfile.com/index.php?s=april+1st" rel="nofollow">archives</a> for more Motoringfile April Fools fun.
Gabe, I think this would be fun if it got picked up by a major news outlet like your <a href="http://motoringfile.com/2005/04/01/the_mini_pullman_posted_april_1st/" rel="nofollow">Mini Pullman </a>did.
Wow, at first you really had me going there…
Until I read VINI 🙂
My parents gave me a heart attack to, saying that my dad drove into my MINI when reparking his car in the garage. (I’m on a vacation)
Good one,
Greetings
Pat
Just went down to the VW dealer and put my name on the list for the new VINI. They required a downpayment of 12 bucks. Seems kinda high to em…
whoa Fireball Tim reads this, cool, but of course he would.
I have to say that I was already calling my dealer to say him if he could prepare me a full JCW MCS, even if I had to owe him some thousand bucks…
Hilarious Gabe – all I read was the headline today (3/04/2006) and just about had a heart attack. Once I reached the part about the Vini I nearly fainted!
Nice one – really funny!
<blockquote>Gabe, you forgot to mention the introduction of the new turbo-diesel powered model VW add. It will of course be called the “VINI DIESELâ€ÂÂ. It will have a shiney chrome roof, very muscular fenders and a deep growling exhaust.</blockquote>
HAHAHAHA the best comment so far!!!!!!!!
Hook, line & sinker, just like every year!
Good one!
Dude, I was eating my lunch and I almost PUKED!!
I HATE YOU!!
😉
LMAO ALMOST HAD ME.
<blockquote>Jon
This is great news! The new Cooper S will be slower than the old one!</blockquote>
You have obviously not driven the new GTI
Awh man …… You got me good, I was like WTF. Good one 🙂
You evil, evil person. I nearly burst into tears. Damn you!