MINI Countryman Causes Bomb Scare in Las Vegas
A MINI Countryman test vehicle (either carrying out final US spec alterations or meant for MTTS) caused an irrational panic at the Luxor Casino today in Vegas. The reason? European plates, testing equipment and an empty cooler with Arabic writing on the side. The key take-away? The Countryman Cooper S looks downright mean in all black.
Carry-on…
via Jalopnik
<p>All the trouble started when somebody said it looked like a blown up MINI ;)</p>
<p>Yeh….because terrorists want to blow up parked cars. Could understand if it was close to the entrance of the casino. Good laugh though..</p>
<p>You’d think they’d at least find a parking space where some bozo couldn’t put a door ding in it. I would have never parked my own MINI there, let alone something as unique as this.</p>
<p>And is that a citation I see under the wiper? That is an odd response to a bomb scare.</p>
<p>Not exactly the press I am sure MINI was looking for.</p>
<p>All of it makes sense to me except, “an empty cooler with Arabic writing on the side” ? Seems like a slightly strange thing to have in there.</p>
<p>What a bunch of ninnies we have become. OMG, a foreign license plate with an “M” on it. I bet it stands for Muslim, run, run…</p>
<p>@txdesign and others above – agreed 100%. It’s yet more confirmation of the deep reserves of paranoia and xenophobia many people seem to be carrying around.</p>
<p>Something “unusual” is rarely greeted with “wow what I just saw is pretty cool!” but at the very least with “I’m going to snap a pic with my mobile phone and tweet it to a million people” and possibly even with “and I’d better CC it to the police, just in case!”</p>
<p>By re-defining “hero” so broadly, we require a lot of “baddies”…</p>
<p>Getting back to the all-black R60 test car, it does look badass (that’s a compliment in car circles)! :)</p>
<p>PS. Not implying the guy who took the pics in this instance was paranoid etc…. he is obviously a car guy and wanted to share his excitement at seeing an R60 in the wild.</p>
<p>PPS. Just last fall a friend of mine had to “explain himself” to police because his Hyundai Elantra was parked on a residential street overnight (perfectly legally and nice and neat near the curb, incidentally). Being a grad student, his car is not exactly showroom-new or in mint shape, but it isn’t an all-out “Detroit roller” either. Nevertheless, one paranoid resident decided “better safe than sorry” and phoned the police to look into his “suspicious” car parked legally by the curb on a tree-lined suburban street. Frustrating isn’t the word!</p>
<p>I think it is strange that MINI USA did not put a New Jersey plate on the car when it is driving around the USA. I could see them getting pulled over quite a bit if they don’t even have the magnetic temporary tags that are put on for test drives, but perhaps that is next to the cooler with the “Arabic,” writing on it.</p>
<p>We’re scared of our own shadow. Don’t forget about the 2007 Boston Mooninite Invasion. That shut the whole city down!</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_bomb_scare" rel="nofollow ugc">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_bomb_scare</a></p>
<p>An car with ‘fake’ plates, covered up badges, a computer mount in the passenger side, and a cooler looking thing with about 4 yellow straps tied up all over the back, bubble wrap covering something, wires, and a tube-like thing.</p>
<p>Ya, I can understand why someone would want the authorities involved.</p>
<p>I also do not see anything in the original story about “Arabic” writing… as in the initial reports, not Jalopnik’s editorial comments.</p>
<p>It’s not paranoia when you’re right. But you must be an idiotic racists if you wrong, amirite?</p>
<p>@B- : I believe it’s legal to drive a foreign car in the United States short term. As a matter of fact (even though opposite), a guy from the US shipped his MINI to Europe several years ago and drove it around there with his US registration I believe (and he wasn’t military).</p>
<p>I hope Martin(Brinkmann) was not driving this one.
Would not be his year.</p>
<p>This particular Countryman is extra special though.
Very Hot! Spicy even?</p>
<p>Same thing happened not so long ago in NYC with a camo’d X3.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bmwblog.com/2010/05/10/rumor-camouflaged-bmw-x3-causes-bomb-scare-outside-ny-museum/" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.bmwblog.com/2010/05/10/rumor-camouflaged-bmw-x3-causes-bomb-scare-outside-ny-museum/</a></p>
p>@HERr26</p
<p>so your suggesting this Countryman spotted in the wild might be a JCW “baby cayenne”- Thats good news as I was hoping this is nearing production feasability</p>
<p>any predictions for release Q2 2011?</p>
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