The drive back was super fun! I can’t stop driving it still. I wish it was a longer drive. My MINI is only a week old and I can recommend ordering it out of state.

Here’s my Waiting Diary: http://www.motoringunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=646

You’ll notice that I took it all back about two minutes after I said it. : )

Great show guys, though I feel a confession is in order. I thought it was common knowledge, but apparently not.

“Forgive me father, I don’t have my MINI yet either.”

Right now I’m tearing around Lincoln in an Acura Integra sedan. I love it, but it’s no MINI.

Like Gabe, I’m in branding as well (graphic designer / web developer), and the MINI branding is actually what first attracted me to the car. I started catching print ads and brochures and little bits here and there back in 2003 and then began collecting them because they were so damn interesting. I had a pile of cool collateral stuff and other found MINI items and that’s what compelled me to finally stop by Baron in KC and test drive an MCS in 2004. Of course then I was hooked! I simply had to have one. So I asked lots of questions, researched the car online, and that’s how I found MINI2, NAM, and finally MotoringFile. Meanwhile, I went back a few months later and the fine folks at Baron turned me loose with an ’05 MCS for a solo, hour-long testdrive. Fabulous – an asphault love affair.

So at this point I’m just waiting for my job situation to settle down (hopefully resolved this week, actually) and then I’m putting my money down. (DS/S MCS, Premium, Sport, Cold, leather/red cloth, Anthricite – GORGEOUS!) The trick is getting settled and ordered before it’s too late to nab an ’06. I’m no fan of the new powerplant and other aspects of the new car, so I want to nab my baby while I still can.

But my own “conversion” is my principle interest in the brand, and why a “brand show” would be so great for me. I loved the car first because of the brand, not the other way around. As a designer, my fascination became “Why am I such a willing participant in this? These people are trying to sell me something, and I couldn’t be happier about it.” I’m curious what everybody else’s experience has been.

Keep it up guys. You rock!

DORK WARNING! DORK WARNING!

I really didn’t think it would grab the pdf. Sorry for the confusion.

Am I doing something wrong?

At the point I reached 206-33-WH, ready to call him out, he “remembered” he is planning to pick up his new GP in California

I live near Detroit and bought my 2004 MCS in Chicago…not because the price was better, but because I could get my car in 3 months instead of 5. I ended up taking Michigan Ave. from Northwest Indiana all the way to Ann Arbor. It took FOREVER, but it was a great first drive in my new car.