cars

Well it was bound to happen eventually!

My wife has been dreaming of the day she would own a MINI (old or new) and having driven her Mitsubishi Eclipse for the past 8 years it was definitely time to make a change. The Eclipse has served her well during this time covering around 125K but these past few weekends I've had to perform maintenance that proves the car is getting old.

What's with the title of the post you may ask? It's actually quite simple really, a few years back Lea was Minnie Mouse at Disneyworld, a character she played along with others for about 5-years and now she is driving one, hence the Minnie to MINI reference in the title!

[Click Image To Enlarge]

The new MINI Cooper is actually a great little car with plenty of power for its size and good economy too. I'll be interested to see what MPG Lea can get out of this on her many trips back and forth to Orlando. An interesting note that I can't believe I didn't already know is that the MINI Cooper and Cooper S both use 91-octane Premium Gasoline! While this is going to have an impact at the pump I'm optimistic that the MPG will tell the real story.

The Original Mini and it's somewhat successor in the United Kingdom being the Mini-Metro have a soft place with me as while growing up my Mum had 2 of the original Minis. I learned to drive in the Mini-Metro and it was also my first car. To top it all off I used to race both at the amateur level at our local racing circuit, Brands Hatch near Swanley in Kent.

Seeing this 'mini-marvel' makes me nostalgic; thinking of all the adrenaline pumping moments while trying to out-brake or out-maneuver the person next to, behind or in front of you on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

Sadly, the pursuit of high-octane weekend-fun came to an end when a friend, who was on the same team (low-budget, so we took turns), rolled our only car and everybody agreed it was fun while it lasted but too costly to start over again with a new car. Needless to say, he was fine and walked away with barely a scratch which is more than could be said of the car! Believe me when I say roll cages work!

Browsing around the last couple of evenings I have realized just how much of a following the new MINI has and it really excites me to think I could relive my youth with a 'modded-MINI'.

While Lea has said she would be happy to let me 'mod' or to use the more Stateside term 'pimp' (what the hell is that all about!) her ride; I feel it may prove a little inconvenient if she needed to go somewhere just as I am half-way through an impulsive Stage 2 modification of the engine.

So who knows maybe I'll go grab myself one of these modern beauties and relive the days of my youth, covered in grease and oil and grinning from ear to ear with joy. We'll see, but for now I can delight myself with the occasional drive of the wifes car! :)

At last weekends Central Florida Auto Show there was an impressive exhibit on display from Richard Markham. This exhibit was in the form of a 2000 Toyota Celica that had been lovingly modified.

I managed to take several pictures while there and they can be found starting here: Link.

The car itself boasts not only the exceptional artwork of Richard Markham but some very cool (if not down right ICEy!) (or should it be In Car Entertainment, you decide!) modifications, they include (information sourced from www.richardmarkham.com):

Exterior

On the exterior we see - reactive strobes and streetforce LED-s (all blue), there is a veilside kit with Mustang vents and a viper style flip nose, the doors have shaved handles with 'celica' cut outs that are then sealed with plexiglass and the Toyota logo has been cut into the hood and also sealed with plexiglass, both of which glow!

Interior

On the interior we find the entire video and audio setup provided by the Blaupunkt Thin Series. The custom door panels are made of fiberglass and hold a 6.5" Wide Screen Monitor / IVMS-6502, 1 x THc 540 component and 1 x THx 542 coaxial.

In the center console holds there is a nitrous bottle, 2 x THc 540 components, 2 x THx 542 coaxials, 2 x 6.5" Wide Screen Monitors / IVMS-6502, a water bubbler and a PlayStation 2.

The speakers inside the custom enclosures are: 2 x THw 1000 subs and 2 x THw 1200 subs.

The computer system and monitor were created by MRL computers.

The custom made glovebox holds: A 5.8" Wide Screen Monitor/ IVMS-5802, the strobe switches, Stand alone DVD player/ DVD-ME3 (in dash), Chicago IVDM-7002/ (in dash monitor), 4 x THA 1350 Amplifiers and 2 x THA 2125 Amplifiers.

There is a TV monitor for use as a rear view mirror - (camera installed below back bumper)

I realize there are probably a lot more detailed and vastly modified vehicles out there, this just caught my eye recently and I thought I'd share!

Dave
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