MINI Increases Prices For All 2014 Models

automotive.com posts the new prices and points out,

The 2013 Mini Cooper hardtop will be sold alongside the 2014 models until the all-new version bows as a late-2014 model. It starts at $19,700, as it had in previously. But destination and handling has gone up by $95 to $795 for all models, making the cost of entry into a new Mini Cooper hardtop just a hair under $20,500 all-in.

All other models but the Mini Countryman and Mini Paceman retained their pricing from last year, with exception of the $95 destination fee increase. The two crossovers went up an additional $100 in their prices, from base Cooper all the way through John Cooper Works performance versions. The Mini Countryman and Paceman add standard heated mirrors and washer jets, though.

Hors Norme

MINI France is also running the MINI "Not Normal" Marketing Campaign.

Let's Drag! A MINI Cooper S Versus A Nissan 370Z

[Source: brett3xmvpfavre4 @ YouTube]

A Stellar Sports Coupe For Less Than $25K

The New York Daily News, in an article by Nick Kurczewski, lists the 2013 MINI Coupe as one of six affordable, under $25,000 new, sports coupes worth owning.

Shell And The Van Gogh Museum Sign Agreement And A MINI Is There

The Van Gogh Museum has announced on its website:

Shell Netherlands is a partner in the Van Gogh at work exhibition, which will mark the reopening of the Van Gogh Museum on 1 May 2013. The agreement was sealed by Director of the Van Gogh Museum, Axel Rüger, and Dick Benschop, President-Director of Shell Netherlands. Together with the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), Shell has been engaged in a research project into Vincent van Gogh’s way of working since 2005: Van Gogh’s studio practice. The Van Gogh at work exhibition, which concludes the project, shows the artist’s development based on 200 works by Van Gogh and his contemporaries.

MINI was apparently in on the post signing celebration as the photo of the handshake between representatives of Shell Netherlands and the Van Gogh Museum depict a pretty cool looking Van Gogh Museum MINI!

Update On NORCAL MINIS' Gold Country Picnic

 

UPDATE!

Meetup at 10:00 a.m. at 800 Ikea Court, West Sacramento, CA.  A group will leave the Burger King at 190 Pittman Rd., Fairfield, CA at 9:00 a.m. to caravan to the Meetup and you are welcome to join in. An additional group will caravan from Sunnyvale, CA.  Check the open NORCAL MINIS' facebook group for details.

Please note that the Club will only provide water as a beverage so please bring your own beverages.   This is a pack it in pack it out park.

Here is the run map to the picnic. Please bring your FRS radios:


View Larger Map
Pack a picnic lunch or food to share. Free lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs for all 2013 NORCAL MINIS' Members. Be sure to wear your orange lanyard and name tag!

Non-members lunch $10/person. Not a member?   Use this Paypal Button to purchase your lunch! -

Members please respond to your email invitations.  Non-Members please RSVP to info@norcalminis.com. This is a public run.

For more information visit the 6/22/13 NORCAL MINIS' Summer Picnic dedicated webpage.

Pictorial On Disappearing U.S. Roadside Rest Areas

The Atlantic Cities has a wonderful article on Ryann Ford's photography of the quickly disappearing unique roadside rest areas of the United States.

Has Your MINI Key Stop Working?

flashback @ North American Motoring.com's remote key stop operating. He believed the battery was dead in the key, the rubber cover over the actuators had worn through or some other destructive process had occurred. He did not want to pay $200.00 - $450.00 for a new key from MINI. He found:

Mini Key Hospital
C/O Bruce Hart
hartnoise@earthlink.net

According to flashback,

I sent him a destroyed key. He received the key and after a one day turnaround time he returned the key with a new clamshell cover complete with a chrome MINI emblem, a new battery and it functions perfectly. All the electronics, chips, switches and metal key shank have been installed in a new clamshell cover and the shank is very secure. It appears to be top notch work. Even the metal part of the key appears to have been cleaned and lightly polished. Total cost for my key..... $35.00 including the shipping!!!

So if your key has been diagnosed with a terminal illnessYou might want to get a second opinion
Give Dr. Hart a call at the MINI Key Hospital.

MINI Countryman And Paceman Derailed; Countryman Loses Rear Buckets

According to Cars.com Kicking Tires blogger David Thomas writing for USA Today:

The rail is gone come later this summer when the 2014 models of both cars go on sale. The last 2013s will be built in July.

The four-seater Countryman with rear bucket seats will no longer be an option. The previously optional rear bench, which seats three passengers, is now standard and the only configuration offered for Mini's small SUV.

The Paceman remains a four-seater, with the rear-seat middle area taken up by a cupholder with iPod holder and 12-volt outlet.

A fixed cupholder is added to the Countryman's back of the center console for rear passengers; it also has a 12-volt outlet but no additional storage. . . .
Both models also see a $100 bump in prices across trim levels and add standard heated side mirrors and washer jets.

2014 MINI May Be Revealed At Frankfurt Motor Show

Indian Autos Blog posts spy photos and asserts MINI will debut the next generation 2014 MINI Cooper at this September's Frankfurt Motor Show.

autoblog Reviews The 2013 MINI JCW GP

autoblog writer Stephen J. Ewing reviews the 2013 MINI John Cooper Works GP and concludes:

I love Minis, and despite the ark-worthy rainy season that plagued my test in Detroit, I still maintain that the GP is the best-driving example from the brand I've ever tested. The problem, however, is that it isn't that much better than the already-enjoyable Cooper S, and you give up a lot in the way of refinement and functionality from a daily-driver standpoint if you live in an area with roads like mine. California? The ownership picture, as well as the weather, is probably altogether sunnier. Either way, as a second car, this thing is a sweetheart, and I have no doubt that Mini will sell every last one of the 2,000 it produces. Even so, it's a good thing I have those memories from Puerto Rico – that way there's at least a huge helping of sugar to salve the harsh taste left in my mouth after eight days at home.

Spike Strips Mean Nothing When You Have Go-Kart Handling!

[Source: Haroldo Couto @ YouTube]

MINI John Cooper Works Days

[Source: WideMagazine @ YouTube]

MINI To Sponsor 2013 John Lennon Bermuda Peace Day Concert

Bermuda's Bernews reports

that MINI will be one of the sponsors of the upcoming John Lennon Bermuda Peace Day Concert at the Botanical Gardens on September 21.

The 2nd Annual concert will celebrate World Peace Day by honouring the music of John Lennon and Bob Marley with performances by local and international artists.