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Avenue of the Giants Weekend Run - Sat. March 23, 2024

Saturday will be a very full day of cruising from Novato up through the Avenue of the Giants and ending at Eel River Brewing in Fortuna. Sun...

The Slow Death of XM Radio and We Are Sirius

The folks over at Slashdot opine that satellite radio is on a slow march to oblivion. It is losing subscribers and stock value. They believe Internet Radio, combined with iPhone and gPhone audio streaming, sounds the death knell for XM/Sirius Satellite Radio. Read the article. Do you agree?

Who Would Have Thunk?


We are not fans of Wal-Mart and probably would not go there to pick up car cleaning and repair products. However, the good people at About.com purchased this stuff for cheap that claimed to repair scratched clear plastic, such as headlights and convertible rear windows. Amazingly, they discovered that the stuff actually works! They tried it on a headlight lens and the plexi rear window of a 1958 Porsche Speedster. You can see for yourself here. So if you have some plastic scratches that need to excised you might want to give it a try.

NorCal MINIs Elephant Seal Run


The Elephant Seal Run is on Saturday, January 24, 2009.

At 9:00 am meet up at the Pioneer Hotel located at 2925 Woodside Rd, Woodside, CA 94062

We will then head to Ano Nuevo State Reserve for a stop to view the seals ($7). You must purchase a ticket from Reserve America 800-444-4445 to go on the tour. Buy your ticket AFTER Nov 29th. But don't wait too long after that date to buy them - they sell out quick. Pick either the 11:00 am or 11:15 am tour. We will stop at Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero for a late lunch.

Sign Up Below in the "comment" section to this Blog Post.

Reheating the Gravy

Well, here it is the day after Thanksgiving. The fridge is stuffed with leftovers - just like my stomach last night. Slowly I digest the apple pie and today's news.

News to report: The 2009 MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S Convertibles were unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show. You can review photographs and read about the tweaks to the cars here.

Amazingly, MINI has bumped the base price of the MINI Cooper Convertible an astronomic $2,600.00 to $24,550.00 and the MINI Cooper S Convertible an incredible $2,050.00 to $27,450.00. So much for deflation! Man, for those prices you could get this and have money left over!

Happy Thanksgiving - What Are You Thankful For?

Before we all go stuffing ourselves with bird, gravy, green beans, and various other foodstuffs in search of perfecting gluttony (which I always was taught was a sin - then again, Mom always said "Clean your plate; there are people starving in China", so who really knows with all those mixed messages), we should give thanks for our friends, family, good fortune, and MINIs. Here is our top 10 list of what we are, this year, thankful for about our MINIs:

1. Gas sipping performance;

2. Easy parallel parking;

3. Inexpensive aftermarket mods that can kick it up a notch;

4. Customization options that allow us to MINIfy;

5. Go kart-like handling;

6. Auxiliary ports and I-pod docks;

7. Tire pressure monitors;

8. Steering wheel stereo controls;

9. Automatic climate control; and

10. All the fantastic people we have met in the MINI community.

So, tell us, what are you thankful for about your MINI?

Consumer Reports Announces Automotive Turkeys for 2008

Consumer Reports pans the 2008 BMW iDrive, the BMW and the MINI key fob "disks", and the MINI's radio controls.

MINI-E Test Drive and Review

Two Car and Driver writers had the opportunity to test drive and review the new MINI-E. Check out their observations. They think the electric is cool but believe MINI, in its execution, lost its "motoring mojo".

Watch Your Speed You Turkeys

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and many of you will be headed to friends and relatives. If you are traveling on Interstate 10 or 40 to/from Phoenix, AZ beware! Arizona speed cameras and photo radar (which might be unconstitutional) could cost you $3,700.00. So put on the cruise control and ponder where Arizona gets the gravy for its budget.

Cigars and a MINI Cooper S Convertible

Sam's not stinking up my MINI - Let him stink up his own.

Black MINI 7:30 a.m. Hwy 85N to Hwy 237

Okay, who is it?

From the Mercury News today:

"Q: Every weekday at 7:30 a.m. I take Highway 85 north to Highway 237 and exit at Fair Oaks Avenue. During this short commute, I frequently see a black Mini Cooper going well over the speed limit, weaving in and out of traffic, cutting people off, jumping in and out of the carpool lane even though he is alone in the car. I have seen many idiots on the road, but this guy scares me. Is there anything one can do to have a police car hang around the 85-237 interchange about 7:30 a.m. to catch this guy?

G.G.
Cupertino

A: Sure is. Call 800-835-5247. There's little the California Highway Patrol can do for the occasional bad driver, but if someone is out there every day pulling stunts like this, at the same place every day, it's a different story. The CHP can alert beat officers if you can describe the time and where you see this driver, as well as the color and make of the car. You also provided the license plate number of the Mini Cooper, which I won't print, but police can use it."

Christmas Lights Run & Party

Sign up for this Run by clicking on "Comments" at the bottom of this post to tell us you will be there!!!

Welcome to the New NorCal MINIs Website


I know, I know, Another website for NorCal MINIs. But this one is different. We have gone hitech. Click around. It does everything our prior website did . . . and more. Tell us what you think and we can make it better still!