We interview an owner that joined us in Cleveland, our girl Eileen (one of the people behind the awesome #mtts2014 photos in the Instagram feed and our prize maven) at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The tables are turned on us, kinda, by Des, the voice of MTTS. Finally, moving on to the last night at Boston Harbor wrap party with Gabe and the newest member of the team, Yelp savant Alex!
I’ll be sharing some videos with you guys this week to keep that #mtts2014 buzz going just a little bit longer. Otherwise, normal service resumes next week. You know we will be talking about the F56 (Cooper and Cooper S AND JCW), the JCW Coupe and more about our experience from MTTS2014. Watch for it.
During #mtts2014, we were able to speak with Chris Potgieter, MINIUSA Product Manager about questions that were submitted to Motoringfile as well as a few we had. As always, Chris was very forthcoming with details that he knew about and could speak about.
That includes:
Details on the forthcoming JCW exterior package (and the return of Chili Red)
Other JCW accessories and even info on the new tuning kit
A mention of touch-screens in future MINIs? It’s in there – not sure what it really means
Todd and I are joined by WRR Intern Alex Sitbon in the F56 today as we drove on The Million Dollar Highway from Grand Junction, Colorado to ABQ, New Mexico as we wrap up the last couple of days from MINI Takes the States 2014. We let Alex talk about the JCW Coupe he drove today as well as more about the F56.
Tonight we are at Sandia MINI in New Mexico, tomorrow we are east bound and down to Lubbock, Texas! If you are here, come find us and say hi!
Wendover to Grand Junction today. Once gathered, close to 700 MINI enthusiasts were gathered next to a McDonalds, entertained by the local high school cheerleading squad, followed by your pals db & Todd. Once mounted up, we again led the convoy of hundreds of MINIs out of town to our first stop, the Bonneville Salt Flats.
We were supposed to get the chance to drive the salt today, but due to monsoon-type storms for the past few days, the salt was too loose and clumpy for us to drive on it. That didn’t stop us from at least getting as many MINIs as possible over to a very dry spot on the salt for photo ops.
From there, there was a small contingent that got an exclusive service visit from MINI of Murray for minor and not-so minor repairs. Of course, the rest of us left them behind like they were James May and headed to a surprise and delight stop at Papa Joe’s for a nice break sponsored by MINIUSA!
Tonight’s event starts shortly. Everyone is having a great time so far and every stop has been fantastic! Stay tuned for even more from #mtts2014!
Day 1 of #mtts2014 is complete! We had the chance to talk to Caryn Grun and our old pal Vinnie at the launch event from Golden Gate Fields in San Fransisco. Also, a quick update about the start from Reno and we drive across the Nevada desert, including some initial thoughts about the F56 now that I’ve had 400 miles behind the wheel.
Day one is now behind us and it’s been an epic day! We’re told that there were 1,400 MINI enthusiasts gathered at Golden Gate Fields this morning driving over 750 MINIs! Last night Todd and I attended the kick-off party at MINI of San Francisco, which was amazing! We walked around and talked to a few people that were there, listen in below.
In 30 days time, on July 26th, 2014, a very large number of MINI Cooper enthusiasts will be driving from San Fransisco, CA, to Boston, MA for the 5th running of MINI Takes the States. Large number in this case being more than 300 that are driving all the way and, from what I have read on the internet, over 2,000 have been registered! That’s a lot of MINIs!
For those of you that aren’t familiar, MINI Takes the States (MTTS) is an event put on by MINIUSA to celebrate the MINI. Since 2006 it has run every other year celebrating such mile stones as both JCW GPs (1st and 2nd gen), the Countryman, the Clubvan (diesel, on a trailer) and the R56 that we all know and love. This year we are expecting the F56 to take center stage and I’m secretly hoping that the Superlaggera concept makes an appearance along the way.
If you are going, even if for a few legs, even if for only 1 leg, take the few minutes (and $45) to get registered so you can take advantage of everything that is MINI Takes the States! Registration lets them know to expect you, to have a swag bag for you and any other benefits/parties/really cool things available when you arrive. It’s the hottest ticket of the summer!
Team White Roof Radio will be going all the way, interviewing owners, taking pictures and making sure everyone gets their route map for the day during the morning meeting. Todd and I, along with the White Roof Radio Road Crew, will be providing non-stop coverage of #mtts2014 in photos, blog posts and maybe a little bit of video.
It’s going to be a great time and we hope to see all y’all out on the road!
