Monday, April 30, 2012

Mini

 Every time I see one it shocks me.

My Vespa LX150 dwarfs, dominates, towers over, the real Mini.

Those new Minis are huge, hulking, massive, imposing cars, unworthy of the name.

It's a wonder that two real people can fit inside a real Mini.  You'd expect that they wouldn't have doors.  That there would be a gaping hole in the roof in which to perch, hunkered down to reach the steering wheel, like a too-big kid in a too-small pedal car.

But then I guess that the modern Vespa is to the vintage Vespa, what the modern Mini is to the original.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

David:

my BIL had an original Mini over 20 years ago. He drove it all around the United States and ended up in Berkely, CA. Back then Mini-Coopers were in demand so he sold it for a profit. Many people were bringing miniCoopers to CA. He recently bought one of those newer ones, A Mini Cooper John Player edition

bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube

Keith - Circle Blue said...

It does surprise how small the original Mini was. When I saw one a while back, I must admit I thought clown car.
~k

Trobairitz said...

Those little cars always make me think of Mr.Bean.

David Masse said...

Bob, I've never driven one, but by all acounts they are an absolute blast to drive. A lot of people raced them. I don't know if they still do. They must be getting awfully rare.

Keith, There's certainly no room for clowns in there. In fact, if you're not actually skinny...

Trobairitz, same here. I loved the fact that he locked the doors with padlocks. There was one hilarious skit when he pushed someone else's Mini out of a very convenient parking spot at a country fair, only to find out that the first Mini was the star performer in a "getting crushed by a Centurion Tank" show. Too funny.

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