This MINI clipboard, circa 2003, was a dealer item for MINI Motoring Advisors’ use. The white plastic clip had a small built-in LCD digital clock. On the black plastic board is written “LET’S DELIVER.”. These are hard to find, especially in excellent condition. Unfortunately, the clock battery is not replaceable.
Around the time of the MINI launch in the US, MINI USA partnered with SMINT to create a special edition package. Many dealers included a box or two with the delivery of a new MINI. Some continue to give them away today.
The MINI SMINT box has the MINI wordmark and logo on the front. On the back is “GET FRESH. GO MOTOR.” Each box contains 40 tiny, triangular mints dispensed one-at-a-time from the bottom.
The MINI SMINT is an official MINI item with a part number: 99-00-0-003-820. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) from MINI is $1.89 per box.
Not available at MINI dealerships, THE OPEN ONE CHALLENGE antenna balls were mailed for free to the over 400 participants in the Open One Challenge between August and December 2009. Registered members could compete in a most-open contest for R57 MINI Convertible owners and a photo contest for R52 MINI Convertible owners.
Visit the Open One Challenge website.
J.D. Power and Associates has published online its ratings of the three MINI models for 2010. All received a low, 2 out of 5 Initial Quality Rating, but a higher 4 out of 5 Performance and Design Rating.
Visit JDPower.com for the complete ratings and information.
At the launch of the MINI in the US in March 2002, MINI compiled several CDs with motoring tunes befitting the character of the cars. One of the first was “MINI and THE MONKEES”. Some MINI dealers included this CD with early deliveries.
The track listing:
01 (Theme From) The Monkees
02 (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone
03 A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
04 Daydream Believer
05 I’m a Believer
06 Last Train To Clarksville
07 Pleasant Valley Sunday
08 Valleri
From BMW Group PressClub USA:
MINI USA reported sales of 2,247 automobiles, an increase of 7.9 percent compared to 2,082 cars reported last January.
| January 2010 |
January 2009 |
change |
year-to-date 2010 |
year-to-date 2009 |
change |
| 2,247 |
2,082 |
7.9% |
2,247 |
2,082 |
7.9% |
See MINI sales in the USA by month.
Winding Road magazine listed its top 10 performance bargains and naturally a MINI made the list. They chose the MINI Cooper S hardtop in the seventh spot saying “For only $23,000, we’re hard pressed to think of a bargain performer as totally chuckable as the Cooper S. It may be small and may only have 172 horsepower, but you can really drive it as hard as any other car in this list and still feel rewarded. Plus, every Mini comes standard with a healthy dose of hipster style, making it track- and fashion-friendly (Gaucho pants not included).”
The list:
- Cadillac CTS-V
- Hyundai Genesis Coupe
- Mazda MX-5
- Nissan GT-R
- Ford Shelby GT500
- Jaguar XF Supercharged
- MINI Cooper S
- Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8
- Mazdaspeed3
- Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
MINI Space allowed members to pose questions to Gert Hildebrand, Director of MINI Design. He answered some of them in a post today.
Read Everything You Wanted to Know About Gert Hildebrand, And Asked.
See Gert Hildebrand’s CV.
The insiders campaign by Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners included a black box spy kit sent to MINI owners and a series of three secret print ads for MINI owners which required the use of the spy kit items to decode the secret messages. When decoded, the third print ad allowed one to order the free MINI Confidential medallion shown above.
The insiders campaign by Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners included a black box spy kit sent to MINI owners and a series of three secret print ads for MINI owners which required the use of the spy kit items to decode the secret messages. When decoded, the second print ad allowed one to order the free Adventure Toggle Switches shown above. This was a plastic template that fit over the bank of toggles to create new functions.
