And here is proof that the guys and open-minded gals up in BC have a great way to keep warm during the cold winter months even when the heater in the Mini doesn’t work.

Registration has been open for awhile — if you want to stay at the host hotel, do it today!

What:
Mini Meet West, the biggest (West Coast North America) Mini/MINI show of the year!

(quoted from the MMW website) Mini Meet West is an annual gathering of Mini enthusiasts and owners of both the Classic and New MINI. Participants come from all over Canada, the USA, Mexico and as far

away as Europe. Last year’s event included approximately 180 registrants and participants. With MMW2010 being held in the picturesque, tourist destination city of Penticton BC June 28 through July 2, 2010, we are expecting to attract over 200 registrants this year. (end quote)

When:
June 28 – July 1st, 2010

Where:
Penticton, BC (Canada)

Who:
Mini owners and enthusiasts of all kinds (Classic Mini and new MINI!)

Website:
http://www.vancouverminiclub.ca/minimeetswest/2010/index.htm

How much?
Cost for attending the MMW 2010 show is $120 per car (includes 1 person), with that you will receive a dash plaque, program, goody bag, rally lunch, awards banquet, and all driving events. Additional drivers or vehicles are $20 each with paid admission. $75 to attend as an enthusiast (no driving events,no dash

plaque. Kids 15 and under are $35 (includes lunch/banquet) or free (with no lunch/banquet). Amounts are in Canadian dollars. After May 10 add $25 late registration fee. After June 1st, there is no guarantee they will have space for you at the meals or wouldn’t have run out of goodies by then..

Where to stay and optional stuff?
Costs for lodging and other meals and what not (everything else!) is not included.
You may send PayPal over the web, via email direct to 2010mmw@gmail.com, or snail mail.

More info:
As usual, events will include a car show, rally, funkhana, group photo, autocross, awards banquet, and other drives as well!

The host hotel this year will be the Penticton Lakeside Resort, Convention Centre and Casino, though other hotel options (including camping) are also available. The Penticton Lakeside Resort is located at 21

Lakeshore Drive West, Penticton, BC V2A 7M5 (Canada). You may reach them by phone at (250) 493-8221, or Toll Free. 1-800-663-9400 where applicable.

For the show itself, register by May 10th to get the best rates. $25 will be added after that. Just hit the MMW website and follow the registration links. You may use PayPal to send payment online safely, or send it via snail-mail to Victoria Minis Car Club – MMW2010 c/o 1849 Francisco Terrace, Victoria, B.C., Canada, V8N 4W2 — Leave plenty of time for your letter to arrive in Canada, if you are sending from

outside Canada (even the US) it could take a few weeks to get through customs.

Sponsors:
There are three sponsoring clubs, all from the BC area — Namely, these are the Vancouver Mini Club (mostly Classics, though new MINIs welcome), Victoria Minis, and Vancouver MINI Cooper Club (aka the BC MINI Cooper Society, apparently mostly new MINIs, though classics are also welcome) Links to all three sites are available from the above MMW link

Hello MINIOLOGY fans.. just a reminder about graphics and a sweet discount to pass along to our audience!

I was just speaking with Robert from MINI Motoring Graphics – these guys (aka Original Graphics) have been doing this for quite a few years and have an online previewer of what some common graphics look like on your MINI, and can do custom You-if-i-cation as well, just based on your drawings, photos, or whatever

Other (in some ways, better) than paint — it’s a cool way to customize your ride by adding vinyl wrap to your roof, a-panels, doors, bonnet, boot, or the whole car if you want hehe… this isn’t some lame generic tribal or flame sticker like you get at the major autopart chain stores …. its the latest 3M technology, very cool long lasting stuff looks completely awesome. Think of it like Tattoos for your MINI hehe..

Well, if you mention “Miniology” (that’s us, for those that have been hiding in a cave the past 8 years) you will get a 10% discount off MSRP — if the program is successful or at least gets a lot of attention and leads then maybe bump that up to 20% — also, they are always down to help with give always or contests or anything that will generate attention. So, the next BIG event YOUR local Mini/MINI club has, as always, take pics and video, and let us know! These are a very passionate group of people there at MINI Motoring Graphics.

Oh, and any dealerships reading this (we know who you are!) please contact me or Robert Burris (robert@minimotoringgraphics.com) directly for deep wholesale discounts! They are the only official partner for MINI USA and run their Graphics program.. All the dealerships can order from them and he is working hard to get the clubs (like Mini Club of Calgary, MOASF, REME, others) and website owners to work with them to get some really sweet discounts. I am thus posting this wherever I can hehe.. you may see this reposted at your local club

Ok, enough babble — get creating cool stuff and put it on your ride! Here is their website.
MINI Motoring Graphics

Cheers!
–StarLord

MINI Countryman Hits Milan Design Week IV – Interview with Gert Hildebrand
MINI Countryman Hits Milan Design Week III – Michelle Branch rocks the urban Picnic
MINI Countryman hits Milan Design Week II – A Red Carpet welcome for the design glitterati of Milan.
Dsquared2 packs for a getaway with the MINI Countryman.
MINI Countryman Hits Milan Design Week I – Gearing up
13 MINI, 50 Years
50 years of Mini Estate at the Techno Classica 2010

Mini enthusiasts in the United States will, after all, get a chance to buy the hot-looking John Cooper Works World Championship 50. This so-called “ultimate Mini,” announced last year at the Mini United Festival in England, is limited to a run of 250 vehicles, none of which were to be sold in the United States. But apparently dealers whined loudly enough that Mini now says 50 of the special-edition cars will be culled from the herd and sent to the United States. Deliveries begin in late spring.The World Championship 50 celebrates the 50th anniversary of the beginnings of John Cooper’s motorsports successes, which included a world championship with Australian driver Jack Brabham. The new Mini is essentially an appearance package variation for the John Cooper Works model. Each car is painted in British racing green — “Connaught,” it is called — with a white roof and racing stripes. The package also includes blacked-out 17-inch wheels, xenon headlights and black leather seats with red piping.The World Championship 50 is powered by the John Cooper Work’s 1.6-liter, 208-horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder, and has the same performance suspension package as the standard John Cooper Works model.

Photo and text courtesy Niello Mini, Sacramento, Ca.

Meet Katie, from London, our latest interest! Another reason why we love Mini’s… the tasty birds who drive them!

Thanks to Heather for the pic!

SNMC have posted the 2010 Events Calendar at their club website.

Their first event is a redux of a fun event from last year—a poker run sponsored by the folks at Harley Davidson on April 10.

The next event is a MINIature Golf meet and greet and pizza lunch in Reno on May 22. Bring the kids for this event.

Next is a June 3rd movie night at the National Automobile Museum (NAM) in Reno. This event is particularly special since it is being put on by the NAM and is sponsored in part by Mini of Reno. In fact, SNMC members can attend this event free…but you’ll need to RSVP early to be guaranteed a free ticket ($25 value). We will explore the automobile museum, enjoy an Italian dinner (including wine), and see a special display of Mini Coopers (ours). Then enjoy watching “The Italian Job” starring Charlize Theron and Mark Wahlberg in the NAM’s theatre. We also expect an update on the progress of the new regional Mini dealership (Mini of Reno). As I said, the cost is $25 per person, but SNMC members can receive free tickets courtesy of Mini of Reno. There are only a limited number of free tickets available, and these will be distributed to SNMC members on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact Vance by no later than April 30, 2010, at vhughey@charter.net to RSVP and get in line for the special deal. Dinner begins at 5:30 PM and the movie starts at 7:00 PM.

New this year…SNMC have a presence on Facebook. You can check out the Events tab there to see what they are doing in addition to checking their website.

Always a leader in the world of automotive safety and technology, MINI has announced the development of a nighttime driver safety product that they feel will greatly reduce the nighttime accident rate and allow cars parked in dark areas to be located quickly.

Called the MINI Nighttime Luminous Safety Tyre (NLST), the new safety device will be offered as optional equipment on the new Countryman S, Clubman S and as standard equipment on MINI’s newest automotive product, the as yet unannounced MINI Nighthawk, a luxury 12-seat limousine, which will be built in conjunction with the Brazilian automaker, Empreendimentos Loucos, Ltd., and debut in 2013 (MC2 will be covering further developments on this story early next spring).
According to Vilhelm Ungesüßte-Kekse, marketing manager for MINI Special Projects, the NLST exceeds the Euro NCAP safety standards for 2013, which state that all vehicles manufactured after 1 April, 2013 must feature illuminated or reflective materials on the vehicle sides to improve nighttime safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.
“Our luminous tires exceed the new NCAP standard by a wide margin, said Ungesüßte- Kekse. “They not only glow out to the sides, but the tires are bright enough that ingress/ egress into the vehicle in the dark is now easy. Furthermore, in an emergency situation where the headlamps fail to light, the driver can see well enough from the light of the tires to drive in total darkness at speeds up to 25 mph. Plus, as the tires are also runflat design, drivers need never worry about nighttime blowouts on lonely country roads.” According to Ungesüßte-Kekse, the development team came up with the idea for nighttime glowing tires after reading an old issue of Life Magazine from 1961 that had an article on Goodyear Light-Tires.
“Of course, the problem with the Goodyear tires was that they used semi-transparent synthetic rubber and the glow was made from super bright light bulbs affixed to the inside of the rim,” says Dr. Hans Leuchtkäfer, head of BMW/MINI’s secret development department, the Abteilung von unechten Leistungen. “The safety issues of neon lightbulbs bursting inside the tires were huge, which is why Goodyear stopped the project.”
Leuchtkäfer says that the NLST solves the problem by using a blend of synthetic transparent rubber and luminescent neoprene, instead of light bulbs. The luminescence is activated by static electricity, so the tires glow as long as the vehicle is moving. However, should the driver not want the tires to glow for any reason, a grounding device, activated from a stalk on the steering column, cancels out the static charge. And, for nighttime parking in unlit lots and narrow alleys, a small, static storage battery located in the engine compartment, supplies the static charge to keep the tires lit for up to 12 hours.
“Upon seeing the technological and driver safety advantages of our latest development, it becomes immediately obvious why our work, and even our department, was hitherto unheard of,” says Leuchtkäfer. “Now, with the development work of MINI Nighttime
Luminous Safety Tyre being completed, we feel that making ourselves and the technology known is important.”
In fact, the company believes the work is so important for nighttime driver safety that they are giving away the technology for free to other automotive manufacturers and tire companies after they have had the product on the market for one year.
While it is too early to know if this latest safety device will spur a lot of interest with automotive enthusiasts, a number of European consumer safety groups have already endorsed the product. In fact, the European Union for Nocturnal Safety has issued a press release praising the new tires, but pointing out that they don’t go far enough.
“It’s all very well to have luminous tires to enhance nighttime safety, and we applaud MINI for its efforts,” said Jaqui Plaintes, managing director of the group. “However, these new tires do not meet NCAP safety requirements for 2016, which require all glowing vehicles to also emanate a chirping sound, so that blind people will know a car is crossing in front of them.”
Plaintes went on to point out that in the view of the European Union for Nocturnal Safety, what really is needed is the development of red/blue flashing tires for emergency vehicle use, as well as the eventual banning of nighttime driving of private vehicles.

From the staff of MC2 Magazine