Taking a trip

[BruceK]

Decided to take a trip.  And on that trip it occurred to me I could sort of recreate a Mini photo which I posted last week in the Mini old adverts thread.

So this was taken about 60 years ago...

[BruceK]

And this was taken this morning.  Just wish I had a modern MINI instead of a Fiat as a rental car...

Not much has changed at this location.

[94touring]

Where is that exactly?

[BruceK]

Exactly?

51°12'14.7"N 3°34'37.7"W

;D

Somerset County, England 

[BruceK]

A guy told me he was very, very excited about place - it was all he could think about.  But after a long, frustrating wait he just couldn't get in.


   ;D

[MiniDave]

*groans*........ ::) ;D

[BruceK]

Yesterday I saw the rocket-powered Mini that Top Gear sent down a ski jump.   It's just a little rough. But then again it was probably that way when they filmed the show.   Also saw Mr. Bean's Mini too.

[BruceK]

This pewter half a Mini is a wall-mounted bottle opener (where the sump would be).  Nice detailing for about £20.

[BruceK]

I think I found someone who is just not into having a smartphone. At all!

[MPlayle]

Someone I can relate to!

There is one thing to be said about most of those older phones - they had really good range since all they did was phone calls.

[MiniDave]

I think my favorite Mr. Beam Mini is the one with him in the chair on top!   77.gif

[BruceK]

Today we are finishing the UK portion of our trip and heading to Italy.

One thing I really noticed on this trip compared to previous trips here was the complete lack of classic Minis on the roads. Well, I saw a grand total of 1 Mini driving about over my 10 days and 1,500 miles of driving all across the UK.  I guess it's inevitable, considering the car went out of production 22 years ago.  So nobody is using classic Minis as daily drivers or cheap bangers or first cars any more.  Now it's more like we treat our Minis in the US & Canada - classic hobby car to enjoy on weekends or take to a show.

Also on very short supply are the first generation BMW MINIs (the R50 and R53). I saw a few of those, but the most recent of them have been out of production for 16 years now so probably most of those are now junked.   But the very latest generation of MINIs are all over the place - very popular cars here. 

[94touring]

I've yet to see 1 mini in Ireland in the past about 3 years I've been going there. Asia seems to be where they're still used.

[MiniDave]

It's sad, but as badly as they rust over there I'm not all that surprised. If someone has fixed one up they don't want to see it rust apart again...

Get any rain while you were there? I would think this is a good time of year to go?

[LarryLebel]

I recently spent a 2 month vacation in Germany where I saw 5 Minis. Got pictures of 4 and talked to the owners. The 5th one was moving fast in the left lane and I wasn't able to chase it down. The most Minis I've ever saw was in New Zealand.

[BruceK]

It's sad, but as badly as they rust over there I'm not all that surprised. If someone has fixed one up they don't want to see it rust apart again...

Get any rain while you were there? I would think this is a good time of year to go?

It was a England so there was definitely rain, but we really lucked out that it only rained when we weren't doing anything that would get us wet.  Like when we were sleeping or driving to some destination or attraction. Once we got out of the car or bus or whatever it was dry to walk around.  I brought an umbrella and never opened it up.

[MiniDave]

Is this your 2nd or third trip to England/Italy?

Mor pics pleaz!

[BruceK]

I think this was my 6th or 7th trip to the UK.  But this one was notable because unlike the other trips I didn't really go to any special Mini event.

And it's my 3rd trip to Italy.

One thing that really struck me about the UK is how much more Americanized it seems to be getting all the time. Or maybe I should say globalized.  Besides Krispy Kreme donut stands, I spotted a NAPA parts truck and a Sunbelt Rentals shop too.  I also spotted a shop selling Hostess products as exotic American food.

[BruceK]

Some more

[MiniDave]

Where was Jezza's white single seater?   ;D

[BruceK]

The Beaulieu museum had a bunch of old Top Gear cars.  Including the Toyota HiLux pickup they could not kill.

The Reliant shuttle was a backup one - you'll remember the first one kinda exploded. 

I spotted the Tip Gear double decker race cars, or what's left of them, behind a building.

[BruceK]

Went to Lake Como yesterday and today we took a scenic train trip to Switzerland and back to Italy.  On the way to our next destination Google Maps routed us through the Stelvio Pass as the shortest distance between the two cities.  The Pass is incredibly scenic but honestly it's a pain in the ass to drive. Most of it is super tight like the hairpin at Monaco.  Over and over and over while dodging motorcyclists, bicyclists, RVs and the occasional old man in a Porsche.  I know it's supposed to be a really cool drivers road and even inspired Alfa Romeo to name a model after it, but after driving it twice, both from the Switzerland end of things and today from the Italian end, I think it's highly overrated.

[BruceK]

I saw this really cool old Fiat 850 Familiare microbus twice today. Once in town and then later on the Stelvio Pass.

It's like a half-scale VW bus. It's that small.

[94touring]

Super cool!

[BruceK]

Today I learned there is an Italian version of Wheeler Dealers with Edd and Mike type characters.