2009 4th of July

We participated in the 2009 4th of July parade again over in Oak Lawn. This year we decided to make a patriotic top hat that proved to be a bit challenging since there was a slight drizzle all morning. Thankfully there was no wind so we were good to go. There were a ton of kids snatching up all the candy they could get as we tossed handfuls of tootie rolls out the window. I had a lot of fun getting the MINI all dressed up. Check out the picts below and Steve's photos. He's the one with red MINI and the inflatable Uncle Sam that has a perfect parade hand wave. Nice! More info on the CMMC site as well.

MINI is a Favorite @ WWDC

In case you missed the keynote yesterday at the WWDC, Apple presented a few new items including the new iPhone 3G S. And just like with MINIs, the "S" makes it go faster. ;-) Zipcar also introduced there new way to find nearby cars and reserve them via their new app. During their demo, they found a Prius nearby but opted for the MINI instead for the fun factor. And just in case when you finally get to the location and you just can't find the car parked, you can sound the horn from your phone. How cool is that! It's like when I call my own cell when I misplace my phone in the house. The keynote is posted here and skip to 1h33m for the Zipcar presentation if you don't want to watch the whole thing.

Three 3's and Two 1's

Not really a milestone but more for helping myself remember when I rotated my tires. I really can't recall when I last did that but I know it's been a while. So I decided to get a little dirty and rotate them myself this passed weekend. While I was at it I also decided to clean my wheels inside and out. Now we'll see how long that last but for now the wheels look great. I did notice a couple of nasty gouges in the inside of the rim, probably from road debris, but you can't tell looking from the outside. Here are some photos of the finished product, a couple of days later.

I Pity Da Fool

I passed up this classic van this weekend from vintage TV show, the A-Team. Awesome... Wait a minute... that is a Kia Van!! Only in America. Respect the Van! Hope everyone enjoys their Holiday weekend!

VW Bug Spoiler

I snapped a shot of this Vdub with a pretty cool automatic spoiler. As I drove along the side of this, the spoiler would pop up at about 45mph and retract back as it slowed to about 15mph. I've seen this before on the Crossfire and other cars but I never knew it was on the bug too.

There's some really ugly VW bug spoilers out there but this one isn't all that bad. Now whether it actually does anything is a different question. I'm sure it's mostly for show. As a side note, the iPhone really does some trippy things with fast moving objects. Take a look at those wheels... weird! :-)

MINI E on Cnet's Green Show

Here is a quick test drive of the MINI E. I have not seen one of these in the wild since they are only being leased on the east and west coasts. Not sure if they can even venture out here without worrying on how to recharge it. direct link

Bang for the Buck

Here is an article that came across my inbox reinforcing the idea that the MINI is a great value. Consumer Reports compiled all of their resources to produce a "bucks-per-bang" for each vehicle. The Prius Touring tops the list with a bucks-per-bang figure of $325 but the MINI and VW Rabbit came in a close second.

The Prius is followed closely in our list by the Mini Cooper and VW Rabbit hatchbacks, with a bucks-per- bang figure of $330. Five small cars, the Mazda Miata sports car, and the Toyota Camry Hybrid family sedan follow with results ranging from $340 to $365. One of those small cars, the redesigned Honda Fit, has the best owner cost in the list, only $24,000 over five years.

Most Bang for the Buck via Yahoo.