MININUTS Briefing

In spite of the no-show status of a certain White Nut who will remain nameless, MININuts and friends made a strong showing at the BMWCCA Autocross event held at Hollywood Park on June 18th. Rallied by the artist formerly known as DiD, about 17 MINIs showed up to compete and several more turned up as spectators to dominate the paddock full of BMW’s, Miata’s, Subies, and other nondescript vehicles.

While many MINIs were at the Autocross for the first time, each and every participant made an exceptional showing with our own CamelJinky placing second in class (quite a surprise given that troubles with the timing system rendered Matt’s best time unknown to him until the awards ceremony), and our jnkyJinky of all Jinkies placing second in class on his first time out at Autocross, giving in only to the smooth is quick skills of the artist now known as DAVE.

In typical MININuts style, prizes were awarded to fastest Cooper, Cooper S, best improved driver and drivers of special merit.

So congratulate your fellow Nuts (except Jerry as I think it’s already going to his head) and look for them at the next event, I think some cone addicts were born that day.

To read more on the event click here

The MININUTS Brake Install party held all the way out in the Boonie Desert was a huge success. Nuts drove from afar, across vast deserts, to meet the White Nut’s non-existent, only spoken in myth, lovely wife Dana.

The menu of the day was Beer Marinated Bratwursts, garnished with saurkraut, baked beans, coleslaw, potatoe salad, bread rolls, fried chicken and trip tip.

A huge thanks go out to Mark Finn aka Raptor, and King Jinky, who busted their balls and knees for their Nuts!

A total of 5 MINI’s were worked on, with the following being done to the cars:

Knievel: New Rear Brake Pads - Green Ones.
Knievel: New Stainless steel brake hoses.
Knievel: Brake flush with Super blue
Camel: Under Floor Spoilers (Masaki Wings)
Camel: Oil Changed to Mobil 1.
Camel: Installed OEM Cooper S gauges that go on tach. Volt and Boost.
Camel: Grill Badge installed
Raptor: Brake flush with Super Blue.
Angelina: Stainless Steel hoses.
Angelina: Brake Flush with Super Blue
Excalabling: New Green Pads, front and rear.
Excalabling: Brake flush with Super Blue
Excalabling: Stainless Steel hoses.

You can read more about the event by clicking here

After a grueling 6 hour Rally through the hills and valleys of Santa Barbara, a MININUTS fielded car placed 2nd in Class today.

The British Racing Green and White MINI Cooper S “Camel” driven by Matt, and navigated by Jen, performed outstandingly well on the small roads and rough terrain in some places.

The 2nd MININUTS fielded car “MINI KNIEVEL” driven by Supergimp and Grumpy Mike, was doing well until Stage 8, when electrical problems caused his navigational equipment to prevent them from finding the remaining stages properly, which ended up in them missing 3 stages, a 1500 point penalty in itself.

Overrall a very fun Rally, beautiful drives, and lovely trophies!

Click Here for the Event Info or here for other pics.

When we decided to host an Oktoberfest this year, we were jazzed about all of the drinking, but when we found out that our MINIs couldn’t enter the Beergarden, we had to think of a compromise. Luckily, we remembered the time we had to search for MININut Jerry’s lost leopard print thong at the Yard House (don’t ask) that we thought we should have a SCAVENGER HUNT.

The crew all met at the starting point in West LA at 1100 hours to kick off the first annual MININuts Scavenger Hunt expertly designed by our own Matt Rickman, aka The Sausage King*

Before being dispatched one by one, every car received their list featuring items like:

· An international boarding pass from LAX
· A receipt from Target totaling $.54 (with tax)
· A bag of sand from Manhattan Beach
· A parking ticket envelope
· Assorted beer cans (full, empty, and Guinness)
· A woman with large breasts (well, just a picture)
· And many more…

After two hours of hunting, the whole crew gathered at the rendezvous point: Alpine Village in Torrance, where the pints were large, and the Germans were singing…there was also some singing about some of the Germans:

The scavenger hunt items were tallied, and MININut Scott was able to gather enough items to choke a Camelpilot (half of this junk was under his front seat).

As the winner, he was able to choose his prize:

· A full Zaino detailing
· All expenses paid Drive-n-Shoot
· Movie tickets
· A complimentary background investigation

See you all at the Drive-n-Shoot next month!!!

A big shout out to Team Mighty Miniz, our only Challengers, who turned up 6 strong, and represented like no one else could. The event was a huge success, our best to date. . The convoy was a nice smooth run down the 405 South, then onto the 110 down to Strong beach. Going over the bridges and through the ports was such a beautiful drive.

Bob Sheer turned up in his very quick Indi Blue Cooper S, and he was by far the bravest of all of us, having to drink that Berry Beer. The TMMZ put up a good fight, even sending in reinforcements later in the afternoon.

The Challenge went like this:

There were multiple teams. First drinker from each team would start, when we finished his drink, the next drinker would go, like a relay, all the way until the last drinker.

Round 1: Pick your poison. In this round everyone picked the beer they wanted to drink.
Round 2: The other team picked your drink. The secret is in the berries.
Round 3. We brought out the half-yards, but drinker may pick his poison like Round 1.

The MININUTS made a clean sweep of the 3 rounds, with the last round getting caught on tape. Click Here for the movie.

The food at the Long Beach Yardhouse is delicious, and they have over 250 beers on tap. We got there at 3.45pm and didnt leave until just before midnight. We highly reccommend this place for a good piss up.

More reports on the evening can be found here.

Well, firstly thanks everyone who attended the breakfast at the 94th Aero Squadron, it was such a great time had by all. Definitely must do this one again.

Apart from the poor intelligence received about the starting location, which resulted in the nuts scurrying around like rats, it was a huge success.

Thanks also goes out to the Valley police for locating Scott at the In n Out:

For more pictures and banter Click Here

Welcome Chaps! MININUTS is still in it’s early phases, so please bear with us if anything looks suspect. Squadron leaders are busy taking care of logistics and establishing a good design to this great little club. We have a good selection of people on the club roster already, and we are slowly handpicking new recruits.

We already have a small website going, and also email addresses are available to all members. Also, our engineers are currently in the process of building a small forum that we can use to send telegrams to each other.

The club will be divided up into squadrons that have themes assigned to them. Currently we have Pub and Race Squadrons.

Pub Squadron will consist of members that have extensive experience ending up on their arse after a good sortie at the local bar.

Race Squadron will consist of members that have a passion for racing and putting bits and pieces on their car to make it go faster than the other guys car.

Everyone can belong to as many squadrons as they want.

Squadrons will be assigned “Officers” in the very near future. Actually they won’t really be Officers, they will just be normal members like you and me, but they get to have cool titles, and with any luck, organise some pretty sweet sorties and jaunts of fancy.

As you may have read on the homepage of our website, we do not collect dues from our members, but if you really want to donate something, I would like a JCW works package please.

Well ladies and gentlemen, that should be all for now.

Oh, one more thing before you go. We do expect each and every one of you to know the MININUTS motto by heart. It may be more difficult for some than others, but please try your best. It is: “Who MINIS Wins”.

Red Leader Out.