November-December '08:
Our end-of-the-year issue is packed with holiday gift ideas, major event coverage, peeks at new models, great Mini Heritage stories, concise how-to do it articles, photo features, club and event coverage, plus a whole lot more. Here's a rundown of what's in the current issue:
On The Cover: This month's main cover stories are full reports on the Magical Mystery Mini Tour in San Francisco and MINI Takes The States: Chicago/Los Angeles. MC2 had a display booth and staff at all three of the biggest MINI events of year and a recap of the fun starts on page 32, when our Publisher, Barry Brazier, takes a trip back in time to the days of flowers in your hair, hippies, and the Beatles. Hosted by the Redwood Empire Mini Enthusiasts, the Magical Mystery Mini Tour - held this past 
Labor Day Weekend - had a theme of the 1960s with cars from the new millenium. It added up to so great driving, lots of fun, and will go down in the annuals as one of the great Mini meets of 2008.
Barry's odyssey of Mini meets began earlier in the summer when travelled to Elkhart Lake, WI for MINI Takes The States: Chicago and then finished up in the Los Angeles for the final leg of the four city adventure. Barry's coverage of MINI Takes The States: Chicago and Los Angeles starts on page 48 with a retelling of his drive from downtown Chicago to the famed Road America racecourse in Elkhart Lake, through some of the worst traffic of the summer and concludes with a meeting with Hubie Fuh, driver/creator of MINI USA's asphalt-eating dragster.
New MINI Models: Apart from the excitement of covering the MTTS rally, Barry also got to drive the new diesel-powered MINI prototype, called the MINI D, while he was in Wisconsin. The new diesel model, is in the states for emissions testing protocols and Barry reports his findings on the car that is coming to the US market in 2010, in Good, Clean Motoring on page 42. According to Barry, who drove the car back from Elkhart Lake, WI to downtown Chicago, IL, the new diesel has surprising performance with a zero-60mph time of just 9.9 seconds and delivers fuel economy in the mid 50mpg range.
In our MINI NEWS section (page 18), we squeezed in a few paragraphs on the new MINI Crossover Concept vehicle that debuted at the Paris auto show just as we were going into production. MINI Crossover Concept Debuts in Paris gives the latest details on the proabable design of the new MINI SAV coming in about 18 months. According to information we received, there is a good chance that the new Crossover will be called Traveller and at 13.12 feet, it will be the biggest MINI ever built.
We also have a last-minute piece on the new MINI E (electric) set to debut to a limited market this November. Editor, Peter D. DuPre received this info while the book was at the printer and literally stopped the presses to get a report on this new, "green" Cooper into the issue. Breaking News: MINI Announces Electric Cooper for US! (page 21) provides all the latest info on what we know about the new electric Cooper, including a report on performance, range, recharge time and FULL SPECIFICATIONS. As this is being written, the MINI E is debuting to the public at the Los Angeles Auto Show and we have staff on site to report fully on the car in the upcoming January-February Issue. We also have a link on our home page to more info on the MINI E.
Around the world: Take a limited edition GP, two crazy Italians and the idea for an around-the-world odyssey, and you get the The MINI GP World Challenge (page 40). Conceived by Oscar Revelli di Beaumont, owner of a Bertone-built
GP No. 1922, the MINI GP World Challenge is the first event that puts both the GP and its drivers to test as Oscar Revelli drives from Sarasota, Florida to the MC2 offices in Bremerton, Washington for an interview with Editor, Peter D. DuPre. MC2 is a primary sponsor of the trip and Oscar brought the car up to the Northwest for some last minute modifications at Northwest MINI (Tacoma, Washington) before putting the GP on an aeroplane and shipping it to Korea, where he and his co-driver will begin a madcap dash across Russia, into Europe and arriving in Turin. It's the rip of a lifetime and only MC2 has the story.
Meanwhile, over in England, our UK Correspondent, Rob Marshall, picks up a Clubman and takes it on a tour of the 2008 European City of Culture -- Liverpool! In a MINI Scouse Adventure (page 44), Rob takes us on a cooks tour of this famous city, visiting the Beatles shrines of Strawberry Field, the Cavern Pub, Eleanor Rigby Statue, Penny Lane and even takes us to visit a Yellow Submarine. But that's not all. Rob also runs us by the Queen Victoria Monument, takes us to the Palm House in Sefton Park, visits the Liverpool Cathedral and stops for a beer at the city's oldest brewery. Best of all, Rob reports that the Clubman did it all without a hitch!
Feature vehicles: If you are an aficionado of the classic Mini, then make sure you read about Rick Terrell's virtually perfect, and all original 1962 Austin Seven Countryman Estate. In Aged To Perfection (Page 30), Peter D. DuPre travels to Longview, WA for a look at Rick Terrell's virtually perfect classic wagon. Fully documented by the British Heritage Trust, this original little Mini has led a sheltered existence during its lifetime and has survived into the new millenium with its original paint, interior, and paperwork. And because it has been garage kept, not a spot of rust! Rick obtained the car in 2005 and has been carefully loving it ever since.
Staff writer, Neil Chirico, stumbled across this gorgeous 2006 Cooper S in the Los Angeles area recently. The car, bought and paid for by teenager, Joseph Liu, is his first set of wheels and according to Neil, is A Perfect Start (page 38) for a MINI enthusiast's first car. Not many teens can afford such a ride as this, and Joseph works overtime keeping up on payments and mods.
Mini Heritage: We all know that the classic Mini was built in Britain, but did you also know that this famous little car 
was also assembled in Italy, New Zealand and South Africa? Our Senior European Correspondent, Graham Robson, writes all about the Minis built overseas in Minis Abroad (page 26) and points out that the "foreign" Minis were often very different from the ones built in the UK. For example, the Innocenti, in true Italian fashion, featured a fully instrumented dashboard and the Wolseley 1000 had the Mini body with the Wolseley Hornet front end and had roll-up windows! There's lots of interesting Mini history to tell and Graham does it his usual erudite manner.
Tech and How-To: One of the problems of working on your own MINI is under hood access. The front-engined MINI is notably lacking in engine compartment room and if you are looking to turn your own spanners, you'll first have to learn how to make a little room. In Open Sesame: Exploging First Generation MINI Service Mode, (page 54) Technical Editor, Matt Richter joins forces with Design Editor, Stephan McKeown, to explain to to get the MINI ready for service. To the unitiated, it can be a bit scary to remove the hood, fender, bumpers and other bits, but Matt and Stephan point out that the MINI is designed to be serviced this way and they take you through step-by-step the process.
Then on page 68, Neil Chirico takes us over to Steve's Auto Clinic (North Hills, CA) and shows us how the pros replace a broken motor mount. In MINI Motor Mount Replacement, Neil explains how to determine whether your aging MINI has a broken mount and then details the steps to take in order to fix it. You may not want to turn the wrench yourself, but even so, Neil's tips will give you a clear idea of what to look for and what to talk about with your service professional.
Holiday Shopping: Every year, the MC2 staff assembles a holiday shopping guide that highlights great gifts for 
Mini/MINI owners and this year's guide is our biggest yet. The MC2 Holiday Catalogue (page 58) runs 10 full pages and highlight gift ideas in every price range, starting at under $20 and up to $500. Whether you are looking for a new pulley, a Mini cookbook, keychain, or an air plate diverter, this guide has it. Not only that, but we've also got a section devoted to Classic Minis! Read this section and you won't be stumped as to what to buy that special MINI/Mini owner in your life.
But Wait, There's More: As you can see, this current issue is packed with lots of great stories and MINI information. But there's even more between the covers than is highlighted here. In addition to all the above, we offer the latest MINI NEWS, Clubs and Event reports, letters from readers and all the usual fun-to-read columns: On the Apex, MINI Cindy, Across the Pond, the Dr. Is In and The Last Page. We worked hard to get you all the latest and best information and stories on both new and classic Minis, events and technical. Enjoy! ~ Peter D. DuPre, Editor-In-Chief
