Hello World, Again.

And we're back...

Okay all kidding aside, "Bushfinger MINI" went dark for awhile there, but not for a lack of content. In fact, there are much rumblings in the MINI world- enough to garner the attention of a couple thousand blogs and text-based media sites. For awhile there I tried to bring you the latest news and information about our beloved MINI brand, which basically made me one of the other thousands of sites re-purposing Press Releases over and over (ex: I read a review of the 2009 Clubman today- that's been out for how long?)

In its original state, "Bushfinger MINI" was simply intended to chronicle the antics and musings of a MINI Cooper owner (yes, yours truly). Over time I found I had a fascination with MINI Cooper casualties and began archiving stories of stolen and wrecked MINIs and the photos that go along with them. After awhile this got a bit too morbid, especially on the rare occasion someone dies in one of these incidents.

I moved toward media legitimacy by covering the hard stories that made the press. Then the price of fuel in the U.S. skyrocketed. Good gas mileage and "small cars" became hip; The MINI brand was making huge changes in their mantra and model line up. Put the two together and soon the MINI brand became a darling of the media. I began to notice that for every story that was about, for, or alluded to the MINI brand, it was covered by 2000 websites for weeks at a time (this might be the same for other brands/industries, but I don't don't know because I don't care). I made a conscious decision to not recover/repost that which is out there in droves, and/or covered by sites and writers much better and more prolific than I (cough*motoringfile*cough). Hence the darkness.

But, it's a new year and with that comes new goals and one of mine is to keep up the posts on Bushfinger MINI. That's right. You thought you got rid of me, didn't you? I'm going back to my roots and returning to the concept of writing about what I know- Me, my MINI, and related events. And the occasional news story I find particularly interesting.


Here's a recent photo of the MINI right after a 7-hour detailing session (which would have made a great blog entry had I thought of it at the time!)

MINI Cooper Challenge featured in XBOX 360 game

I'm not much of a gamer, and ironically, I suck at most racing games. Of course, anything that includes the MINI in its line up gets my attention. So when the preview/trailer or Atari's "RacePro" showed up on my radar with a screen shot of the R56 MINI, I was quite interested. The fact that the game appears to not only feature the MINI Challenge Car, but the MINI Challenge Series itself as a significant component of the game? Well, that just makes me giddy as a schoolgirl!

"Race Pro offers a wealth of cars ranging from 200 to over 1000 horse power, as well as a host of championships including WTCC (World Touring Car Championship), Formula 3000 and Formula BMW. GT cars from manufacturers including Aston Martin and Saleen take their place on the grid as well as production cars such as the Audi R8 and Dodge Viper SRT10. In addition, Race Pro is exclusively bringing all the WTCC cars from manufacturers Alfa Romeo, BMW, Chevrolet and Seat to Xbox 360 for the very first time. For a blast of accessible fun, the Mini Cooper Challenge invites players of all abilities to take the wheel." [Atari.com]

I can't wait to talk my friend into picking it up so I can play a few rounds!

Related Links:

• www.atari.com/us/games/race_pro/xbox_360
• www.cinemablend.com

WORLD PREMIERE OF THE NEW MINI CABRIO AND THE MINI E.

Allow me to be the 6254th website and blog to discuss the "World Premiere" of the MINI Cabrio, and the MINI E At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this past week. I put "World Premiere" in quotes because, well, if you're reading this, then you are probably a big fan of the MINI, and if you're a big fan of the MINI, you've seen the photos and videos circulating the Internet as early as 6 months ago.

But alas, how could I not write post about it. But even better than that, how about some video! :)



Now, the Cabrio showed up on the MINIUSA.com configurator a few weeks ago, but I didn't take notice because I've been drooling over the JCWs for the last six months. (More on this later). Alas, now I must decide if my next MINI is a Cabrio or JCW... :)

:bmp:

Related links:

• MINIUSA.COM
• North American International Auto Show