AMVIV 2009 Recap

Another AMVIV is in the can and, as usual, I had a blast!   They say the numbers were down- vendors, participants, etc.  In my opinion the event was a bit more "intimate" as a result.  It will be interesting to get actual figures in the next few days but despite this fact, I thought it went well!

Photos  from the iPhone, in no particular order!

 

Rooftop MINI [video]

Bored on Saturday? Warming up for AMVIV? Both? Here's a short video of me goofing off with my MINI Cooper and HD video camera. Enjoy!

(Download This Video)

If you enjoyed this video, you'll enjoy my real, non goofing off video show about car culture at www.BehindTheVroom.com

:)

What happens at AMVIV stays at AMVIV!

"What's an AMVIV?" you say? Why, only the largest gathering of Mini and MINI Cooper enthusiasts this side of the Mississippi! (I kinda made that up, but it's probably true!)

"AMVIV 5": March 27-30, 2008

Officially, AMVIV is "A MINI VACATION IN VEGAS!" Cool cars, cool people, exciting "runs" and related events, located in the heart of "America's Playground", who can resist?!?

As of this posting, there are about 350 cars and over 500 individuals registered for this 3-day event. If you have the time and a MINI you should seriously consider it! If you're in the area and curious what a parking garage full of MINIs looks like, you should pop in!

photo by: gbridger

Aah- don't believe me? Okay, that's cool. Perhaps a couple thousand photos will sway you?! ;)

NOTE: I am not a shill for AMVIV- I'm just ridiculously excited to go for a third year in a row!

AMVIV.COM
AMVIV on Flickr.com
My personal AMVIV 2007 Gallery

Lookie What I Got! M7 Strut Tower Brace

Way back at AMVIV, (wow- that seems soo long ago!) I acquired the ever popular M7 Strut Tower Brace. I didn't get it installed at the time because our good friends from Detroit Tuned were astute enough to point out a cracked strut mount thingy! A quick replacement (and a few sledge-wacks later) and... voila!

(Q: How do you get a good, clear shot of a Strut Bar?)

Yes- I know my engine bay needs a detailing day

I like that when you get the M7 Strut Brace you automatically get the Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates too!

M7 Strut Brace (MSRP): $199.00
(Strut Tower "Caps" compliments of "Monty")

"

M7Tuning.com | DetroitTuned.com

AMVIV Photos!

Well it only took the greater portion of a week to trudge through all my photos from AMVIV and cull them down to my best, say.... 200?









Enjoy the full-length (200+ photo) gallery here !

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AMVIV IV: A Brief Recap

For those playing along... We got back from "A MINI Vacation in Vegas" on Sunday afternoon, with minimal traffic. That's what you get when you're already on the road by 8am!

I took about 400 photos this time around as well as about 2 hours of video. I hope to have everything edited and posted in the next couple days but in the meantime, here's a brief recap of AMVIV from my perspective!

For the record, this year's event was totally awesome. Last I heard there were about 450 and about 600 people. There were twice as many vendors as last year and a little something for everyone- well except for ladies' t-shirts in small. The product I noticed "flying off the shelf" the most was the M7 Strut Brace. Even with 4-5 vendors all selling them, I think they each sold out of them! Heck even *I* bought one! I didn't get it installed though due to some minor suspension issues I wasn't aware of. :(

The North American MINI Cooper Challenge race was fun to watch despite a pretty significant fender-bender in the first race. Even more fun to watch were the Bikini All Stars from MAV TV! (raaar...)

I didn't do any of the runs this year. One reason involved the installation of an ALTA 15% Pulley! (Yeah baby!). Other reasons involved me not getting up at 8am every day while on "vacation". The Boot-n-Bonnet Show was spectacular this year as well. Many of my favorite MINIs were back, along with a lot of really really nice ones I'd never seen before. I didn't win anything but I wasn't trying. It was great meeting new people and people I "know" from NAM but never met in real life. Ironically, many of the folks I know "IRL" ("in real life" that is)- I didn't get to spend much time with.

The Strip Cruise had about 260 cars involved this year. An awesome sight to behold. So much so someone felt a couple rounds from a BB gun into some cars was warranted.

This year marked the first time DB, Todd, and Gabe from WhiteRoofRadio were all in the same room. Their MCing of the banquet was well done and I hope they recorded it and just post the whole thing as an episode.

Overall, not a bad extended weekend, and worth every penny. I'll have more detailed recounts of particular events as the days and editing of photos and video progresses!

Countdown to AMVIV...

Greetings Folks:

I'm now fully registered for "A MINI Vacation In Vegas" 2007, a.k.a. "AMVIV"!!



I registered for the "event" the other day but finally booked the hotel room this morning. I wasn't going to get a "Tower Room" but when the the rep said they've got plenty tower rooms still available, I said what the heck (only $20/night more), and grabbed one at the last minute.

I recall there was a lot of "activity" in the Tower Room hallway last year; I was in the Garden Rooms which were were extremely quiet (a short review for those who care).

This year AMVIV is March 22 through the 25th, and features a "Boot and Bonnet Show", up close and personal face time with your favorite MINI vendors, "reserved parking" for MINIs, the Phil Wicks Challenge and Driving School, group runs, and more! Any MINI enthusiast should strongly consider attending AMVIV, if not just for the sake of seeing there are 300 folks as excited about MINIs as you! But don't take my word for it...


Only 58 or so days to go! Yippie!! Stay tuned as I get totally hyped up about it!


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