Larry Anderson
Larry, standing out in a crowd!
Hey everyone! I currently live in San Ramon, CA, but have lived in the SF Bay Area my whole life. I grew up around cars (dad is a legit motorhead from Merced and always had some sort of big block Chevy engine in various states of assembly lying around), but I never really was a “car guy” until much later in life. So how did I get into MINIs?
In 2005, my then boss proclaimed he was getting a brand-new car. This was an event in itself, because he’d been driving the same Mercedes E300 since I first met him in 1996. What was he getting? A MINI. “A what??” we all said. It was then that he shared with me the MINI experience; how he shopped for it, his test drive, how he got to watch the build happen in real time, everything. 6 months later, a blue R52 with a blue top showed up in the parking lot. We all oohed and aaahed, went for rides… and then more and more of them started popping up. Eventually 6 of my co-workers also had MINIs and you couldn’t walk from the parking lot without tripping over a couple of them.
Shortly after that I decided it was time to find my own MINI. I popped up AutoTrader and started my hunt. Not knowing much about the specifics of MINI’s at this point, I thought I’d keep things simple:
stick with a first generation…
gray (dark silver) would be nice…
had to have the supercharger because vroom…
gotta be a stick…
had to have leather seats…
navigation would be great…
Score! An almost fully loaded R53 showed up at East Bay MINI. The only options missing were power-fold mirrors and power seats, and the price had just been dropped by 5K. Made an appointment and headed on over, keys were grabbed and we headed out for a spin.
Soon I would experience the moment that hooked me as a MINIac. Our test drive took us down the side road running alongside I580 East (west of the El Charro exit), at the end of which was a dead end. The salesperson instructed me to turn around, hit the gas, and go as fast as I was comfortable, BUT… I couldn’t let it dip below 50 for the sharp left turn at the end of the street. Since I have my mom’s lead foot, we were shortly running at about 90. The corner was coming, so left off the gas a bit, downshifted (clumsily since I hadn’t driven a stick in more than 5 years), and at about 55, turned the wheel left. The car executed the turn perfectly without rolling, without any squeal or other protest. The “go-kart” handling that had been described to me was legit. Needless to say, I went home with the car and started enjoying the heck out of it.
Here he is in his dusty glory. Sadly, I only have this one picture of my first MINI to remember him by. However, the license plate, frame and bumper sticker were transplanted to the next MINI:
While the first MINI was fun, I wanted something that I could truly call my own… which is when in 2012 I decided it was time for an upgrade (I was getting seriously envious of the Gen2-owning members of the club). Went to my friendly neighborhood auto broker, put my R53 up for sale and ordered my new MINI: a 2012 John Cooper Works Clubman, British Racing Green II with Recaro seats, rear spoiler, black rally stripes, checker vinyl roof graphic and manual transmission. After a painful 4 months of waiting, RetroMINI made his entrance in August of 2012 (RetroMINI because of my fondness for classic videogames, if the license plate frame wasn’t a dead giveaway). Here he is the day I picked him up:
…and here he is in his current, meaner configuration (this was taken in 2016 at MTTS):
RetroMINI has seen over the course of his 8 years and 80k miles:
2 1/4 MINI Takes The States (4 stops in 2014, full coast-to-coast in 2016 and 2018)
At least 30 US States
All the usual breakdowns the Gen2/N14 engine is famous for (turbo, high pressure fuel pump, gas tank pressure regulator, 2 windshields, 2 sets of brake rotors), but is aging gracefully just the same
More runs and twisty roads with NorCal MINIs and friends than I can count
My time with the club:
I found out about NorCal MINIs quite by accident. When I had my first MINI, a couple of co-workers told me about a run sponsored by East Bay MINI and thought I would see what all the fuss was about. That was when I met a bunch of the OG NorCal MINI’s crew; a quick jog around the Pleasanton/Livermore area was all it took for me to understand what the best part of owning a MINI was: the community and friendships that come with it. I joined right after that event and have been a member since 2010, director since 2019, and somehow have managed not to get kicked out of the club for my constant, biting sarcasm.
I can’t wait to get back out on the road with all of you in the near future. Stay safe and healthy everyone!