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4th April 2009 NEW MEMBERS
Welcome to our new recruits this month, both in the UK and in the USA.
Cathy from Burnham, Jack from Chard, Jonathon from Yorkshire… plus
our overseas members Hugh from Tennessee, Dean from Oklahoma, Paul, Sue,
Tim, Sherry and Robin from Ohio, Jim and Brian from Sourth Carolina, Howard
from Virginia, Neal from North Carolina and Mike from Maryland.
12th March 2009 LAUNCHING MINIS UNLIMITED INTERNATIONAL
Friendship reaches a long way, in our club’s case to the USA. When
our members visit American shows they are welcomed and we would like to
reciprocate. Quite a few folks are visiting England this year to coincide
with Mini 50 events, so we’d like to offer our international Mini
chums a focal point at shows or drop into a local pub meeting. Likewise
our members would like to represent the club when travelling worldwide.
Register on our Message Board, drop us an email, or join our Facebook Group
to keep in touch with what’s going on.
1st February - BUSY CLUB DIARY THIS YEAR
Check out our 2009 dates. We are rapidly filling up our diary with shows
you want a club stand at. Loads of super Mini 50 events planned this year!
And we have a grand idea to celebrate MU Club’s own 18th Birthday
in June… Further info plus details about convoy meeting times are
in the Shows
& Meets section of the Message Board.
1st January HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Our first Blackbrook pub evening meeting in 2009 is on Monday 12th January
at 8pm.
We’ll be meeting up to drive in convoy to British Mini Fair at Bingley
Hall Staffs on Sunday 25th January; check our Message Board for time and
place. The show will be bigger than ever, with Wood and Pickett showcasing
their Margrave50.
Please let us know what show dates you’d like us to add to our diary.
If we book a club stand in advance we sometimes get discounted admission,
plus you’ll benefit from being covered by our club insurance in case
numpty joe public falls over and injures themselves on your pride and joy.
Show organisers are often lenient if you sell a little private autojumble,
as long as it’s a club member and the stand is manned throughout the
day. Plus our gazebo is handy for shelter from inevitable British weather!
14 December HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
Festive greetings to all MU members, families and friends. We hope Santa
brings your Mini everything it desires!
A busy year coming up in 2009 with the Mini 50 celebrations, so lots of
fun events to look forward to. Plus MU will be 18 years old in June, which
is a wonderful achievement for a UK Mini club. We’ll keep you posted
with activity ideas and show news on our Message Board.
1 November WINTER PUB MEETINGS
Unfortunately its got to 'that' time of the year when its cold, dark, and
Mini activities tend to slow down. We're going to cut back to just one pub
meeting a month over the winter period. Diary dates for Blackbrook Tavern
Meetings are posted on our Message Board. See you soon!
1 October CREDIT CRUNCH
One of the reasons the Mini was originally designed was in response to
the 1950’s oil crisis. 50 years on, and our favourite car is still
economical compared to modern cars. Don’t forget to help your cash
stretch by making sure your Mini is in tip top condition. Check the tyre
pressures, do a service, get the timing and carburettor spot on, and keep
an eye out for lowest fuel prices. Our Message Board can help with technical
advice and local assistance.
1 APRIL 2008 UPDATED DIARY DATES
Not its not April Fool’s; we really have updated the latest
diary dates list. The sheet can be downloaded as a PDF file here  or
from the index on the left. Please email us if you’d like any more
events added.
24 MARCH 2008 PUB MEETINGS - TEMPORARY MOVE
At our usual Blackbrook meeting this month, the bar staff told us that
the pub will be closed for at least 8 weeks, starting from 1st week in April.
They are having a big refurbishment; altering the layout a bit, and repainting
so its brighter inside.
This will affect our monthly meetings on Monday 14th April, Monday 12th
May and Monday 9th June.
The favourite choice of temporary relocation is the O'Bridge / Brewers
Fayre just over the viaduct bridge in Priorswood. That’s the friendly
pub which held the charity day where we waited all day for the south west
Mini run to arrive (lots of food and ice cream!). We’ll check its
OK, and turn up from 8pm on Monday 14th April. See you then / there!
2 January 2008 HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE
You’ll be pleased to hear that club membership will not cost you
a penny this year! All we ask is a small contribution towards PLI when your
Mini is displayed on the club stand. Use Adobe Acrobat to download and read
our proposals here.
Diary dates will be also published in PDF format, available
here or ask
for a paper copy. This will be updated through 2008. We’re going to
cut the Blackbrook pub meetings down to once a month during the winter.
These are now on the 2nd Monday of the month. We want to encourage members
to contribute lots of fun ideas via the Message Board and at meetings for
events plus local runs throughout this year. Just give us the info and we’ll
pass it on! So please keep a check on the website for the latest news, or
phone 01278 683380 for more details.
16 December 2007 HAPPY CHRISTMAS
Festive greetings to all members, friends, families and associates. We
hope Santa brings you something nice for your Mini.
Marks & Spencer are selling small r/c classic Minis again this Christmas;
red with a union jack roof for £9.50. Check your local shop for stock
or you can buy from their online store.
27 October 2007 MINISPARES
Mini Spares have emailed a winter 2007 newsletter to customers, which features
one of our Minis Unlimited cars. Suzy Kinsman’s 1275GT Tigger poses
in a snowy landscape for their ‘Winter Is Coming’ advice article.
Website link is
http://www.minispares.com/Article.aspx?aid=239
Don't forget, club members can benefit from some discount prices from Mini
Spares; contact Suzy
for details.
10 October 2007 MU CAR OF THE YEAR + NEW W-S-M MEETING
PROPOSALS
The club has a blank trophy that we propose to use for Minis
Unlimited Car Of The Year! Members will be invited to vote every Christmas
for their favourite club car of the year, and we will engrave the winner’s
details. The shield will be displayed at the Blackbrook Pub, and be featured
on this website. The unused award was rediscovered in an old box from the
loft, having won it in a club display competition in 1996, and it seems
a shame not to put it to such good use.
We currently have several members from further up the M5,
so we suggest introducing new regular pub meetings in the Weston Super Mare
area. These would be in addition to our normal Taunton meetings, and its
an excellent excuse for some scenic drives over the Mendips and north Somerset
areas. Discussions have been started, with a view to start this in the New
Year.
24 September 2007 BRECON BEACONS TOUR POSTPONED
Andy Weaver offered to organise an overnight tour over the beautiful Brecon
Beacons in South Wales. We added this to our event list provisionally for
27-28 October. Unfortunately Andy now has other commitments, so we will
postpone this run until spring 2008.
However if you still want an autumnal drive, we will meet at the Blackbrook
Pub on Sunday 28 October at 10.00am, and we’ll do a local run instead.
Possibly Dorset or Glastonbury direction, with a stop at a pub for lunch.
For those still wanting a weekend pyjama party (!), don’t forget
that MiniWorld’s Winter Warmer is at Newquay the first weekend in
November.
9th September 2007 VIDEOS PAGE ADDED TO THE WEBSITE
With the increasing number of videos being uploaded to sites like YouTube
involving club members and activities, a new videos page has been added
to replace the forlorn gallery section.
Any contributions welcome !
4 September 2007 BLACKBROOK PUB MEETING LAST NIGHT
Some new faces at our club meeting last night. Alex N-P recently met Ian
Hawthorn near Minehead and persuaded to come along and meet us. Ian has
just bought a blue road legal racing Mini, which has a modified MG Metro
engine and rollcage. We were fascinated by the vent in the boot lid, which
he informs us was originally added to vent the small fuel cell when it was
raced.
Dario and James also turned up. These lads work at Thornfalcon Car Sales
and know Alex, Suzy and Paul from helping out at the local annual classic
car show. Dario passed his driving test last year, and has progressed from
his first Mini to an early 90’s BRG Mainstream Cooper. Its currently
standard with the addition of a wooden dashboard and matching steering wheel.
He’s already taken it to Steve Harris to get it tuned up!
It was nice to meet some guests from New Zealand, who chatted all evening
about Minis down-under. Alan and Lynda Smith lived in Bridgwater 5 years
ago, but emigrated and are now members of the Mini Car Club of Auckland.
Lynda exported her 1997 MPi when they moved, and Alan has bought a couple
of NZ spec Minis since they’ve been there.
30 August 2007 DAVID VIZARD GOFASTNEWS
Most club members will have heard of the god of Mini improvements; David
Vizard. His book ‘How To Modify Your Mini’ was first released
in the early 70’s, and ‘Tuning The A-Series Engine’ is
currently published as a 3rd edition. Along with the Haynes Manual, they
are the most informative books you can have to hand when maintaining and
tweaking your car. Dave does not rest on his laurels; he emigrated from
Gloucestershire to the USA and carried on tuning and writing books about
Chevys and Fords etc. Alex & Suzy had the pleasure of meeting him in
Tennessee earlier this year (sharing some beers and meals catching up about
family, friends and English life!).
Dave has a fresh project; www.gofastnews.com
It’s a brand new online magazine and forum resource to discuss all
things motorsport and engine tuning. There are regular technical articles
from professional contributors, daily news and press releases. The message
board is free to join, and we have been told by the guy himself that Mini
owners are very welcome because he still has a very big soft spot for the
little cars. Take a look at the website, and keep an eye out in the British
Mini magazines for a return of ‘Viz-The-Wiz’…
22 August 2007 BONHAMS TO AUCTION GRX 5D
Unfortunately at an estimated value of £70-80,000, none of us are
likely to afford this famous BMC Works Cooper S! This Mini has extensive
rallying history ranging from being disqualified from the Monte Carlo Rally
in 1966 with Paddy Hopkirk, RAC with Makinen, Circuit of Ireland, Tulip
Rally, and so on. Information and some lovely photos are under Lot 206 in
Sale 15344 for 31 August 2007 on Bonhams.com.
20 August 2007 BLACKBROOK MEETING NEWS
Following the wet weekend and disastrous show, we cheered
ourselves up with sorting out some Club Runs. Please take a look in the
Shows and Meets Section on the MU Message Board for more detail.
North Devon Grand Tour on Bank Holiday Weekend. Some members
have booked tickets (and caught the others to sponsor them!) for this marvellous
annual event. Unfortunately the rest of us are less organised and have missed
the boat, so an informal run up to the Cotswolds has been suggested by Alex
Kinsman on Sunday for anyone interested.
MU On Tour to the Brecon Beacons in October. Andy Weaver suggested
we drive up and book a B&B overnight. The autumnal countryside is fantastic,
and the route has just been featured in a Top Gear magazine article as a
‘great drive’.
MU On Tour to Ace Café in December. Ian Wyatt has been
recommending for ages that we should go to a Mod N Mini Night. We thought
it would be fun if we combine it with some Christmas Shopping in London
in December. Mini Bandits, a local club, is helping with some B&B suggestions.
MU Christmas. Arrrgh you cry, its only August! But seasonal
bookings need to be done early. We have a few more kids with us this year,
so an evening meal at a pub venue may not be the best solution. So building
from the past couple of year’s enjoyable skittling, we’re inviting
members to join us for a basket and games deal at the Hollywood Bowl on
Monday 6th December. Beer, grub, arcades and silly shoes!
19 August 2007 SHOW REPORT FROM MINI IN THE PARK
Mudi in the Park more like… There are some soggy photos
on the Message Board topic MITP in the Shows and Meets section.
Mini Magazine stuck their necks out with trying an alternative
event location at Santa Pod. All the right ingredients were there to be
a great show. Unfortunately the added weather wrecked it! Apart from Tigger
and Lydia on display in Readers Cars, all the rest of our club members plus
the Little Gizmos trade stand had packed up and gone home by lunchtime.
Luckily the drag strip dried up through the day, and the impressive biked
engined K-cars and Pinto powered Minis could get some runs in, and the awesome
jetcar did a couple of demonstrations.
16 August 2007 MINI MAGAZINE FUTURE FEATURE
MU member Ian Wyatt is going to have a feature in Mini Magazine
later this year. Staff writer Jeff Ruggles and ex-editor-now-photographer
Gerard Hughes spent the day with him and his 2.0 GTE engined Mini Lydia.
Strike a pose…
1st entry BLOG UNLIMITED
We have added this new feature so we can keep you up to date
with the latest news and what we get up to with our Minis.
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