In the early 1990s, there were far fewer Mini Clubs around than there are today. At the time, the nearest choice of local meetings was Bristol Mini Enthusiasts or Blandford Bonnet Stripes. There were no clubs in Somerset or Devon. Founder member Suzy contacted the National Mini Owners Club to see if there would be any objection to starting a regional meeting in Taunton to cover these areas, and was granted a friendly thumbs-up.

So the Taunton & District Mini Owners Club was started, and the inaugral meeting saw a wonderful turn out of 17 Minis. It was agreed that a good meeting point would be the Merry Monk Pub in Monkton Heathfield, about 2 miles from Taunton centre. Whereas many clubs met monthly, it was quickly decided that because everyone had become such firm friends a fortnightly gathering would be a good idea. Members came from far and wide; ranging from Axbridge, Exeter, Minehead, Yeovil and Bridgwater.

After a year of local runs and attending national shows, we approached the Mini Cooper Register to offer their members the opportunity to join in at the same meetings. For a while we must have had the longest club title in the UK! The Taunton & District Mini Owners Club and South Somerset Mini Cooper Register... This was a right old mouthful so we altered it to something shorter and snappier; Minis Unlimited was born.

Another couple of years down the line and the Club had naturally grown, so considering we were having to give meeting directions to people coming from far and wide, Minis Unlimited changed pub location to a central place which was handy to find and visibly easy to spot. The Blackbrook Tavern welcomed us, and we have remained there ever since for our Monday evening meetings.

Minis Unlimited has been, and continues to be, a great success. Members cars have featured in numerous magazine articles and on several front covers. Our Minis have won many concours prizes. We have attended most UK shows at one time or another, with our Club stand and inimitable brand of irreverent humour. Members have also driven to international shows in Europe and America. We have drunk plenty of beer on camping weekends and burnt lots of BBQ charcoal. In 1995 we organised our own Mini Show at Taunton Market 'Alive in 95'. Several people have used our internal 'dating' service!

And Minis Unlimited continues going strong - Still Alive in '05, around for kicks in '06, Mini Heaven in '07, great in '08 and going fine in '09!!