Yes… I know it is hard to believe but there is a history of strife in the MINI/Mini Community.  I will admit it wasn’t as noticeable as it has been in the past, but it hasn’t completely disappeared.  There are basically three schools- those who love Classic Minis, those who love New MINIs, and those who love both.

The argument is that the New MINI (all caps), also known as the BMW MINI, is larger and is really just a low end BMW, a (gasp!) German car.  I have been on some Mini/MINI forums and sites wear people are harassed about the fact that they think they own a Mini.  One guy actually took hours on Facebook to comment on every MINI photo on the Mini fan page (they actually had to post that both kinds of Minis are welcome) saying that they should be removed since they weren’t real Minis.

Hence you will notice that I type Mini when dealing with the classic and MINI when dealing with anything newer than 2000.  At Mini Meet East Meets West it is mostly Minis while an event like MINIs on the Dragon is mostly New MINIs – confused yet?.

One thing I have to chuckle over are the die-hard classic owners who go on (and on) about how they found their classic in a barn and paid $200 or less for it.  Until the MINI (it is confusing) came out you could pick up a classic for a song, maybe $2000 if it was in perfect shape. Now that same “perfect” classic is going for upwards of $14000.  Demand for the Mini increased due to the new MINI, and for some strange reason some of these people still hate the MINI.  That’s like saying “I hate Apple because I bought their stock at $15 a share and all it has done is gone up!”  Like I said, it has gotten better, but I did find it interesting that you had MINIs off on one side of the field in a clump (hatches, convertibles, & Clubman models) while the Minis each had their own sections (Mk1, Mk2, Mk3 or later, Moke, Traveller, modified, convertible, etc…) and were lined up.  Things are better, but there is still work to be done.

It kind of reminds me of going out to the opening of the planetarium at the Children’s Museum here in Indianapolis, at the time it was cutting edge technology.  I sat next to this lady who complained when the show was finished… “That’s not Astronomy!  Astronomy is being up at 3 o’clock in the morning and your fingers freezing to the focus controls on your telescope to get a fuzzy image of Saturn.”  “That’s not owning a Mini!  Owning a Mini is having to replace the oil and coolant and water pump in the middle of desert!  It’s trying to patch the radiator hose when the valve broke and you have steam pouring into the cabin!  It’s…”  It is a badge of honor, that you can drive and maintain a BRITISH car when we know the British have had some difficulty building reliable cars (thank you Lucas).

Still confused? (I know I am) Motoringfile (a MINI website) posted this link to Auto Express in which they compare 12 different Mini/MINI models over the past 50 years.  While they don’t determine a winner it is interesting to read.  Tink by the way is a Rover Mini of unspecified vintage.