Back With a GP - motoring|underground

FlattOut · #1 01-18-2016, 06:59 PM

Hello all!

It's been a while since I've been on the site - nearly years!

Many of you on here have been a great help with providing insight on what to do with my cars.

To take a look back...

My very first MINI - I got this bad boy when I was 17 and it started it all:

Started like this:

and finished like this:

Then I moved onto a R56:

and transformed to:

After the R56 I bought my mom's R55 JCW which only last a few months

The R55 didnt last too long and I traded it in for a Focus ST which was a huge step up in amenities and was just an overall more comfortable and capable car. I loved this car, but I was racking up the miles like crazy

This past May I started working for BMW of North America and adopted a new MINI F56.

The F56 was a great car. It had almost every option in it but I found myself only driving it on weekends and didn't need all the bells and whistles.

Then came a long the GP. It was my company car for a few weeks and I fell back in love with MINI and it reminded me of why MINI has been such a large part of my life. I inherited this GP with 53 miles on the clock in August. I drove it for about 3,000 miles and then decided to buy it. But this isn't just an ordinary GP - this is a pre-production model meaning that it was a Euro-spec display GP that was flown to the US and Mexico prior to the GP's release in 2013, then it was flown to Germany, upfitted with a US Spec engine and brought back here. It also came with a multifunction steering wheel installed from the factory and no roof number since it is a pre-production model. Currently it has 6K miles on the clock and that number is growing fast. I dont have any big plans for it at the moment - maybe some wheels and a tune down the road and a lot of weekend road trips. So here I am, now 24 with my 5th MINI, working for BMW and MINI and still motoring hard. It's good to be back

cooldaddy · #2 01-18-2016, 08:13 PM

Drew · #3 01-19-2016, 02:48 PM

Very cool! What are you doing for BMW/MINI? I just left the industry after 8+ years at the dealer level. I always considered going to the corporate side, but never found the right job at the right time.

FlattOut · #4 01-20-2016, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drew

Very cool! What are you doing for BMW/MINI? I just left the industry after 8+ years at the dealer level. I always considered going to the corporate side, but never found the right job at the right time.

Right now I handle all the registrations for our marketing and event vehicles and then all of our DTM manufacturer plates, I'm the one responsible for all of them. I also help with all of MINI's marketing vehicles, so I build some of our auto show vehicles, pull vehicles for commercials, and assign MINIs for different departments. It really is such a fun job. Everyone in MINI really seams like an enthusiast and as for a corporate setting, I'd say it's unlike any other.

I worked at a BMW dealer for a little and that was absolute hell haha Corporate has a more enjoyable type of stress

Drew · #5 01-20-2016, 02:19 PM

I would imagine! It sounds like you found a pretty cool role.

Chase · #6 01-20-2016, 03:49 PM

Dude, welcome back. Glad to see you back in a mini as well. I am super jelly of the GP.

I have been trying to figure out a way to get into a GP2 (maybe selling or trading my 911)

Keep us posted, I would love to see your adventures in this bad boy