43 Years Strong

Years STRONG

Mini Meet West 2016

‘A Diamond in the Rough’, that is how I describe it! Although Mini Meet West is the longest continuous running Mini event in North America, some fortythree years; it may very well be the least known. This annual event began back in May 1973 in Reno Nevada and was named the US Mini Meet until Mini Meet East was formed in 1975, the western event would then be renamed Mini Meet West. MMW is held every year four years and then on the fifth year there is a combined Mini Meet East/West. The event moves to a different city each year and is hosted by the local Mini club(s). Generally the event is held in May or June and is a three day, mid-week event, starting on a Tuesday and concluding with an awards Banquet on Thursday Night. The event itself encompasses a car show, road rally, an auto cross and a funkhana with plenty of other optional activities during the week. With the massive popularity of the MINI/Mini events around the USA, Canada, and the world, Mini Meet West remains one the least publicized and I don’t really know why, it is quite amazing as this is one of the largest gatherings of classic Minis in North America. It is immensely popular in the Classic Mini Community and is now growing with the newer BMW MINI owners joining us as well. This photo coverage is from the recent 2016 Mini Meet West held at the Crowne Plaza Resort in San Diego CA, earlier this year on June 6-9, 2016. The Car Show was held at the lovely Spanish Bay Park on the harborfront, the Auto-cross and Funkhana ran on the huge parking lots at Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley and the Road Rallies took us all on a great 135-mile scenic trek through the mountains just east of San Diego. There was something for everyone and part of the fun was just getting there. Jesse & I joined up with our fellow Miniac friends from Vancouver BC Canada, Seattle WA, Portland OR, and the San Francisco Bay area and caravanned down the Pacific Coast Highway. Giving the event a true international flavor was the arrival of a distant friend, Dimitris Fragos from Athens Greece who joined us at SFO as we headed south. And was it fun? Sure was! Check out the photos and see what we got up to. And Dimitris? I think he still has a grin as wide as the Atlantic!

Top Left: The MMW event is divided into two parts, getting there and the venue. Here we are taking a photo op with San Francisco’s most famous landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge.

Below: Generations apart but Doug Bennett (R53) and xx still enjoy AutoX in a tricked out Cooper.

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