mini store Archives - JCW Adventures

Am I Missing Something? – Why MINI should remake Classic & New MINI Parts

Ali Mir — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 18:38:14 +0000

As time moves on, we always look back at better days gone with fond memories. It’s the reason why BMW brought the MINI brand because of the value it holds amongst everyone across the world. Everyone saw it as an Icon throughout the ’60s or their childhood either by owning, learning how to drive in one or having a happy memory surrounding this four-wheel friend. After bringing back the MINI in 2001, it was a success straight out of the door with people buying them left right and centre. Now that enough time has passed I do wonder why MINI hasn’t got down to building classic Mini/MINI parts to the fun alive across all generations for future MINI Adventures???

It’s strange that we owe it to Germans to revive a British brand given the history between the nations. BMW getting the rights to MINI & Rolls Royce is the best thing they ever did like how they gave the world angel lights and carbon fibre roofs. BMW carried on to build the classic Mini for a while when they took ownership of the brand from Rover, so there were manufacturing the car from 1994 to 2000. A year later we were given the BMW MINI or modern MINI we have been living with since to which is much loved by Mini/MINI owners across the world, so there is vast fan base too after and sell more cars to.

The answer simple and the MINI brand should have brought out the MINI Sport Group instantly giving them access to Classic & New MINI customer base and thriving business. This would allow them to understand the customer base of the classic Mini owners allowing them to gain access to the Mini show events. In turn, this would allow great market research and talk to real owners who own both a classic and new MINI giving a business case for more profits and allow cross-selling of the New MINI.

MINI over the years has lost its way but not understanding it’s customer base and the F-Series is the product of the disconnect and they need to back to the drawing board and understand owners and their desire. They should have not listened to a customer focus group who they want to sell to who are not die-hard MINI owners as the best way is shown in the F-Series with the window switches moving to the conventional place on doors.

This lead to the question of why you can’t buy certain parts for New MINI anymore as models have finished production??

I personally received a lot of messages on IG, Facebook and requests at shows – Can you get or know someone that can get this part as I can’t seem to find it anywhere?

I have seen countless people asking for specific parts for the MINI but finding out they are no longer available to buy ranging from classic Mini to the 2nd Gen MINIs. There isn’t a lack of cars being sold as 10 million Mini/MINIs have been sold since 1959 which is significant amount even if you take 40% out for being wrecked that still leaves 6 million cars on the road worldwide.

Obviously, over time, these cars will be kept and cherished with some MINI parts added to add that extra touch or retrofit items later. Others will be sold on to new owners so they will have the modding bug to make their new MINI personal to them. All the above follows the reason why you buy a MINI in the first instance to customise it to your taste and liking.

A lot of the MINI parts that people are looking for are the carbon fibre variety. Weirdly, MINI doesn’t just reproduce them given BMW now has it’s own carbon fibre manufacturing facilities. It would be just the case reusing mods, and they have all the rights and blueprints of all the parts so matter for pressing a few points.

I understand there has to be a business case, so another thing has missed MINI’s mind is they have a database of MINI owners, so a simple newsletter to get the info following to them that Classic MINI Parts are coming. Along with the fact, the world has changed, and social media would allow fast uptake an interest to see what fan would like to be reproduced with requests or putting up a survey to forecast sales. This, in turn, would help the dealer network, service departments and bring in extra revenue for long term as the dreaded 2030 cut off point for no more petrol/diesel engine being sold within the UK.

You might be thinking I am mad, but I am not as Porsche as do they classic parts for the legacy models so they can be updated to have Apple Carplay or navigation for example which makes life easy instead of ripping out the stock stereo for something non-OEM looking.

The OEM look comes at a price which is near on make no difference of 3 times the price of normal double din unit but making something like it should be is something else.

I have personally toyed with the idea of adding a double din unit to my R56. The fact I have to look down to see the nav is off-putting, but the want for Apple Carplay is massive given the mileage I do, and I am apple fanboy here as well.

Well, that’s one price point, and we can move to JDM life as Nissan has started reproducing R32 & R34 parts. The Skyline GTR was never a volume car, but it adored across the world with its cult following from the Playstation generation. This genuinely made me happy as dream car alongside my Zonda Cinque is the R34 Skyline with the Z Tune bodykit and Nismo parts. Something about the R34 that is magical and sits within my heart as they got everything right with styling and performance and it wasn’t trying to Euro copy but flew the Japan flag with pride.

If inline 6 Godzilla isn’t your poison, then Mazda is making the triangle goodness parts again with the RX-7 with its rotary engine. No JDM part is complete without VTEC gang coming through as Honda is making legacy parts for the Civic as well.

We know the money and desire is there from multiple parts of the market, so MINI has fighting chance to make it commercially viable.

What parts would you want MINI to produce??

Here is a list of what I would love to see come back:

All JCW Carbon fibre parts
JCW Recaro Buckets
JCW Shift Lights
MINI Mission Control
Wireless Apple Carplay
Digital Gauges

I choose those parts as they often on the most wanted list from owners and it would nice to MINI to update the R56 for the future digital world as over 10 years have passed since the first one rolled out from Plant Oxford.

The carbon steering bits, handbrake and gear knob have all been discounted but often go for silly money now online. Wow doesn’t like a bit of Carbon???

The number of looks my JCW does get when they have seen the Recaros is countless and forever on everyone’s wishlist. They are still the best seats for any car as they fit your snuggle, hours of driving and you won’t be fatigued plus they have the heating elements in them all ready for the winter months.

Another on the most wanted list is the JCW shift lights for the race vibes.

MINI Mission Control was an underrated feature which highlighted MINI’s fun, humour and lightheartedness inside your car. For those who don’t know your MINI turned into KITT from Nightrider so it would talk to you depending on what mode you were in e.g. so if you switched from sport mode to normal it would say ‘Oh that’s no fun back to granny mode’. Yes, it had humour but it had useful information telling you the car reached optimum temperature but announcing it. Other features were inbuilt such as if you took your MINI back to the factory you would get points and tick of list of achievements as top speed, 0 to 60 times and fuel economy.

Apple Carplay would bring the car up to date so you can get to where ever your going and have support from Siri wherever you go. Apple has always done things great and innovated with its ecosystem hence why MINI has always supported the brand. You do it your R56 now with installing an aftermarket Apple Carplay module.

I said digital gauges as analogue dials are a dying breed as most new cars have digital dashes now to relay all kinds of information from water temperature, tyre pressure, sat-nav directions and etc. Lotus did something similar to all their existing and previous models buy making digital dash retrofit kit which costs – £1470 and comes with a 2-year warranty.

It’s all good and well-saying let’s get this stuff made by MINI but what would it cost at the dealers?

JCW Carbon Parts Price Examples – £799 – R56 Carbon Wing, £65 – Carbon Gear Knob and Carbon Door Pulls – £80

JCW Recaros Alcantara/Leather – £1500 each or £3500 for a pair fitted & coded

JCW Shift Lights – £250

MINI Mission Control – £200 – Module & Software

Wireless Apple Carplay – £300

Digital Gauges – £350

All the above are possible to do with no so much work and the coding being the only major issues as it would have work with all the current system software correctly to which MINI own all themselves. Carbon manufacturing is now easy for them as BMW has all it’s own carbon manufacture facilities and will own all the moulds and copyright. Re-establishing the brand partnership with Recaro is a simple step as they have collaborated in years gone with both MINI & BMW.

If you want to modify it? – Here is my Ultimate R56 MINI Modding Bible – Click here for my guide

Hopefully, this guide will give you a stepping stone to find the perfect MINI and look forward to the MINI Adventures.

Here are my recommendations for MINI UK & Overseas specialist to visit for repairs, upgrades or parts:

Lohen – lohen.co.uk

1320 Mini – 1320.co.uk

Sussex Road & Race – sussexroadandrace.co.uk

Millys Auto – millsysautos.co.uk

TWG Automotive – twgautomotive.co.uk

MiniWorks – mini-works.co.uk

RSI C6 – rsic6.com

Outmotoring – outmotoring.com

ESC Tuning – ecstuning.com

Detroit Tuned – detroittuned.com

My list is made by own opinions and me speaking to respective companies & other owners across the world, and this is not sponsored post for full transparency.

If you got the modding bug don’t forget to check out JCW Adventures Store or Official eBay Store for some stickers for all generations of MINIs or R56 JCW carbon fibre exhaust tips as seen on my MINI R56 JCW to support the blog & YouTube channel.

All your support over the years and please offer that same support by following my Youtube Channel as well : )

As Always it’s a MINI Adventure try to keep up & Stay Safe!

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JCW ADVENTURES SHOP

Ali Mir — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 12:36:03 +0000

I am proud to announce JCW Adventures finally has an online shop which you can buy some MINI swag from which covers all three generations of the BMW MINI.

Here is a direct link to the website – JCW Adventures Shop

Official eBay Store – Official eBay Store

I have kept it simple with all three generations of BMW MINI Hatch with Model Designation vinyl decals all of which are available in Chilli Red, Jet Black, Thunder Grey & Ice White.

All 3 Generations of BMW MINI R50, R56 & F56 Decals

All these are available on the JCW ADVENTURES Store with free shipping within the UK and worldwide shipping available with a small additional cost.

Custom colours will be available at upon special requests at a small additional cost with all BMW MINI Generations & variants stickers coming soon.

Along with these all-new decals are the ever-popular R56 JCW & GP2 genuine carbon fibre exhaust tips as first seen on my JCW are back!!!!

This genuine carbon fibre exhausts tips can be easily installed within 5 minutes which simple tools and no drilling is required.

They are only suitable for R56 JCW, GP2 & R56 Cooper S with the JCW back box exhaust given they were developed on my JCW.

These exhaust tips have been designed for road use and show cars only either with a stock or sports catalytic convertor.

For those who have F-Series MINI JCW Pro Exhaust Remote, I have battery replacement available in the stores to get you back to disturbing the peace.

All shipping within the UK will be free, but international orders will incur a small shipping charge.

So if you have read the blog or followed me on social media here is a great way to support a free website that has been here to help any MINI owner around the world since 2012.

If you any questions free to message me at JCWADVS@GMAIL.COM or hit me up on the social media links at the bottom of the post.

Here is the link to JCW Adventures Shops – JCW Adventures Store & Official eBay Store

Thank you for the continued support, smiles, laughs, memories, hospitality, and MINI adventures.

Here’s to continued adventures wherever the open road leads to in 2020 and beyond.

As always it’s a MINI Adventure and try to keep up!!!

Ali R56 JCW Owner & JCW ADVENTURES Founder

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Brick By Brick: LEGO Speed Champions 75894 – Classic Mini Monte Carlo & Dakar Rally MINI

Ali Mir — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 20:30:20 +0000

Some obsessions start when you a kid like your love affair with cars when you dad lets you sit in the drives seat or lets you clean it. Other starts in front of a TV screen when you hear the sounds and see the sights of Batman: The Animated Series which makes you want to be Bruce Wayne. But some are started when you wrap a present, and you introduced to another world…
My love affair with Lego started when I was 5 years old, and I unwrapped my presents for my birthday. I was greeted to some Batman wellingtons, Batman figurines and finally my first LEGO set. It was a huge blue box divided into with three green base plates covering the tops which I pulled back to reveal mountains of LEGO to which I create anything or any place with my imagination being the limits. It was dawn before Video games becoming a thing and when kids actually played in the streets and your imagination ran wild.
Fast forward a two-decades and LEGO makes a massive comeback with hitting the 80s & 90s kids with nostalgia as they brought old school tv shows, movies and cars in Lego form ranging from the A-Team, Ghostbusters to Ferrari F40. They moved into the new with creating video games for pop culture lovers with Star Wars, DC Comics to Harry Potter while making their own game called LEGO: Dimensions. Even though these LEGO sets were no longer cheap fun for kids but they then transcended to all ages groups, and prices climbed as license took effect with Batman & DC Comic sets to Automotive manufacturers like Porsche, Ferrari and Bugatti coming into play.

2014 saw the LEGO makes the Classic Mini Cooper 10242 in their Creator series with 1077 pieces of LEGO. Here is an extract from the LEGO main website:
Take the iconic MINI Cooper for a drive! This beautifully crafted LEGO® brick replica of the classic MINI Cooper Mk VII is full of authentic details, from the traditional green and white colour scheme with white wing mirrors and racing stripes to the opening doors, hood and trunk, sporty fog lights, detailed engine and separate spare tire compartment. You can even remove the roof to access a tan coloured interior with patterned seats, veneer-style dashboard, turning the steering wheel, and moving gearshift and handbrake. And of course, no MINI Cooper would be complete without a picnic basket and blanket, the perfect accessories for a fun day in the countryside!
MINI Cooper measures: over 4” (11cm) high, 9” (25cm) long and 5” (14cm) wide

I pre-ordered one before I left for MINI TAKES THE STATES and it ironically it arrived the day I got to the US. There was a consolation prize that in my goodie bag from MINI USA there was Mini Mini of the MINI Cooper which is a super cute tiny version of the LEGO Creator MINI Cooper which fits in the palm of your hand.

Fast forward another 5 years to 2019 and LEGO is back with another team up with MINI with their new speed machines series upon Mini’s 60th Anniversary. They created the giant slayer winning Mini Monte Carlo Rally Car and the infamous winning Dakar MINI Countryman in LEGO-sized fun. Along with Minis there is a pit stop station and stand for the cars to be repaired like they would be in real life.

Here is the extract from the LEGO Website:
Stage a classic vs modern rally race with these cool LEGO® Speed Champions 75894 1967 Mini Cooper S Rally and 2018 MINI John Cooper Works Buggy car toys! The 1967 Mini Cooper S Rally features a roof rack with 2 spare tires, just like the original car, while the 2018 MINI John Cooper Works Buggy has the suspension to drive over rough terrain. Play out exciting rally racing scenarios with 4 LEGO mini figures and a fully equipped pit stop station, including a buildable car jack stand, a mechanic’s creeper, tool racks, assorted tools and computer screen elements.

1967 Mini Cooper S Rally measures: Over 2” (6cm) high, 3” (9cm) long and 1” (4cm) wide.
2018 MINI John Cooper Works Buggy measures: Over 2” (7cm) high, 5” (13cm) long and 2” (7cm) wide.

Pit stop station measures over 5” (13cm) high, 11” (30cm) wide and 4” (12cm) deep.
I ordered my own as soon as it came out and it was trip down memory lane as soon as I took it outside its packaging to look over the box art.
Time to get my master builder on…

Building the Monte Carlo Rally Classic Mini

Building the Dakar Rally MINI Countryman

Building the MINI Pit Stop Station

Here are the finished products!

Let’s go hit the road with some action shots!!!!

Tag me on social media when you get your LEGO MINI set : )
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Above & Beyond: 70 Years of Land Rover

Ali Mir — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 18:14:58 +0000

Every once in a while I like switching things up and going outside of my comfort zone. That day came when I went to watch the WRC rally in Wales with my friend Rob as this was something I have always wanted to watch. Something about rally cars that fascinates me about rally drivers that are driving to their absolute limits with a fine line of in control and imminent roll off into a thick woodland. Maybe its the fact these are road-based cars re-engineered from the ground up for speed, power, grip, traction skirting machines toeing the line between in control and out of control.

I have always said every car has its moment just like how every song in my MINI has a memory attached to it. The vehicle in question that was taken to the WRC was really fitting the ground we were travelling on….
After we watched the WRC, we head to our chariot with the infamous words on the bonnet RANGE ROVER

Yes, Rob deliberately parked it like this!! He was showing off how the auto levelling works on the air suspension.
This wasn’t the first range rover I had been in, but my first encounter with one was back in my childhood at the ripe age of 12 years old with a Mark 1 Range Rover. It was owned by dad’s friend who had two (one black and the other yellow).
Heading back to the Range for comfort, we dial in the sat nav details to lead us to black rocks beach for some off-road action for ourselves. I was presented I was handed the keys to the Range Rover Sport HSE 3.0 TDV6 – 240 BHP & 600 NM on the beach to have my first dose of off-roading fun.

Rob showed me all the buttons and what the functions did with the suspension, ride height, terrain, locking diffs, high and low range. All mind blogging at the time and the excitement of finally driving the king of the hill was immense. My exuberance took full effect when Rob raised the ride height and set it in low range while talking me through all the buttons and tech onboard.
I got a little too excited with the throttle as I was going too fast in low range, so the car told me off followed by Rob saying you gonna overheat the box : / sorrrrryyyyy
After getting familiar with the Range Rover Sport, it was time to see what it could do climbing the dunes and entering craters full of seawater.
This resulted in an impromptu full-on live-action photoshoot.

After the photo shoot, Rob asked how to do a doughnut? I was like that’s easy you just turned the traction control and dump the gas pedal all the way and keep the revs steady and apply opposite lock accordingly to make a circle. Look I will show you??? Firstly I forgot to turn the traction control, so all that resulted in us going an in a circle really fast like I was James May.
I looked at Rob and said sorry my mistake I forgot to turn off the TSC. I then planted my right foot sending the rear tyres into a scrabble as they dug deep into the sand as the front end lifted up to the horizon. The rear end slid away as I guided the front with opposite lock guiding her around to form a perfect circle with the palm of my hand on the steering wheel. I turned back to straight motion and let off the accelerator and said to Rob that how you do it! Let’s switch seats so I can show you?

Rob was dumbfounded on how easy I made it look as he got out and saw the perfect circle in the sand. I said when I had my BMW I used to mess around in the loading area of where I used to work, so I learned a lot of car control just by messing around. Time for you to learn how to drift pro with some car control which resulted in some giggling moments. I am sure the onlookers on the beach were thinking what a bunch of ‘Yobos’.
With offroad test drive done we head back to the asphalt where I got to drive the Sport on the B roads of wales which are tight, twisty and chambered. I felt the Range Rovers size which felt like a battle tank to me as we glided over the road with grace. I felt the sensation to be very commanding on the road as the driving position makes you look down to small cars.
I finally understood why people buy a Range Rover, it makes you feel tank commander! There is nothing that can beat you on the road or offroad and it a nice place to be. You are very much astounded in luxury on board HMS RR Sport in your own gentleman’s quarter. What else amazed me was how the air suspension was levelling out as I was tanking away down the country roads and this BMW couldn’t keep up with me.

This what the BMW saw…….

Amazing as the ability of the Sport was down the road it was this random selective feedback to the wheel. I know I could point it where I wanted to go but there road feel was lacking as it appears one sweeping bend then it just disappears a few seconds later???? This didn’t change in Dynamic mode either which was complexing, but hey at least it’s showing up a BMW. This aerodynamic brick weighing in at 2.5 tonnes and demolishing the ground underneath with ease.
Rob did tell me as I didn’t know that the Sport is essentially a modified Discovery 3 chassis. This makes even more mind-blowing given the Discovery looks like it will fall over if you whipped it around a corner to fast. My hat goes off the LR engineers who made the Sport as it’s a modern marvel to me. It now has a special place in my heart after a few hours behind the wheel. I am sure at some point I will own one add it to ever-growing JCW Adventures fleet.

Now it’s time to fast forward over two years but to the beautiful summer of 2018 where I was invited by Land Rover PR team to make history with them. 2018 was an essential year to them as it was 70 years ago when they Range Rover was launched, so it was only fitting that they graced Goodwood Festival of speed in an opulent manner.
I had my invite, and I knew who I had to take given Rob’s childhood obsession with the brand. You mention the word Range Rover or Defender with him, and you can see the excitement go off in him. I love passion especially when it’s around cars and their stories.
We headed out in my JCW given I wanted to give it a nice run to familiar grounds before to find faults before the heading on the MIR RUN: Euro Trip which would cover France, Germany, Austria, Switerzland and Italy in 10 days and cover over 2,000 miles, 3 Racing Circuits and 4 Car Factory Tours.

Rob had found a gem of a place to stay the night before to allow a more leisurely ride to Goodwood as the traffic queues have got bigger and bigger over time. Plus it allowed us to freshen up, relax and catch up over a meal at a Wagamama.
The sun rose, and it was the next day as we got ready our host had already prepared breakfast for us which was a delight as we conversated in the ambience of the grand room with a beautiful summer’s morning light filtering in. We thanked her for making our stay a pleasant one and we hoped to see her this time next year.
JCW all fired up we headed out to the back roads leading to Goodwood Circuit as Land Rover PR team had a welcoming event, registration and day outline plan to run through to make this one in a lifetime opportunity and a great memory.
There is something about driving to Goodwood: Festival of Speed. Is it knowing what awaits me or is the fact it’s a day driving my JCW in the back roads in the summer with the windows down?

We arrived at Goodwood Circuit to a sight of every iteration of Land Rover every made. We had to take a lap of honour around the parked up Land Rovers throughout the years which is a great marvel in itself.
There was everything from civilian vehicles, special forces, army, emergency services, police, G4 Challenge and special editions to vehicles I didn’t even know Land Rover were remotely capable of manufacturing.
Here are some of those vehicles:

Fun fact for everyone my previous boss David Sparks drove for G4 Challenge who is now the head of branded good for Jaguar Land Rover. He was a great boss and all around nice guy who loved cars, and his car history was an awesome collective mix from a Lotus Exige, Honda S2000, Golf R to a Range Rover Autobiography.
We signed on with JLR for registration and got our wristbands for the festival along with a special booklet, t-shirt and keys to our chariot for the day.

I was given the keys to car number 57 – A Phoenix Orange Discovery Sport in HSE Luxury spec with the black pack. It was a cool looking car on a British summer day which was made even nicer with a luxurious interior.
Once we had done nosing around, we were all brought together for a group briefing to discuss what would happen on the day and how the convoy would drive to FOS.
We would mark history by driving up the Goodwood hill in 70 cars to mark 70 years of Land Rover which is truly an honour.
All the Ranges fired up! We headed out in formation to mark this occasion.

This gave us time to get acquited with the new Discovery Sport which is a massive step from the last Discovery 4. The older Discovery had charm as it was a box on wheels and it felt like when you drove it as it would have massive lean in corners, but it destroys any obstacle under its wheels.
Its often is a car’s faults, and quirks that actually make it a good car in a positive way like the BMW M5 V10 was a great M-Car. The V10 howl is its soul but there are too many settings, drinks fuel and everything breaks on it but you will still love it when it works and you open the taps on it.
The new Discovery Sport drove well and it very much felt like a car but the Diesel engine let it down. It didn’t give it a sense of occasion as it didn’t have low-end torque I thought it would have for an offroader. The gearbox is perfect and but you can run away from the fact there should be shove on hand. There is a massively delay between you pressing the pedal and momentum actually occurring which is let down given how good the outside looks. If that delay would be reduced or completed eliminated the Disco Sport would be a great car as I feel it’s missing that just that bit extra to make it a great car to give you the fizz.

Looking at the exterior of the car as it unmistakable Land Rover in every way and everything is where it should with buttons and layout. The cabin is a great place to be and sit in with leather and soft-touch plastic. The utility of the function of the Disco is perfect in every way as everything is where it should and you can tell it was designed by people who actually take cars offroad.
If you have an offroader, please lock the diffs, take it offroad and get it DIRTY!!!!
We stopped by a farm to regroup and get acquited with one another whilst nosing around each other cars.
Some of her majesty armed forces were with us and they were given a Range Rover Sport SVR which was in Madagascar Orange Metallic paint (vibrant orange paint that contains ChromaFlair giving it a warm yellow to red ‘travel’). By god, it sounds amazing!!! V8 Supercharged glory with a metallic grasp like a swarm of wasps, locusts, rattlesnakes, flying ants, bees and ball bearings fighting out in a dark metallic tube.

So came the time to finally to head to the Hill Climb so we proceeded in a timely fashion and grided up. This was a surreal moment as everyone had their phone outs and they were videoing us like we were some kind of celebrities??? I leaned to Rob said let’s go cement ourselves in history as I smirked.
Who would have thought I would get to drive up the Goodwood Hill? I am just some dude with a car and website there is no special sauce here.
Either way here I am defying all odds like any other plucky brit which is what the Land Rover Brand is all about! It’s about conquering anything in front of you and to go Above & Beyond whatever the obstacle comes your way.
We drove up the hill together making videos and taking as many pics as could to capture the moment. Not too many to miss the moment but saviour the moment which a lot of my generation seem to miss nowadays.

It was a surreal moment as my four years for working for JLR’s owned marketing agency came flooding back. I started doing their marketing since I returned from the states from MINI TAKES THE STATES 2014. Having know people on the factory floor, engineers, artworks, marketers I was proud I was doing their hard work an honour as I rolled this Discovery into the history books.
I was outlining the track layout as I went around to Rob as only a lucky few get to drive or ride shotgun on this asphalt. It only sank in when went under the bridge next to the Goodwood House with the Porsche sculpture captivating the skyline.

We drove near the flint wall which is literally what is and it looks unbelieve sharp. If you take that corner wrong at high speed you will get understeer which will result in you shattering the front end to pieces. Over the years it has become a formidable foe and claimed many race cars and driver’s egos.
Today wouldn’t be my day as switch back past it as I hugged the straw bales and kept the correct line and headed into the woodlands towards the infamous finish line for our own personal victory.
I felt the sense of pride like when Top Gear drove down the mall with everything made in Great Britian.

With history made we parked up next to the Goodwood rally stage all in formation in model years which was another sight in itself. But the temptation to drive on to the rally stage was immense as all I had to was slot the terrain system into loose gravel and mash the throttle into the forest. If Land Rover wants to give me that chance to do that another time I would love to do it…

Having parked up, I bumped in Adnan Ebrahim the founder of Car Throttle who was climbing out the Land Rover Defender Works V8 which sounds exactly what it is. It’s literally Defender with a V8 slot under the hood. I moaned why hadn’t JLR made a G-Wagon rival??? If Mercedes makes the G -Wagon there is clearly a market for Defender to have a V8 with a luxury interior???
Fun Fact: G-Wagon is the most profitable car Mercedes makes in their entire range.
I am glad Land Rover finally did make but they should done it a long time ago!!! But like anything, It’s Better late than never! Let’s hope the next Defender due for 2019 reveal has room for a V8 Motor (Insert Jeremy Clarkson’s American accent).

It was good to chat with Adnan to understand his outlook for Car Throttle and how it has come to age with the manufacturers finally understanding the digital age and communities that surround them. The age of traditional print has moved on and the digital landscape has taken hold to newer generations, and how it opens to everyone in the world wherever they are. Carms & Miss Emma Walsh was in our line up of Land Rovers as well so the world of IG & Youtube royalty was with us on this landmark day.
Rob and I went off to enjoy the rest of the festival of speed. The rally stage part of FOS is the only part I had never been to from all of my six visits since 2011. It was nice hearing and seeing some rally legends in the pit area.

After being done with the rally legends, we headed over the main FOS area to which we had to go through the VIP parking area. Two Mclaren Sennas, Huracan Performante, 670 LT, XJ13, Bullit Mustang, Aston Martin AMR & Giulia Quadrifoglio marked it as no ordinary.

Everyone knows where my next stop is….
MINI’s Stand
MINI Electric Concept – Due 2019
MINI GP3 Concept – Due 2020
Next up was a mix of other brands which I am excited to see and hear on the road and at shows for 2019.
Lamborghini Urus

Hurcan Performante Spyder – Hmmmm that Satin Blue paint

I went over to the URBAN stand to catch with an old MINI friend who works for them as a painter and in sales along with another at the Alpina stand who is in sales.

The next selections of cars were my favourite from the show
The moving motor show had a great selection of the new latest and greatest from Manufacturers.

JLR PR team had a few more surprise for us before we headed home so it was off to the Jaguar Land Rover stand. There was a small presentation with a few drinks to thank everyone who came and brought their own cars to fill in the cars not owned by JLR. Then was the final two gifts left by JLR which was some drifting in Jaguar F-TYPE V6 and offroad experience in the Range Rover to show its capabilities.

First up was Jaggggggggggg and the Ex-racing driver. He told me to buckle as we drifted in a continual onslaught of V6 howl tyre shredders smoke around a short technical circuit with little room for error. Sadly I have forgotten his name but I remember him telling he used to race on real street circuits which were the golden days. I wished myself that it would come back to more towns so people could be inspired and a new generation would follow motorsport and go into motor industry-centric roles.

Finally, the Range Rover arrived, and I took a back seat for this one so Rob could be in his element. We had another driver who took the Land Rover to its limit on the confined course to its climb and descent capabilities. This was a showcase of the full articulation of each wheel separately on the latest Range Rover.

It still amazes me how easy any Range Rover product makes offroading look whilst being basked in luxury. I guess there is nothing like Great British Engineering…

I had a good nose around the Jaguar Land Rover stand and there some fantastic cars for all your needs and terrains. The I-Pace was there which is JLR first full-on plunge into the electric car which is a real contender for the Tesla in every way.

The SVR sunk worked F-Pace which has the full-fat supercharged V8 (This was the last car I did some marketing on)

XE 300 Sport

Range Rover SV Autobiography – Which was in Rob Spec

Range Rover SV Coupe
£250,000 of Two-Door Luxury which will be uber-exclusive at 999 units worldwide

There were a few cars in Darkhorse spec, but the one that caught my eye was Range Rover P400e which is a sign to the future. Hopefully, I will get the chance to drive it and experience where the Range will go into the future…
That was a wrap for the day, and I found more than I thought I would. I got to make history with Land Rover and with creating a great memory with best my friend.

Thank you for everything you have and will do for me Rob, and I hope this friendship lasts a lifetime as I can’t see a day without. Here is to the future and our adventures ahead wherever they make take us. Rob is now part of this once solo team as he will be joining on my adventures and be contributing editor & photographer of the site. Don’t worry he has a Chilli Red R56 JCW N18 as well and few more special other vehicles.
Thank you Land Rover UK PR team for everything and making our time with you priceless & memorable.
A few months later the JCW Adventures fleet grew to have something special amongst the ranks. Here is our Black on Black on Black – Range Rover Velar
Let the Adventures begin….
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Please Take The Next Left: Where has JCW ADVENTURES been?

Ali Mir — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 15:31:06 +0000

Some roads lead you away from your destinations but sometimes it’s the route you need to head down. With that said in mind allow me to reintroduce myself…
I started this MINI Adventure back in 2011 to share my MINI Adventures with my JCW which was built to my spec and she is still with me. Even after all the roads, tracks, counties, magazine shoots, tv appearances, countries and continents she still puts a smile on my face with well over 100,000 miles on the clock I will never sell her. She was made for me and me alone and she has given me so much I don’t think she will ever part from my side regardless of the cost as its memories, smiles, laughs, adventures and friends which have joined me on this MINI Adventure that makes her special to me.
Oh god, she has cost me some money with the high mileage use I do but I couldn’t stay mad when I looked back at her when I parked her or drove her! She just makes me smile every single time after all these years. God, I sound like I am in a relationship with my MINI.

My absence from posting has been for multiple reasons with work, life and other commitments taking me elsewhere so finding the time to sit down and write became difficult.
Fortunately, the adventures did continue past MINI TAKES THE STATES with the now infamous invite only M.I.R Runs, MINI Shows, Press events and European road trips. I have plenty more tell everyone now along with being able to offer advice on how to keep an R56 going past 100,000 miles. It’s even more so given my JCW is LCI model but with the much misunderstood and underappreciated N14 Engine.
Along the way, I have helped join my lifestyle with the MINI community or actually help them purchasing a 1st, 2nd or 3rd Gen BMW MINI. There will definitely be buying guides coming out from to help you look for a used hero or building one to your spec I will give you the low down on everything you need to know.

There will be an official launch of JCW Adventures shop, monthly runs, new and used reviews and partnerships with brands.
Along with this, there will be a relaunch of the Youtube channel as many of you have requested me to get in front of the camera instead of being behind of it.
JCW Adventures will expand further across the automotive landscape as the fleet has increased beyond my R56 JCW. I wanted to touch base with everyone again and just to let you know as with all great legends I will be making a comeback.
Here is a sneak peek to what I have been up to…
Thank you for all your support over the years from all corners of the world!
As Always It’s a MINI Adventure Try to Keep up!
Ali
Founder of JCW Adventures & Owner of BT11WRK

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The post Please Take The Next Left: Where has JCW ADVENTURES been? appeared first on JCW Adventures.

LEGO, Camera & Shots: MINI Brandology

Ali Mir — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 15:07:29 +0000

There are some days when you sit back and reminisce about your childhood, how everything was just FUN and games. MINI has always been a brand to bring out the inner 5 year-old in you to experience the world and everything behind the wheel. Its great when those two worlds collide to make everything that much more FUN! MINI has done it yet again teaming up with LEGO, Go Pro & even built their own Bar

First round is on me!

MINI LEGO

As I kid I would spent countless hours building everything from LEGO from houses to planes. I remember not having the right number of Lego bricks or the wrongs to make something but my imagination filled in the gaps. Lets say my plane didn’t quite look like a concord : /

I woke up in the morning to find LEGO mashable campaign got enough votes for LEGO to put the model into production.

So you can imagine what my face looked like when LEGO teamed with MINI to make the classic Mini.

Queue the music and dance like a ROBOT

Everything is AWESOME!!

Everything is COOL, when we’re you part of a team

The iconic MINI Cooper has been LEGOISED with its classic lines, detailed interior and fun picnic themed. LEGO has made a brick replica of the classic MINI Cooper Mk VII is full of authentic details, from the classic green and white colour scheme with white wing mirrors and racing stripes, to the opening doors, hood and trunk, sporty fog lights, detailed engine and separate spare tire compartment.

You can take the top off to access a tan coloured interior with patterned seats, veneer-style dashboard, turning steering wheel, and moving gear shift and hand brake. There is even a picnic basket and blanket, the perfect accessories for a cosy day in the countryside.

Here are some details on the model

Model Number: 10242 (MINI Cooper)

Number of pieces: 1,077

Pricing: US $99.99 – CA $119.99 – AU $149.99 – DE 89.99€ – UK £74.99 – DK 799.00 DKK

• Opening doors, hood and trunk, spare wheel in separate compartment, detailed engine and 2 fog lights
• Accessories include a picnic basket, bottle and blanket for nostalgic picnic theme
• Classic green and white colour theme with white wing mirrors and racing stripes
• Lift the hood to reveal the detailed engine
• Remove the roof and access the detailed interior
• Go on a countryside picnic with this iconic classic

LEGO MINI Cooper measurements – over 4″ (11cm) high, 9″ (25cm) long and 5″ (14cm) wide

The classic LEGO Mini releases worldwide August 1st 2014

Go Pro

Time to get the camera rolling with Go Pro integration to MINIs

The MINI has never been camera shy with the iconic Italian Job movie, so it only seems right for you to be able create your own little MINI movies.

To start your 15 minutes of fame your MINI must be fitted with the MINI Visual Boost Radio and MINI Connected or XL package. The Go Pro can be controlled through the dashboard or the free MINI Connected App allowing you to shoot video or images on the fly. Your nav screen can be used to see what the camera sees. This is perfect on track for you to get the racing line or adjust your camera for that perfect selfie #nofilter.

This integration is a world first for any car brand with some awesome sauce pre-sets such as a winding road time-lapse, photo bursts, night driving etc.

There are no excuses to share your MINI adventures with the world now

MINI Bar Budapest

Having done all this fun all day there is nothing better than an ICE COLD brew

In the heart of Budapest night life district there is an MINI Bar created by Mr. Balázs Gubcsó with the full support of MINI Hungary & Munich. This MINIac who owns and manages the bar because MINI fever caught him ten years when he got a Cooper S.

This bar is totally inspired by all the design features of the MINI with MINI logos, MINI car parts, MINI mini toys, chequered walls, MINI silhouettes, MINI images and British flags make this bar unmistakably and unapologetic MINI.

This bar makes it a great place for local and global MINI Community to meet and share their MINI Passion whilst enjoying a cocktail and food.

The bar official opened on April 10th 2014 to coincide with the launch of the new F56 MINI in Hungary with over 400 guests attending.

I am going to add this to long list of places I need to go…

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Automotive Renaissance: MINI Superleggera Vision Concept

Ali Mir — Mon, 26 May 2014 19:42:18 +0000

Some cars are meant to be DRIVEN. Some are meant to be admired with a glass of wine while others are designed to eat away the miles. Some are the meant to showcase your wealth and opulence of fine taste. But a few elite models are meant to be lusted after by petrol heads and on lookers alike…

MINI did a real sneaky with the unveiling of MINI Superleggera Vision Concept with the press release, images and video all going live on late Friday evening on the 23rd May 2014. Where was my invite to Italy???

Two of the most stylish nations in the world met together to design a British roadster with Italian flair

Before you start moaning that Superleggera is only for Lamborghini therefore it’s not a real Superleggera. Superleggera means ‘Super Light’ to which it is with aluminium body panels & Carbon fibre chassis and the coach building company who made it is called Superleggera.

Here is a quick history into Superleggera – Started in 1926, Touring Superleggera is forerunner of advanced automotive design and custom coachbuilding. The company is one of the rare firms offering the whole in-house productive cycle from the first sketch, all the way through surface engineering and structural analysis, style models and prototypes, to turn-key, low-volume production of special bodywork.

The company was located just north of Milan, near Alfa Romeo, Italian Citroën, and the former Isotta-Fraschini plant.

Carrozzeria Touring licensed the Superleggera construction system to Aston Martin, who designed and manufactured Superleggera chassis for the DB4 and DB5. Several other manufacturers created automobiles using Carozzeria Touring’s Superleggera chassis construction technology. Notable examples include:

Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Mille Miglia
Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint
Alfa Romeo 2600
Aston Martin DB4, DB5 and Lagonda Rapide
BMW 328 Touring Roadster
Bristol Cars
Ferraris 166, 195, 212 and 340 models
Lamborghini 350GT
Lancia Flaminia Convertible
Maserati 3500GT
Pegaso Z-102

With any great automotive design, anyone has to instantly recognise what is from a glance.

The front of the concept gives it away instantly with the round headlights but from the back I would have no clue to what it could be. Honestly from a distance it could be anything from Jaguar D-type to Marcos Mantis

The design language of the model is very minimalist with just surface creases to emphasis the contours and body line as coach builder Superleggera hand shaped sheet aluminium for the body. The deep lustrous paint is called Como Blue which really brings out the body lines and exposed aluminium touches.

Being a man of finer details there are a few you might miss with the bonnet stripes not actually being bonnet stripes but inlaid bonnet harks a small homage to British of yesteryears. Fuel cap on the front wing is another sporting touch to old racers, while that rear fin is such a Jaguar D-type detail.

There is going to be no question that you have been passed by a British car as the tail lights form the Union Jake.

This model doesn’t seem to be for posers but an out-and-out performance model with the exposed cross braces on the doors and smerk inducing BOOST button the steering wheel. Reading through the press release there was quick mention of an electric motor!

Hmmm will MINI receive the same engine setup from the i8 which shares the same 3 pot engine.

I have always been a sucker from carbon fibre and the concept doesn’t disappoint with a carbon splitter to cut the air infront while the two circular holes in the front bumper are designed to feed the engine air.

This coach building theme is carried on with interior as an infusion of exposed aluminium, Sabbia coloured leather and a digital console make for a real merging of form and function.

To enter this beauty you either literally jump into it or press the open button by the leather wrapped roll bars (I would personally choose to jump in). Whilst you’re in your in, as I don’t think I would want to leave as the seats are a hybrid mix of classic roadster and racing bucket seat with a four point harness.

Now where do I put my driving gloves and shades?

Before I wrote this article I watched a video by Jay Leno on Steve McQueen’s 1956 Jaguar XKSS a real race car for the road. It is definitely worth a watch as it shows what roadsters are meant to be and I think MINI hit the nail on the head with getting Superleggera to build the concept. But MINI could have got it horrible wrong like the Lamborghini 5-95 Zagato.

There is always air of will they or wont they build it with any concept but this concept raises a few more questions than answers…

Will MINI make the F56 bumper look as gooooooodddd as this concept!!!

Is this concept a look into the future? New MINI Roadster? Is this another Concept which wont see the light of day?

BMW tends to do that quite often with the insatiable BMW Z4 Zagato which should be been built

I want to hear your opinions on this concept – Do you like or loathe it?

Next Blog Post: The Last Dash: MINI Lakes Run

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The post Automotive Renaissance: MINI Superleggera Vision Concept appeared first on JCW Adventures.

Heavy Muscle: MINI JCW Paceman Review

Ali Mir — Mon, 05 May 2014 22:14:25 +0000

MINI is NOT NORMAL and always up for a MINI ADVENTURE, so it was no surprise when MINI announced the Paceman to complement the MINI Countryman.This odd ball was officially unveiled at the Paris Motor show in 2012. The Paceman is built on the same platform as the Countryman but with added Joie de vivre at its derrière.

The MINI Paceman is designed to be more of sporty looking Countryman with two fewer doors with a coupe like appearance without losing any of the MINIness, which adds to the reason why you buy a MINI? To be DIFFERENT. But there has to be some level of practicality to the car when you lose two doors and headroom, so MINI slimmed the dashboard and put a smile on your face with a centre console reminiscent of Mickey mouse’s face.

If you’re sat there and wondering what’s the point of it? Have you looked at the BMW 3 series coupe, Mercedes-Benz CL Coupe or Rolls Royce Wraith. Still don’t get the point? People buy cars on looks alone

I hope it’s starting to make sense. If not think of it this way, the MINI Paceman is the weird one of the family who likes to stand out and be seen. Just ask yourself this question – Who is the weird one in your family? If you don’t know who the weird one is in your family is then it’s probably you!

MINI Shrewsbury kindly provided me with a JCW Paceman but it wasnt any Paceman it was the dealership principles, so I was interested to see what CD he had stored in his car…

Rocking the metallic absolute black with JCW red top roof, JCW Bodykit and the standard fitment of 18 inch burnished twin spokes wheels finish off the exterior road presence of the JCW Paceman. Under the hood there is the updated N18 JCW engine which develops 218 Bhp with 300NM of torque on overboost.

On the inside both the Chilli & Media pack were ticked so the Xenon lights, auto lights & wipers, sat nav, MINI connected, Bluetooth were all there for the techno junkies to fiddle with. As you enter the JCW Paceman you are greeted to the JCW door sills and all around more comfortable seats compared to the hatch. The seats in the Countryman & Paceman are how they should have come in hatch with better support for the back and legs regardless of your size.

In the Paceman there is seperate seating for four, each with its own zone and cup holder. The boot space is more than ample for the MINI adventures ahead from the daily grind. This added space is down to Countryman platform being used, while the compact dashboard increases space for the front and back making it great gran tourer with lush sloping rear end.

As we taking about controversy the Paceman seems to be like a baby BMW X6. Its strangely the first MINI to have horizontal rear lights breaking the tradition of the vertical lights but the circle theme remains within the lights and cabin. I gather it was design decision to have horizontal lines to draw you away from how big the Paceman whilst keeping the elegance of a coupe.

Personally I loved the look of the Paceman when I saw concept, it looks miles better than the Countryman and its reminiscent of a BMW X6 which all the girlies love. But I sat there as an aficionado wondering if it would drive like a MINI or would that poor little 1.6 litre be up for the task for lugging around another half a tonne or something.

The Paceman was all ready to go outside of the dealership to what I could describe as a typical British day aka it was cold and raining. This made it a less perfect for video shooting but perfect for me to test out the ALL4 four-wheel drive system. I fired up the JCW Paceman to muted sound to which was a surprised by given the N18 likes to be abit more noisy when the sports mode is activated. I poodled out of the dealership letting the Paceman warm up before the test drive ahead, I pressed the sports button to see if we could get some more noise out of her but sadly she wasn’t playing ball.

That was disappointment number one, where is the noise? well the complete lack of it! I would have thought with sports button on the noise would increase but it clearly didn’t. Maybe the mapping on the JCW Paceman is either for performance or refinement, as no matter how I tried during the test drive it refused to pop n bang.

I tried to think of plausible reason for it not to do so and came to the conclusion it was either the lack of miles on the clock or MINI themselves have muted it because of the different target audience for the car. But like anything MINI it can be improved by the after market, so I whole heartedly recommend a sports cat, catback system or a cheeky removal the resonator to make it sound fruity.

Back to the driving shenanigans, as I drove the JCW Paceman I didn’t think about the four-wheel drive system underneath me as there wasn’t any clunking or greater rolling resistance to get it going. The only difference arrived in the corner as the nature of the JCW engine encourages you to drive fast but the ALL 4 system allows you plant the gas mid corner. This added mid corner ability to put the down the power is what makes the JCW Paceman fun to drive as you learn a new technique of how to drive it through corners eagerly waiting to leave anyone behind in your rear view.

It is addictive to be so leisurely with the throttle as you play cat and mouse with the grip levels seeing how early you can apply throttle through corners. So much so I doubled back on myself a couple of times on the test route, I was grinning to myself on the same section of the road with the locals wondering what on earth I was doing. Sorry guys I practising for this years World Rally Championships ; )

The JCW Paceman with the ALL4 feels more planted than hatch with a feeling of a freight train once you get going. Yes I meant when you get going as the extra weight has blunted the performance, the tail wagging happy nature of the MINI is a little lost under the four-wheel drive and extra weight. It not as rampant as the JCW Hatch which chirps under full-bore acceleration, instead the revs need to be at least 3,000 Rpm before you feel power but the low-end torque nature of the turbocharged engine gives nice shove and responsive throttle off the line.

Despite the reduced performance to 7 seconds compared to the Hatches 6 seconds dash to 60, the JCW Paceman is still a joy to drive even with the higher centre of gravity, ride height and ALL 4 system all having no effect at all on the FUN factor.

I wanted to say NO to buying one as the Paceman is nowhere near what a MINI should be in size and weight but I was left with an impression this is a DADDY’S Car. What do I mean by that? While the MINI Countryman is the yummy mummies car, the MINI Paceman is Daddy’s Cool car!

Why Daddy’s Car? You have all the added practicality of SUV sized MINI with all the benefits wrapped in a sexy coupe body, yet you can still have FUN regardless of the weather and what lies ahead. It’s the perfect I am now a DAD car without making you look like a numpty sat behind I have given up mobile called the MPV.

Dad’s all across the world should rejoice that they can buy a COOL family car with big boot to drive every day regardless of the weather

ps Every Paceman should come preloaded with the song Daddy Cool by Boney M

There is BIG elephant left in the room which is the price. How do I put nicely its £29,535 for a base model before you start specing. My test drive model came to £34,000 which is hard to swallow given the options available at the price from a Land Rover Evoque to the Frankenstein styled Nissan Juke Nismo (I secretly like the JUKE’s weirdness). The Evoque is on par on price and you get genuine off road ability but every Mr & Mrs Jones has one. On the other hand the Nismo Juke is a cheaper JDM alternative with a starting of £20,500 and at that price you get Nismo Bucket Recaros as STANDARD!!!!!

Hmmmm they even made a Batman Edition

Lets step back for a second as you buy a MINI to different from everyone else in the first instance. All MINIacs like to add their own personal touch to make their own and make sure no MINI is truly alike. Is it a rational decision to pay £9,000 more than 2 wheel drive Nismo Juke or more than a frugal two-wheel drive Evoque with a diesel engine at £29,200. Yes, the Evoque maybe more appealing to some and Nismo Juke weird to others but the JCW Paceman gets Four wheel drive as standard.

On a performance standard point of view the JCW Paceman is significantly faster than the Evoque at a similar price, which comes in form of the devils juice of a Diesel engine. Here is a bomb shell for you, to rival the JCW’s performance level who have to pay £41,000 which is a COMPLETE UTTER JOKE!!! But the base Nismo JUKE fights back with no of four-wheel drive and with an equally as punch 1.6 litre turbocharged engine which musters up 197 bhp. The Nismo Juke will sprint from 0 to 60 in 7.8 seconds which isn’t quite enough to keep up with the Paceman at 7 seconds flat time. Nice try Juke Wukey

Now that I have enlightened you the JCW Paceman doesn’t seem so expensive given the performance, looks and build quality compared to its rivals. The JUKE is a value proposition, the Evoque is just the poor man’s Range Rover and the MINI Paceman is the modern mans’ choice for an urban SUV. Its been a dumb media hype which has had everyone thinking and including me that JCW Paceman is expensive when it’s not! The Paceman is great car to drive which makes you feel good whilst you know its that bit more special than its rivals

Review Score: 4/5

The MINI JCW Paceman is an odd ball of the MINI family, logically it makes no sense but looks alone sell cars. This looker does have style and substance which makes it the perfect gran tourer for long MINI Adventures away or Daddy cool to have FUN on the school run

Huge Thank You again to MINI Shrewsbury for their support and allowing me to review the JCW Paceman

Next Blog Post: The Last Dash: MINI Lakes Run

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Behind the Lens: Modern MINI Magazine Photoshoot

Ali Mir — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 18:52:13 +0000

I didn’t think I would be here when I went into the dealers to spec my JCW. Little did I know my choices and persona would translate in my JCW being loved the world over. I was that kid who picked up car magazine and flicked through them, wondering one day I could own a car just like that. Modern MINI Magazine gave me that chance for my JCW to grace its cover for MINI owners and for some kid to look up to my JCW.

I have always said that my JCW changed my life and it did, when I showed you ‘My MINI Story’ late 2013. The road to this moment was hard given the pain in 2011 but it was a blessing in disguise with my JCW keeping me going. Along the way the JCW has changed and so have I with the people I have met across the world. I still scratch my head on how a car can bring so many different people together because of their love of MINI.

It’s soon coming to 3 years since I drove my JCW out of the showroom and BT11 WRK was brought into the world, so I wanted to do something special to mark this occasion. I contacted MINI Modern Magazine about having a feature and asked for some tips on becoming a automotive journalist and Sarah didn’t shy away from helping me. I truly appreciated her advice and took it forward be contacting various local newspapers and media outlets for a freelance or voluntary roles but sadly I was unsuccessful so I carried on with my website.

Some people have mocked it, I have told my big organisations my publication isn’t big enough to allow me access to events and I have been called a ‘talented amateur’. From all those negatives all it takes for a single person to come over to me at show just say I have read the blog and follow you on instagram for it all to vanish. It’s the passion within me that drives me, the loyal supporters and that random person saying ‘Nice car’.

People have asked why the batman references in my online presence and JCW? Because Bruce Wayne lost everything dear to him and all that money he couldn’t do anything. Yet through his pain, suffering and angry he was shaped into The Batman a character which I have watched from my childhood to the present day. The caped crusader has battled with his inner demons and his direct opposite The Joker whilst sticking to his strict code of not killing and doing the right thing. I could do on for days I how draw upon this fictional character but I secretly wished I was a billionaire philanthropist and had my own Alfred.

Will you wanting the Batpod, Sir? In the Middle of the day Alfred not very subtle. The JCW then?

You can read into as much as you want about me or Batman but the ‘Dark Knight’ nickname wasn’t given to my JCW by me but instead of other MINI owners after meeting me. But you will have to wait a bit longer for me tell you the meaning behind my Instagram name of D4rkhorse…

The email came through in the middle of the 2013 nearing the end of the show season, Modern MINI Magazine wanted to do a feature on my JCW and wanted arrange a date for the shoot. I was contacted by James Wallace aka Jimbo a freelance car photographer who is outright car nut!

Here is his story

I’ve loved cars and everything with wheels ever since I could bury Micro Machines and Matchbox cars in my Mum and Dad’s garden as a littl’un.

That genuine passion and enthusiasm for everything automotive miraculously turned into a job as the Deputy Editor for VW GOLF+ magazine back in 2003. Fast forward to 2010 and the decision to try my hand as a freelance snapper and writer has seen my work published in Performance VW, Volksworld, Camper + Bus, Miniworld, Classic American, VW GOLF+, Total BMW, Fast Car, Performance BMW. Redline and Retro Car magazines.

Primarily it’s a passion before a job and the people who have spent months, years, even decades building their dream machines deserve someone who cares about the results as much as they do

Top Bloke!

For more info here is his website

You see what I mean that he loves his car and being around them so you can imagine the time he had around me and the JCW.

With a time and date set, I got my Mr Miyagi on for my JCW’s big day

The next day James arrived at my house so we could travel together to my photo shoot location of choice and as luck would have it rained : /

With introductions done and the JCW met we rolled out together to Cannock Chase the location of the photo shoot. The CQuartz coating and CarPro Reload were working their magic at motorway speeds as the beading was insane as the JCW was self drying. By the time we got the Cannock Chase all I had to do was to blast the JCW with a quick detailer and she was ready to go.

You might be wondering what Cannock Chase is?

Cannock Chase is located between Cannock, Lichfield, Rugeley and Stafford. It comprises a mixture of natural deciduous woodland, coniferous plantations, open heathland and the remains of early industry, such as coal mining. In short its like a national park/area of beauty but it happens to have long straights and some twisites which was perfect for my shoot as I didn’t want the generic parking lot or graffiti wall backdrop as I am NOT NORMAL.

I found a spot which was perfect because it allowed plenty of space for different shooting angles, backdrops and rolling shots.

I parked up her up to the backdrop of the forest and clear blue skies

Jimbo whipped out his camera gear and began working his magic whilst all the walkers, cyclists and drivers buzzing around came to a stand still as they saw the flashes and peperami action (that’s not a typo – Ali G movie reference).

We had a great little chats about how I went about choosing a JCW after I test drove a lot of cars before settling on ordering a JCW

Jimbo had a few cheeky stories to tell which brought a smirk to my face as he said the birds love the MINI

I dived into the history of my JCW, MINI UNITED 2012, national geographic shoot and all the people have met along the way

The feature on my JCW is for everyone to see how my MINI changed my life and that is more than the some of its parts while being a personification of my personality.

What I loved about working with James was hee understood that every car has past and every owner has a story.

He wasn’t mucking about when he was taking SHOTS as he began to lying down on wet mud???

I was like what are you doing mate? I can great a shot from down here!

You sure James? Yeah I am fine mate

What about your clothes? Doesn’t matter

A real photographer and car lover going above and beyond his duty

As we began getting some great shots it started to rain so everything got packed away but we were back at again it as it was short sharp showers but it was a constant battle as mother nature had other ideas. I was constantly drying down my JCW whilst James was trying not to get the gear all soaked whilst flashing away with the camera.

After all the still shots were done we went for some rolling shots as I wanted to show off the DRLs given the lack of MINIs having them plus I knew a nice little section of road with a banking corner which would look amazing. Yet again it rained and whilst James sat amongst the grass, mud, stones and drive by traffic near the road like a ninja and took shots of the JCW coming full throttle out the bends and driving past him as I went the other way for multiple runs.

As the batteries and memory cards filled up or ran of juice the shoot came to an end with me only seeing a few images on the little camera back screen I knew I had to wait till the next issue of Modern MINI Magazine before I would see them which made the drive home gut wrenching.

As the days rolled past and last event of the MINI show came to a close and winter drew in everything was quiet expect my inbox when James emailed back saying the write up needs to done to fill the pages of my feature. I filled in the questionnaire and sent it back which was returned with a phone call from James saying you couldn’t have it even more passionate if you hand the keys to me for a week. I am just happy to share my story with everyone and I hope everyone enjoys reading as I am only a newcomer to the MINI scene since the summer of 2012.

To mark the 2nd year anniversary of jcwadventures.com I will be flying over to the states to do MINI TAKES THE STATES but I will be bringing along two members of The Fast Five (Christine and Phil) so look out for the infamous black and English accent. I am riding shotgun with LilCoopr aka Christina in her Cooper S Convertible ‘Stell4’ and I couldn’t think of a better person do the trip with!!! She is another MINIac who has deep-rooted passion for the brand and our MINIs are very much personification of our individuality.

Why not ship over The Misses? I looked into it and it came to £3,000 which is too much consider without me selling a kidney

I am most looking forward to meeting alot of my US Instagram followers and supporters of the website

Back to the flashing lights! My JCW will be gracing the cover Modern MINI Magazine on this month – 28.03.14

It is available to buy in all good news stand and news agents in the UK

For the digital techies and international readers it is available to digital download on the App store & Android by searching for – Modern MINI Magazine

I would like to give a special thank you to Sarah of Modern MINI Magazine for publishing my JCW and being great person to talk for advice and all things MINI.

James thanks you for making The Misses look sexy and putting up with the rubbish weather. I don’t know how you put with me for a few hours but I am truly thankful for the shots and immortalising my JCW to pages of Modern MINI Magazine.

www.modernmini.co.uk

Next Blog Post: F56, GP2 & R56 model range reviews

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The post Behind the Lens: Modern MINI Magazine Photoshoot appeared first on JCW Adventures.

MINI Factory Tour: The Last R56

Ali Mir — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 18:20:16 +0000

Home is where the heart is RIGHT? I feel most at home with my family, friends and my MINI. But this time it was my JCW turn to go home from where my order left the dealer’s desk and was transmitted in a series of 0 and 1 through the MINI network to plant Oxford.

Two months later she was born to take me on my MINI adventures far and wide. It has been over 2 years on I still love her like the day I first picked up her. 2013 was year for celebration for MINI & Plant Oxford as it marked 100 years of car making at plant Oxford and the MINI brand celebrating 50 years of the Cooper S and 250,000 Countryman left the factory.

The MINI brands has taken leaps and bounds since his it rebirth in 2001 when BMW release the R50 to the world. That famous badge and brand power drew in old and new consumers to the brand for nostalgia and the infamous go karting handling. Now in 2013 the brand has expanded with the hatchback not being the only variant with the Clubman, Clubvan, Convertible, Coupe, Roadster, Countryman and Paceman.

There is a lot more choice when you buy your MINI with over a million combinations of parts and accessories no real MINI is truly alike which is big difference from 1959 when only 3 colours were only available Clipper Blue, Cherry Red and Old English White for the first 3 years of production.

Lets bring the lime night back on to me I am always been firm believer that you should always give back to the world. I have saying ‘The way you treat people is the way you feel inside’ and I have searched long and hard to find a charity to work to make a real difference to people’s lives.

I came across the Action for children charity as I was applying for graduate roles. I put my name forward to volunteer for an event called Byte Night which is a sponsored sleep out to raise money and to remind yourselves what millions of homeless people feel every night. The big IT companies employees and high-ranking board member were there for the sleep in with over £1 million being raised that day with events across the UK. After learning more about the Action for children from Kim I will be organising a MINI event in Birmingham which will be my own take on the London job which will happen in April.

Details will follow soon…

Modding bug isn’t too far away too far away from me and I finally picked up the carbon fibre boot handle for my JCW to finish the carbon touches to the outside of my JCW. Installation took 5 minutes as it was just a few torx screws. Too match my shiney new carbon fibre goodies I clayed and waxed the JCW ahead its homecoming to the Factory. Time to bring out the SNOWFOAMMMMM It being ENGLAND it rained on the day : / But on the journey there I spotted a camouflaged Land Rover. He tried to get away from me taking piccies but I was having now of that!! POOOOOWWWWAAAAAAAA!!!!! The closer I got to Oxford the more MINIs I began to see on the motorway and normal roads. As soon as I went to turn right into the plant I spotted the Surrey New MINI (SNM) convoy at the lights and so I slowed down for all of us to roll in together

: D

There was an addition to the SNM family as Vickie had trade in her JCW Clubman for another new JCW Clubman to her spec NOM NOM

She went for the Reef Blue paint previously a exclusive paint to the Hampton edition and then specd the Harmon Kardon system, Chilli and Media pack with championship leather with red door and dash trims.

It is a REAL STUNNER with the colour coded arches in the Reef Blue paint and its been given awesome name of ‘Squidward’

I was filled with excitement as it has been a long time coming for me to do the factory tour as I had watched the National Geographic channel Mega factories documentary on the production of the MINI Coupe & Roadster.

I wanted to see in person how machines and people put all the millions of parts and billions combinations of options together day in day out. It was made clear from the outset that MINI was proud of the factory that plant Oxford had been producing cars for 100 years given the number of banners and logo plastered everywhere. I gave my autograph at the desk to sign in and grabbed the MINI black overalls for the factory tour and placed all my belongs into a locker, as no cameras or phones would be allowed into the factory. Do not worry! Where I was allowed to take photos I did. First up was the MINI museum which housed all the R56 onwards concepts and other models produced at the Plant Oxford. It was the breath of models and manufactures that stunned me and how tastes, culture and customer demands have shaped the automotive industry over the years. It funny how what once was an option extra is now standard in alot of cars. This hall of fame of how the MINI brand has evolved over the years is amazing from the marketing, advertising, production and worldwide success has brought millions of consumers in to buy that infamous badge. The factory hasn’t just produced car as during the world war parts for machinery and even planes were made. Me being me I decided to take on the robot for a dance off to see who could the best robot dance moves. Sadly robo arm is retired, Pssshhh Excuses. The SNM crew were all called up and bundled into a van to which would take us into the MINI factory to see how this four-wheel pocket rocket was made.

We were honoured to have Ian Cummings as our factory tour guide for the day. You may not know who is he but he has worked at the plant for sometime so he has seen different cars and models begin and leave the plant under his leadership.

The factory is separated into 3 sections:

Body in white – This is where the panels and exterior shape is formed

Paint – This where every individual car receives it colour

Assembly – This is the final stage where all the components come together

A MINI rolls off the production line every 68 seconds Every MINI life starts out in the body of white where robots apply 4,000 points weld to each body shell including adding the roof.

Once the welds are complete a random check is done by a specialist auditor to ensure the body weld are correct.

If are doesn’t meet this checks it scrapped and recycled to begin the process again but a lucky few are given a chance again as they are turned into track cars for the MINI Challenge series.

The body shell continues it life in the body of white assembly line where the bonnet, boot and doors are added.

Each are car is inspected by human using their hands to find any blemishes and to address them if need be. If each major faults are found this information is relayed back to see what caused it and to stop it from occurring again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1vWr2ufSbo

After passing inspection the body is continued on a conveyor belt to the paint section. The MINI body which has a chemical bath and a rinse shower to ensure each MINI is dirt free of anything especially including oil and dust before it receives it colour.

An Human inspection is done again to see if they are as clean as possible before the coat dip (primer). Next up is the sealing process where every hole and joint is made water tight by hand (Fun Fact – Every week 4 tonnes of sealant is used).

The sealing continues with the undercarriage is seal with a plastic coating to protect the body of stone, road grime and salt.

The body is then cooled for one hour then dusted by ostrich feather which is strangely still the best way to attract dirt, dust and oil. Now the paint can be applied which is done by both human and robots to ensure every corner of body shell/panels gets painted.

A final clear coat is applied to protect the paint and to give that gloss finish.

Off to the oven the for the MINI to make sure the paint is dried then inspection begins to find any imperfections. If any problems are found they buffered out and once there aren’t any a final buff and wax is done.

Now beings the final production stage at the assembly plant which has 5 major stations with a workforce which is spilt into 2 crews which fix on around 2,000 parts to each MINI.

Each worker has a specific role to complete in a 68 second deadline and 850 individual MINIs leave the factory every day!

Once the MINI hits the production line its given its VIN number and the doors are removed to allow easy access to the inside of the car.

Now the wiring harness of car is fitted which is 1 and half km long and runs from the boot to the engine bay.

Once the wiring has been fitted the dash-board and interior panels are installed, elsewhere whilst this is going the engine is simultaneously being built every minute. Once the engine is complete the engine is loaded on to pre assembled front suspension frame.

The marriage of the body and engine can now begin where robots and human install the engine together. Now all the other major components such as the seats, rear suspension, exhaust and wheels are added on.

The doors come back to the car to be reinstalled and last few touches are now the final touches and badges are applied give the MINI is identity.

All the fluids are added to drive the newly born MINI off the line to be tested to find any squeak or rattles before its put on to trailer to sent to the customer.

Now that I have gone through the process of how your MINI was made its time to let you guys and girls know how it felt to be there and extra surprise for me to see the F56 in production in both 3 door and 5 door variant.

It was a shock to see them there and were told not to look?? So I leaned against the guard rail to see the interior, the finish and to see what options were fitted on to the models.

They were a few Coopers and Cooper S in that Volcanic Orange and Deep Blue which were probably be press and demonstrator cars leave the factory to go around the globe. I am still not sold on those rear lights and lower bumper intakes on the S as they bigger than my head & ego combined. However everything else is on point with increased plushness in the cabin, more toys and options to be had.

Will I buy a F56? Yes but It’s another few years before I take the plunge again on purchasing another JCW as this powerhouse is coming in 2015 and it will be at least 2017 before I put my hard-earned cash down again for one. I will be requesting a custom paint for mine…

Some might moan about the increased sizes but I welcome the longer wheelbase as that extra few inches in the Clubman makes the car handle better on handling and ride comfort front. I fell in love with the Clubman when I had a fully loaded JCW Clubman from MINI UK when I was having a nightmare with mine.

Anyway back to the factory floor, tucked away in the corner were a few camouflaged MINIs which were the 5 door variant Hatch and what is the forthcoming Clubman. Another thing that caught my eye was the lack of the JCW models being made on the production line as I only saw 2 JCW being made which both were going abroad given the different front plate mount.

The tour was finished by Ian Cummings leading us back into the Van to head back to the Museum to gather our belongs. After this we lined up all our MINIs across the 100 years anniversary banner outside the Museum for piccies : D

But where ever I go the press isn’t far behind with their cameras and tape recorders…

But seriously the local paper had come down to take photos of the SNM clubs but sadly the finish article was the total opposite to what we expect.

But sad news was later heard as the R56 Hatch had officially stopped production marking an end of era and but the beginning of another…

After leaving the factory behind I had this sense of pride that manufacturing still occurs in the UK and MINI brand is very much still deep rooted in every generation in the UK. Its one of the reasons why the Fast Five had British flags attached to their aerials with pride at MINI UNITED. No matter where we have gone the red, white and blue flag is our home and those famous 3 colours were donned on the Minis in the Italian Job, which arguable the greatest car film ever!

The R56 will always be the greatest car ever to me given the personal and emotional connection I have my MINI as its more than a piece of metal but an extra of my personality.It has taken me on a journey of a life of lifetime and introduced me to people who I would have never met whilst put a smile on my face.

Thank you R56

Next Blog Post: Is MINI the new Porsche??

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