The Independent American Magazine for all Mini Owners
Issue link: http://mc2.epubxp.com/i/33537
MC2: Five Years and Counting ome six years ago I had an idea. Somehow, I con- vinced my wife to work with me on this nutty idea of starting a US-based MINI Cooper magazine. We hired Gary Anderson as our founding editor. We found contribut- ing staff, a printer, and the required parts of the puzzle came together very fast. It took less than seven months for the puzzle to assemble, and on Halloween night 2005 we opened the door to the first MC2 website. Then on December 7, we printed and readied the mailing of the first issue of MC2 in two waves that month. For those of you who are Charter Subscribers, we mailed out over 1,500 Cousin Ernie T-shirts in January 2006 as part of the deal. (My wife, Pat, says that she still has flashbacks of stuffing the envelopes with all the T-shirts!) Some five years later, the dream survives. Although 27 auto magazines have ceased publishing in the US during the past two years, MC2 is alive and well. No, we’re not setting publish- ing records, and we don’t have the quantity of pages we printed in 2008, but we’re about to change that and the Mini/MINI community in several ways. I would like to say we’re about to change the game in a major way or two! By now some of you have visited our 24/7 Mini/MINI video site, www.minicoopervideos.com, that we launched this past November. Next up to the plate is the re-launching of our aging www.gomotoring.com. This is our answer to the US-based auto forums and news sites with “exclusive” news that’s not. After all, much MINI news starts in Germany, and some news starts in England, coming from our new friends that are not visible to the North American community. So why several US-based sites take credit for the information and insights of others, we don’t understand or find it proper. With GoMotoring editor, Neil Chirico’s help, we’ve started to build the content into “GM” that will be hard-hitting and factual, and when it’s not 100 percent fact, we’ll say so in our own words and with our mascot, Scooper’s personal opinion. There’s a lot to talk about in turbo engines, such as the known engine damage from using 23 percent ethanol in our gas, confirmed engine damage from too many miles between oil/ filter change intervals, and the EPA-certified 265hp engine that fits under your 2012 MINI’s bonnet. We are planning our GoMotoring to be a site with a depth of global information on daily news, general information from MINI and community sources, club info, contacts, event calendars and events, info, news and insight from private repair shops and technicians, reports on races and racers, offers and insights from MINI dealers, the latest news on hot parts from the global tuning companies, and a editorial surprise or two. 10 www.mc2magazine.com The best part of all this, is that we have about $10,000 in prizes for readers and viewers of MC2, and our sites, to win. It starts with two certificates for Bridgestone tires worth $1,200 each, three Sirius/XM radios, and a Quicksilver exhaust system. We have goodies from our own MC2 General Store, too. We’ll be seeing you at our GoMotoring and MiniCooperVideos sites today! The best news is that for the past two years, several commit- ted Mini/MINI owners have been working to start a national Mini/MINI club with sanctioning by BMW Munich. We are happy to report that a non-profit club that embraces both classic and new MINI owners will be ready for a Spring 2011 launch. We invite anyone wanting to help organize a chapter, help organize regional or national events, lend a hand etc., to contact us at publisher@mc2magazine.com so we start a solid contact base. We are already working on our first major event with a racetrack in 2011. Speaking of events, MC2 had a great time at MINIs In The Mountains this year and plans on returning August 2011. We would have loved to make the Merry MINIs In The Mountains event, but we have been informed that it’s moving to a great location in northern Arkansas, so we’ve made plans to join them there 2011. This could be the start of another great national event! Speaking of events, not yet confirmed by any executive of MINI anywhere, MC2 and our contacts believe you might want to start learning something about Portuguese culture, as MINI United 2011 will be held in Portugal, possibly in late May 2011. We’ll keep you updated on GoMotoring! With the addition of the Countryman (SUV?) early January, and the coming of the “Sports Coupe?” in the first days of August 2011, MINI ownership and enthusiasm is about to take a giant leap in numbers. MINI USA tells us that they plan to sell as many 2011 Countrymans as they did all 2001 models. It looks like their 10th year is to be a grand celebration. By the model-year 2013, they may bring the diesel to the US and reach 80,000 unit sales. What model takes them over the 100,000 unit volume in what year is the question that begs to be answered! We think you’ll find our GoMotoring.com site of fascinating interest, so log-on now, read for yourself what we believe in, as our passion for this brand and its history shows through. After all, both your Editor and Publisher are English! S minimal thinking pu ou can con Y h blser i @mc2magaz tact P n u blser Bar ie.com. r ih y Br azer by emai i ln ig h i m at: