As most of you would know I have two cars, Snuffy the Patrol, and Leroy the Turbo Diesel Pug, a cheap to run runabout for daily commuting.
When Amy and I got married we added Amys car, a Nissan Micra, known as Stevie, to the garage, giving us a grand total of 3 cars.. 3 cars for two people..
When we got married the Patrol was down an alternator and so having three was actually useful, but overall in the long run 3 is overkill and doesn't make much sense.
Now the obvious solution here is to sell one and keep the other, right? Well, Yes, but that's boring. Amy has always wanted a Mini, and we had an opportunity to sell the Micra back to her parents, to become her sisters first car, and someone else is interested in Leroy, so we thought lets sell them both and see if we can find a Mini, so we went looking around..
Meet Sheldon: The John Cooper Works Mini Cooper
Amy has always wanted a Mini, and I have always liked the new models but never really considered owning one until now, I was happy to get Amy her dream car, but I thought, lets try and find a Cooper S, something I can have fun in too! So we went looking, we drove a clapped out Cooper S here in devonport, and we drove a boring run of the mill Mini in Evandale, and then I found Sheldon on gumtree, and it looked so good that I thought I just have to go and have a look at that, at the time I hadn’t considered it an option due to its price, I just wanted to have a look at the creme de la creme of Mini’s, and hopefully have a drive of it!
Well I did, and I walked away thinking that would be the perfect Mini for us, only 2 owners, low kms, and has been extremely well looked after, the thing was spotless, and drove like a brand new car, even smelled like one! Despite being a 2008 model, so we bought it, and we love it, its fast, comfortable, and lots of fun! I find myself actually enjoying the trip now, not just keen to arrive at my destination. I enjoyed the Pug, but it was just a commuter car.
And the best part, it sounds amazing! It has a full stainless steel low back pressure exhaust system, it sounds great, and its loud enough to be noticed, but not loud like tho wankerish commodore etc getting about.
Here’s a link to a video I found on youtube showing what it sounds like, it sounds way better in person, but you’ll get the idea: https://youtu.be/XdoCJ0j0A4Y?t=599