An American in Brighton

You may recall in an ancient issue of Mini Tech News, the picture of a strange chap in a hat, caught at a Californian Mini meet. the caption of 'Would you buy a used car from this man?' was particularly cruel, as Donald Racine Esq. is, in fact, the American agent for Mini Spares, with his Mini Mania shops based on the western and eastern seaboards of the United States.
Don Racine is not a shy man, nor is he in any way reserved. He will talk Minis with anyone, anywhere, for the longest possible length of time. His enthusiasm for the subject is more than infectious - it is absolute. But that is what you must expect from the foremost authority on Minis and Sprites in America.
He is the kind of man we need as a contributor to Mini Tech News.
We are pleased to include two stories in this issue from Don, 'An American in Brighton' and 'Mini Superchargers!', and we hope he will write more for us in the future.
Another issue. Another ego. But we can take it, can't we men?                                                                                                                                                                              As an older Mini Owner (my age not that of my Minis) that has been to the UK more times in the last 20 years that I can remember, it was a real treat to be asked to accompany the  MiniSpares team of young studs (most of them anyway) on the annual London to Brighton Mini run! During my many, many trips to the UK I have seen it all, all except a real Mini  gathering! I've been to races, to Beau lieu , to swap meets (Boot sales?), to club events, to autocrosses, etc. etc. But I've always seemed to lack the planning to arrive during a major Mini Show! I've missed the last two intemational Mini Meets at Silverstone. etc. As a result, Minis I've seen the most of, are what I consider the everyday cars. The typical Mini in the UK is still driven daily, in contrast to those in the USA that aremore toys than necessities. In the USA at any Mini gathering, it is typical that over 50% of the cars are very special and have had an enormous amount of attention and dollars spent on them! Up until this recent trip from London to Brighton, I thought that it was very rare in the UK to find a group of Mini owners that could spend more time and money on their cars than they do here in the USA.
My commission from Mini Spares was not the ideal Mini Run! Instead I was allowed to participate with the very enthusiastic crew that was loading the van and taking a selection of goodies to entice the participants. Now since I'd never been to one of these events I was not sure what to expect and tried to take everything in my stride. Since I was in London on a business trip that required lots of driving, I had rented a typical hire car, not the ideal car for a Mini to Brighton run. As the whole trip was business and not just a play weekend, I decided that I would have to depart Brighton after the event and proceed to my next appointment and thus it was not practical for me to drive a borrowed Mini. But that didn't make a big difference since Mini Spares was a vendor and had to set up their display early. The trip down was only a tour of Mini Spares employees since a van was required to haul the goods and I had to continue my travels in the hire car. Several other chaps were simply driving from different locations so the only Mini on our mini tour was the fabulous Mini Spares Fuel Injected Eight port, 5-speed Mini! My hire car ( I don't even remember what it was) was not even a close match for the Mini; in speed, handling or looks! The driver of the Mini was  great at teasing those of us forced to drive in control! I've had the opportunity in the past to drive this Mini and have an awful lot of respect for it's abilities but the competitive spirit in me was still vexed with the performance differences between my hire car and the Mini. Alex, the driver ( in control? ) was obviously enjoying the great ride, as he would slow down to let our little four catch up with him and then just as quick he would disappear in a cloud. The 5- speed gives the Mini a performance edge that it has needed for many, many years and when you add the Fuel Injected Eight Port - the combination is awesome! Keith Dodd personally tweaked the suspension on this little jem and the handling is up to the very high standards of engine and gearbox!                                                                                                                                                      The Mini was driven hard (as they were intended to be driven), even though the intent of bringing this special Mini was to add it to the display being prepared for the vendors area. It was very gratifying to note that from rough driving to display only required the brushing off of some road dust!
An early moming, empty beach Brighton can be just as inspiring as several hours later, when it was jammed with Mini maniacs. The morning air was cool but the forecast was for a great day in England! Now I have to tell you that being from California I'm used to nice, yes even great days almost every day, but I was still impressed at the cooperation of the weather gods. I have to admit that my invitation to participate could have stemmed from my reputation of always bringing great Californian weather to the UK during every one of my trips! In fact now that I think about it, that was probably why I was invited to the wedding of Keith's daughter!
The vendor area was on the sidewalk nearest the beach, with all the Minis displayed in the road along the sidewalk! The Mini Spares display was simple and effective. I was allowed (?71) to help set up the display, but even more surprisingly, I was permitted the opportunity to service customers! (Don, I've allowed you a few Americanisms, but you may get into trouble with this one. G.A.). Now this was a real treat! Having done this for the last t 5 years here in the USA in my own store (Mini Mania), it was more of the same and yet still quite different! Since we are the Mini Spares agents here in the States, all the unique Mini Spares manufactured parts were very familiar to me. The difficulty only came from knowing the prices in British Pounds - I hate to admit that more than one customer paid less than cost when my mind only worked in dollars and spoke in pounds! The fascinating part of the experience was the absolutely blase reaction from the average Mini owner that I spoke to! Here I was, trying to answer the questions, find the parts and generally help the customer with a true Californian accent and nobody noticed!!! I think I spent the entire day talking to people without a single person noting my accent or actually the lack of one, as we would say  here in the States.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     But I did not spend my entire day behind the Mini Spares display - I took lots of time to roam the fabulous collection of Minis! I was truly impressed with the quality and variety of the models seen! I got some great ideas for people here in the States and spoke with some nice people! 99% of the Minis here in the States still have 10" tires since the last year they were legally imported was 1968 and while I have driven many Minis in the UK with 12" and even some t 3" wheels -I've never been in love with the looks; until now! I saw many, many cars with the Mini Spares type dress wheel and very low profile tires, that absolutely looked perfect! I can now recommend them with real self confidence in the appearance and  presentation! The quantity of cars was just about as overwhelming as the quality! I guess I have been to several club events in the UK with just about an many cars but never as tightly
packed into such a space and never with the quality of cars! The quality of cars present was particularly impressive as most of them were still daily drivers - here in the states when we have a national meet it is not uncommon to find 30 to 40% of the cars trailered to the event! Of course you have to understand that the events are typically held in the middle of the States which means that the average person has to drive at least 24 hours to get there!
The event was also a good one for me as it allowed easy access to numerous other Mini vendors! Although I have been THE Mini Spares agent here in the States for the last 10+ years I often visit other suppliers to help understand the business and continue to reassure myself that Mini Spares is the most comprehensive, competitive supplier in the UK! But I was very surprised at the quantity of vendors with toys and models of the Mini! Model collection is not done with the fever here in the States that it apparently is in the UK! But still I was
impressed at the quantity and quality of Mini models from all over the world! If you want reassurance of the international attraction of the Mini all you have to do is take a quick look at the country of origin of many of the toy Minis!' My personal toy collection was improved during my stroll through the vendors!
The event seemed to start in a flash, I looked up from setting up the display and cars were arriving, and it seemed to end the same way! One minute I was looking at the cars and helping customers and the next minute I was fighting traffic away from Brighton - all in all a great way to spend a Sunday!
Don Racine