Where's the MINI?

JCW MCS is indeed making the voyage home to California. The MINI left the port of Rotterdam on 21 September and is due back in L.A. on 16 October. The latest position of the car? It's located somewhere to the south of Ireland and making its way out into the Atlantic.



So why did it take so long for the MINI to get on a ship to go home? If you've followed the story of our adventure to Europe you realize that the cost of getting the car to Amsterdam was exponentially more than planned. Our shipping partner in Rotterdam informed me about the possibility of sharing container space with another car headed to L.A. but I would have to wait until late September for the car to leave Rotterdam. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to save a bit of money (anything helps with the horrid US Dollar/Euro exchange rate!) at the expense of getting the car home earlier.

Indeed, I do miss the MINI but now I'm only a few weeks away from driving the car again.

Maserati Granturismo Video Review on Fifth Gear

One of my favorite television shows out of the UK (the other being Top Gear), Fifth Gear presenter Tom Ford discusses the new Maser GT. The review does nothing to stem my automotive lust for this car... especially in blue!




Video courtesy of Fifth Gear.

JCW MCS Finally Has a Return Date

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been busy settling in at my new home and that endeavor has been taking up a lot of free time. I do have news about my MINI: it should be back in L.A. on October 16. Why such a long time since the end of my journey in Europe? I'll tell more and post the latest photos of the car still in-port in Rotterdam when I get a chance.

I'm just happy that I'll see the car less than a month from now!

MC2 (Squared) Magazine MINI United Coverage

The September/October 2007 issue of MC2 (Squared) Magazine should be hitting store shelves soon or is already available and this latest edition has extensive coverage of summer's major MINI happening in Holland. A good read and we even got our picture and some coverage in the magazine! More to come about our European adventure in upcoming issues so stay tuned. In the meantime head down to Borders or Barnes and Noble or your favorite magazine reseller and pick up a copy of MC2.

If you want to see more MC2 coverage of the events at MINI United on the internet then click on this link:

MC2 Does MINI United Zandvoort

Fiat 500 Comes to the US by 2010?

The Fiat 500

I just finished reading my copy of Winding Road Magazine. If you haven't seen this digital monthly and like cars then you owe it to yourself to check it out.

The October issue spends time with two cars that I really like: the Fiat 500 and the Maserati GranTurismo. Both get big thumbs up.

The Maserati is just plain beautiful. Period. An outstanding exterior and interior and a lovely Ferrari sourced motor under the bonnet have me trying to figure out how to get one in the garage. Build quality that meets or exceeds high German standards and gorgeous mechanicals pretty much qualifies the Maser as a potential future classic.

The 500 has me musing about the possibilities of driving the little Fiat stateside. On the opposite side of size and cost when compared with the Maser, the little Fiat still scores big points for style and flair. The design of the new 500 is closer to its original roots than even the new MINI is to its original DNA. The car is smaller than the MINI but oozes just as much charisma and panache as its English rival. The 500 slots itself between the Smart Car and the MINI in terms of size but with the growth of the "premium" small car segment in the U.S. Fiat may be able to capitalize and borrow a page from MINI's experience. I've already seen a few on the roads of Rome this summer and I really like the idea of the 500 as a city car. The possibility of the performance (Abarth) 500 coming to the United States by 2010 is tantalizing indeed.

I'll always love the MINI but the lure of Italia is hard to resist...

Maserati GranTurismo

To read more including news about Ferrari's future plans go to: Winding Road