Confession #27: Maxed-out on Minis

2002 Mini Cooper (BMW Group photo)

A disclaimer: I’ve loved the new Mini since I was a boy. I remember being a 10-year-old, rushing to my mailbox and pulling out an Automobile Magazine with a green, then-new Mini Cooper on the cover. It was love from day one.

Anytime a new one passed me on the freeway I started drooling. Any chance I got I took a ride in one. When my friend one day let my drive his Cooper S, I literally leapt at the chance – and nearly got a speeding ticket in the process. I might have been able to swing getting one as my first car – instead of the Saab I love/hate so dearly – had the insurance rates not nearly sent my mother into a panic attack. How do parents give their 16-year-old boys brand-new Subaru WRXs?