Several of you have noticed that I have been driving the Mini Cooper S to the last couple of club events. A couple of years ago when I bought it I figured that by giving it to Deb, I would be able to bring home another car without getting into trouble. After all, we already had four LBCs and two ‘regular’ cars at the house. She wouldn’t want to drive a stick shift as a daily driver. Wrong! She promptly sold her car and took over the Mini. Even took both sets of keys and I had to beg to use it, and then only when it was low on gas.
This year we acquired a new truck with all-wheel drive. I can get a couple of buddies and all our gear on board and head out for extended fishing trips. The AWD sure comes in handy on wet boat landing ramps. Deb however discovered that it also drives real nice in the ice and snow. And with the winter that we are having this year, she has taken quite a shine to it. She has also taken the keys to it. I therefore get to drive the Mini, at least until the weather gets nice.
This month’s featured book is not about Minis per se, but about Alec Issigonis, the man who designed them.

Alec Issigonis
The Man Who Made the Mini
By Jonathan Wood
2005, hardbound, 306 pages, b&w photos

If you like biographies, this is a good one. From the cover jacket, “Wood’s candid and meticulously researched account, which exposes Sir Alec’s public and private faces. … The finished volume is a balanced view of a remarkable, immensely talented man, with a behind-the–scenes impression of the personal and corporate struggles within the declining British car industry, a complex process in which Issigonis played a famous role.”