THE MINI MAG. Volume 2 No.11 / 12
  November / December 2000

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The Club Captain's Report
Its hard to believe that another year has nearly passed. It only feels like yesterday when we were all celebrating the club’s first Christmas party. Our calendar of events for 2000 certainly showed that we have been very busy indeed. Every event held was very well attended and enjoyed by all. The highlight of the year was of course our Mini 2000 at Lakeside International Raceway. The Queen’s birthday weekend event was unfortunately a little washed out, but was well attended by our enthusiastic members and interstate visitors.

It was great to hear our Pres announce at the last monthly meeting that our membership has hit the 400 mark. This is fantastic for a club that is not even 2 years old yet. Keep telling all your Mini owner friends who are not yet members about our club as we want to reach 500 by the end of next year. Now there is a challenge!

You may have noticed that Kathy and I have been away for the last 5 weeks. We headed overseas on a trip that was 6 months in the planning, but I am not going to bore you with all the travel details, however I did drive Kathy nuts on the second day we arrived in London. We had the opportunity to visit a Mini Marque Day at the Motor Heritage Centre at Gaydon, about a 2 hour drive north of London. It was very exciting driving to Gaydon as there were Minis coming from all directions heading to the same place and I kept saying follow those Minis. When we finally got there I could not believe my eyes as there were Minis everywhere, there must have been a thousand plus in the car park and on the grassed area.


It was great to read about all the big Mini shows in the UK in the Mini World magazine, but never thought that we would actually be part of it. I had the opportunity to speak to a few people from various clubs and Roger Wall from Cooper Register who had visited Melbourne last year. Everyone congratulated us for putting on such a great Olympics in Sydney. While visiting the Mini Day, we had the opportunity to visit the centre, and this place was unbelievable as it holds a car of each type ever made in England. This is a place all must visit if you travel to the UK.

While travelling through Wales, Ireland & Scotland spotting a Mini was like looking for a needle in a hay stack, however it wasn’t until we arrived in Paris that we started seeing a Mini again. We soon found out why, because the parking is at a premium, so the smaller car betters your chance of parking. When we arrived in Malta, almost every second car was a Mini. I could not believe it, it was like having a Mini Day every day. Again parking is at a premium.

Here I meet a local who owned a model car shop and started talking to him about Minis. He was telling me that his son has a racing Mini and this was the start of a long discussion and Kathy walked away and couldn’t believe that I found a Mini owner in Malta.

Anyhow, enough of my travels. I hope everyone is coming to the Christmas Party at Wests Rugby Leagues Club at Bardon. This year all the food will be catered for so please have your bookings in as soon as you can as we have to let the caterers know the numbers well before. Also, don’t forget to bring a present for your children for Santa to hand out on the day after he arrives in the National Nine News helicopter.

It was pleasing to hear that the Driver Training Day went well. It sounds like there will be more members interested for the next one. Thanks Glen and team for organising the event.

I am very impressed with our Minivan. I had the opportunity to drive the van after the last meeting and to store the little brown beauty at my place for the next month. It drives extremely well and very smooth and it does not rattle. Thanks Dave and his helpers for a great job.

With just a few weeks to the festive season, I would like to thank everyone on the committee for their friendship and support and also all the new members I have meet over the last year. It has been a fantastic year for the Mini and the Club, so lets keep it growing stronger in the Australian Mini 40 anniversary year 2001.

A Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to you all.

Tony Formosa