AutoMuse®

No, not the skirt, the car. Remember, this is an autoblog.

With the return to standard time, when I leave the office, it is already dark. That’s not usually a big deal, but for the last few work nights, it has caused me some consternation.

The other night, I walked out of the office and hopped into my current driver – a manual transmission 2002 Mini Cooper in candy-apple red with a white top. I turned the key in the ignition and put the car in what I though was reverse. Instead of moving backward, I rolled forward.

So that I could see the shift pattern on the knob, I tried to put on the interior light. Good luck. I eventually had to open the driver’s door to get lighting so that I could find the 1) interior light; and 2) reverse. Ah, reverse is over and down, and the interior light is on the roof well behind the front seats. Ok, now I’m good to go.

Two nights later, I walked out of the office and jumped in my new driver – a manual 2004 Mini Cooper S in yellow with a black roof and racing strips over its face. I turned the key and put the car in what I thought was reverse. Instead of moving forward, my Mini shuddered and stalled. I didn’t bother trying to find the light, I just opened the driver’s door and looked down at my shift pattern. Some joker at Mini had moved reverse. Now it was toward me and up. It probably would have helped if I had remembered that the Cooper S is a super-charged 6-speed and, therefore, 6th gear supplanted reverse.

Next installment of ménage of Minis, I’ll give you the specifics on each of these drivers. Let me just leave you with this delightful thought: Minis make the world go round.