MartinW
03-09-2006, 07:45 AM
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SIMONE PONNE/THE NEWS Rick Higgs takes his Mini apart prior to his next trip.
http://www.mapleridgenews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=46&cat=23&id=720633&more=
By Phil Melnychuk
Staff Reporter
Sep 02 2006
When you drive a Mini, prepare to be the centre of attention.
That's not why Rick Higgs and his wife Elaine drive them, however.
They drive them (such as their 12,800-kilometre trip across the U.S. this June and July) because they love them. The diminutive vehicles, centimetres from the ground and with no air conditioning, offer a close-up look of the land as the wind flies through their hair and they try to keep cool at 38 C.
But the looks one gets along the way – well, there's never a dull moment.
"Sometimes it was just scary because we'd be in the right-hand lane doing 60 to 65 [mph] and a big SUV would go by," Rick recalled of his last trip.
The driver would then hit the brakes in the left lane, drop back so he or she was even with the Mini, and take a photo.
"There were literally hundreds of pictures taken. The whole trip was that way.
"It would be a truism to say it was really a tourist attraction all the way across America and back. It was unreal."
Higgs and his wife make regular treks across the U.S. and Canada, and for extra room and effect, pull along a Mini trailer – the product of two Mini back ends joined together.
Inside the Mr. Bean-mobile and the trailer they have room for a tent, luggage and some crucial spare parts to prepare for every contingency.
This summer's venture took them through the Arizona desert to Prescott, site of the annual Mini Meet West.
Then for good measure, they headed east to Frederick, Maryland for Mini Meet East.
On the way back, they ran out of gas coming into Pincher Creek, Alta.
But the engine died at high elevation, allowing the couple to coast quietly into town for kilometres and their next fill-up.
Higgs maintains he's not a highly skilled mechanic, but the changes he's made on his car belie that.
A new transmission was installed so the motor turns 15 per cent slower at highway speed. The 1,380 cc engine gives him about 41 miles per Imperial gallon. All told, it belts out about 80 horsepower.
He believes in common sense maintenance, such as making sure your vehicle is in good shape before setting out on a long trip.
For instance, to be on the safe side with his British car, he packs a box of spare parts, including a spare water pump, alternator, wheel bearings, points, coil, hoses, head gasket and belts.
"You don't need a starter because you can always start on a hill and push-start it.
"If we have to change a head gasket, we do," he said.
"These are not impossible."
Higgs bought the 1980 Mini in 1995 from a lady in White Rock. She put only 35,000 kilometres on it in 15 years.
"It was still owned by the original owner," he said.
His son, though, drove it for four years before he took it over.
Asked why he likes the Minis, Higgs doesn't blurt anything out about being an Anglophile or having a soft spot for British cars, though he was just about to drive it down to Portland, Ore. for the long weekend for the All British Field Meet where Jaguars, Rolls and Triumphs chat to keep up on the latest gossip.
But he does like the legendary handling.
With its small wheels and low ground clearance, the Mini corners more like a go-cart than commuter car.
"The handling is fantastic," he said.
As well, the car is simple enough that much work can be done in his garage, or at roadside, unlike today's computer-operated cars which make everything but opening the hood a job for a certified technician and a computer scope.
"It's a very easy car to drive. "The car has earned grudging respect because they don't look like a race car and they have no aerodynamics to help them or anything like that."
SIMONE PONNE/THE NEWS Rick Higgs takes his Mini apart prior to his next trip.
http://www.mapleridgenews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=46&cat=23&id=720633&more=
By Phil Melnychuk
Staff Reporter
Sep 02 2006
When you drive a Mini, prepare to be the centre of attention.
That's not why Rick Higgs and his wife Elaine drive them, however.
They drive them (such as their 12,800-kilometre trip across the U.S. this June and July) because they love them. The diminutive vehicles, centimetres from the ground and with no air conditioning, offer a close-up look of the land as the wind flies through their hair and they try to keep cool at 38 C.
But the looks one gets along the way – well, there's never a dull moment.
"Sometimes it was just scary because we'd be in the right-hand lane doing 60 to 65 [mph] and a big SUV would go by," Rick recalled of his last trip.
The driver would then hit the brakes in the left lane, drop back so he or she was even with the Mini, and take a photo.
"There were literally hundreds of pictures taken. The whole trip was that way.
"It would be a truism to say it was really a tourist attraction all the way across America and back. It was unreal."
Higgs and his wife make regular treks across the U.S. and Canada, and for extra room and effect, pull along a Mini trailer – the product of two Mini back ends joined together.
Inside the Mr. Bean-mobile and the trailer they have room for a tent, luggage and some crucial spare parts to prepare for every contingency.
This summer's venture took them through the Arizona desert to Prescott, site of the annual Mini Meet West.
Then for good measure, they headed east to Frederick, Maryland for Mini Meet East.
On the way back, they ran out of gas coming into Pincher Creek, Alta.
But the engine died at high elevation, allowing the couple to coast quietly into town for kilometres and their next fill-up.
Higgs maintains he's not a highly skilled mechanic, but the changes he's made on his car belie that.
A new transmission was installed so the motor turns 15 per cent slower at highway speed. The 1,380 cc engine gives him about 41 miles per Imperial gallon. All told, it belts out about 80 horsepower.
He believes in common sense maintenance, such as making sure your vehicle is in good shape before setting out on a long trip.
For instance, to be on the safe side with his British car, he packs a box of spare parts, including a spare water pump, alternator, wheel bearings, points, coil, hoses, head gasket and belts.
"You don't need a starter because you can always start on a hill and push-start it.
"If we have to change a head gasket, we do," he said.
"These are not impossible."
Higgs bought the 1980 Mini in 1995 from a lady in White Rock. She put only 35,000 kilometres on it in 15 years.
"It was still owned by the original owner," he said.
His son, though, drove it for four years before he took it over.
Asked why he likes the Minis, Higgs doesn't blurt anything out about being an Anglophile or having a soft spot for British cars, though he was just about to drive it down to Portland, Ore. for the long weekend for the All British Field Meet where Jaguars, Rolls and Triumphs chat to keep up on the latest gossip.
But he does like the legendary handling.
With its small wheels and low ground clearance, the Mini corners more like a go-cart than commuter car.
"The handling is fantastic," he said.
As well, the car is simple enough that much work can be done in his garage, or at roadside, unlike today's computer-operated cars which make everything but opening the hood a job for a certified technician and a computer scope.
"It's a very easy car to drive. "The car has earned grudging respect because they don't look like a race car and they have no aerodynamics to help them or anything like that."