2013 ... what was all that about ?!

[Pete]

Well the year's nearly over and my question is what events stuck out in your mind this year, a restoration started or finished, an elusive car or part found, spill the beans .....

For me it was Shelsley's celebration of 50 years of the Cooper S, a great crowd, some great cars...

Great to see and hear this (and it's owner) for the first time (and Trevor with his Vitamin) and no I didn't get to drive it but had a little sit in it ....



Cooper S's being used as nature intended...





and a little 'ol (slow) mutant...



Over to you...

[surfblue63]

I have to agree. Shelsley was a great event that the heavy showers just could not spoil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ZArEIEjKw

The sound of the sprint and the site of a bunch of Minis going up the hill was great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZLJuYI1I7w

There was also some old Wolseley having a go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS1OjU9M34s

But it was not just the Minis, but some of teh other pieces of machinery that took to hill. My camera came over all nostalgic at one point and would only shoot in Black and White.

[gpmini]

What a memorable year for me too.

1. Swarm of Ants in May (other than meeting the eccentric owners, the military equipment in POF was the absolute highlight)
2. My first rally (held in Clarence in the Free State). Coming last never felt this good.
3. 8000 smiles in a little screamer

[coopertim]

My year was about buying VFF which was two years in the making! Becoming my own boss in my Positive Behaviour Management company 'Behaviour Wise' which took a great deal of my time but hopefully will pay dividends when trying to restore my '63'!

I went to Beaulieu as i always do as this is my main mini event and loved every minute but was a little disappointed in the 50th Cooper 'S' theme which I thought was maybe a little disjointed. Paddy was on site but EJB wasn't and although i got his signature, it would have been superb to capture an image of the mini maestro with THE 1071! Having said that, It was as always a superb event and im now looking forward to Blyton, fitting the seat covers and NOS corner bars to VFF supplied by minitravellerman and getting my car on the road!!

Cheers. Tim

[gpmini]

Fantastic pics as usual Surfblue. Would love to see what 2013 memories were special to all the other forum members.

[slowboy]

great thread pete, my highlights were,

finishing this






doing the hrcr championship[11 rallies] in this and finishing runner up



seeing smoke grey start and finish the rally of the tests in this



and a big highlight has to be mark and pete sorting out the action day for 2014, really feel that is going to take mini days right back to what they used to be, and dare i say, should be.

[Pete]

the action day for 2014, really feel that is going to take mini days right back to what they used to be, and dare i say, should be.

It's also something that's vaguely up north which obviously is a first ! I've got some very special surprises for Blyton that I'm itching to spill about, but all will be revealed pretty soon.

Love your 850 Jonny, and it's great to see cars being used like yours and Steve's, something that's becoming less and less common.

[mk1coopers]

2013......I enjoyed another season Hillclimbing and Sprinting with the DEWS club (which has many MK1 forum members) I wish I could have got to Shelsley for Pete's event, but as compensation I did get to do the VSSC sprint at the Brooklands 12/12, Beaulieu was Sunny, even though some of the comments after were stormy!.

Looking forward to 2014 and all the opportunities it may bring

[NotNormal]

Great year for me

This photo was taken back in 1963, my Dad leaning against my Grandfathers brand new car.


Fast forward 50 years to 2013 and the car hits the road again following a 2 year restoration. Doing the London to Brighton run was also a great day for me

[java gt]

The road trip from Ireland to the IMM in Italy and back in my GT towing the Puck.The IMM was forgettable but throwing snow balls on top of the Col de Cenis in May and drinking beer late into the night in Zogali by the Med with good friends were great memories.

[mk1]

I would like to take a minute to say thank you to everyone who has stuck with the MK1 Forum over the last 12 months.

It has been a pretty rough year all told, what with all the Unpleasantness & Aggro caused by a former member at the beginning of the year, the near demise of the entire site & forum in the summer, and finally my Dads most untimely death in the middle of November. I can quite happily say that I will be glad to see the back of 2013 & don't want another year like that thank you very much!

However, for 2014 things are already looking distinctly upbeat. We have the first MK1 Performance Conversions Action Day to look forward to in May and judging by the massive recent update to the Broadspeed section on the main site courtesy of Pete Flanagan, we can also look to a whole load of extra excellent content on the Main MK1 site for the year to come too.

The forum has once again pottered on fairly well all things considered. We have managed to not fall out about too much, we have continued generally speaking to get on and to get over any minor petty personal difficulties & have continued to learn from & help each other in equal measure.

I would like to sincerely thank all members for their continuing support & wish you the very best for Christmas a Merry Holidays or Wicked "Winterval" depending what your religious or other proclivities are.

What ever your believe, I sincerely hope that you have a wonderful holiday season & a Brilliant New Year.

Very best regards,

Mark Forster.

[AustinSuperSeven]

Right back at ya Mark!
Its great to have you back in the driving seat and seeing the forum go from strength to strength.
A personal highlight for me this year is having a wonderful little girl born in April join my already wonderful family!
My mini moment is obviously Blyton park! Ive been waiting for years for something like this to happen through the forum!
What makes it so special is that I've had my Super for 25 years now and have been waiting for the right occasion to get it finished (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!).
I remember years ago trying to find out info about my car and Mark was the only one who could help. I searched the internet and came across this fantastic forum! Thats got to be about 15 years ago! I'll dig the email out.
So a huge thank you to Mark & Pete for arranging what will be the best mini gathering of 2014. Will be so good to meet other forum members and put a face to a name.
I was also Super lucky to get the last place! number 50 and my car will be 52 years young at the event!
Bring it on.
Regards to you all.
George