MINI EVENTThe Chattanooga Choo-Choo hosts Mini-related events this week:Today: An all-day car show with an evening concert from Beatles tribute band “The Buggs”Thursday: Mini drives through the Scenic CityFriday: Funkhana events, where drivers play silly games and do daring tricks with their carsSaturday: Autocross time trials in the Eastgate Mall parking lot
Their cars may be Mini, but their love is Mega.
Enthusiasts of the British-made Mini car are swarming to Chattanooga this week from across the U.S. and as far away as the United Kingdom. The annual Mini Meet East, a four-day festival celebrating everything related to the tiny cars, is “like a big family reunion,” said Taralynn Priep, a senior at Florida State University who bought an old Mini Riley and restored it. “They’re just really fun.”
The Mini family is certainly large. Event organizers expect about 100 cars and 150 people to register for the event, and drop-in visitors are welcome to come out and gawk at the cars.
Minis first were produced by the British Motor Corp. between 1959 and 2000, coming in several models – Coopers, Mokes, Rileys, Austins and Magics among others. BMC stopped production in 2000, and the company was bought by BMW, which began producing its own MINI – its name in all caps – in 2001.
Priep and her family weren’t content with just one Mini Meet this year. Before their trip to Chattanooga, the four drove a 7,000-mile road trip from Florida to Lake Tahoe on the Nevada-California state line for Mini Meet West, which was held June 22-24. Then they packed up their classic golf cartlike Mini Moke – a Jeep-like vehicle produced from 1964 to 1989 in various countries – and drove back to Tennessee for Mini Meet East.
For Mini motorists like them, it’s tough to top the conventions and their offerings.
Today, for instance, drivers will walk around checking out each other’s vehicles before a Beatles cover band concert. The rest of the week will feature group drives and, on Saturday, an Autocross time trial event to see who’s the fastest on four little wheels.
“It’s exhilarating. You drive as fast as you can,” Priep said. “It’s always nerve-racking, but I’m pretty competitive.”
Priep got into all things Mini through her father, Dean Priep, who has a 25-year relationship with the brand.
“I always liked the way the Minis looked on the race track,” he said. “They could keep up with the Corvettes on a small track.”
Dan Priep said road trips are a great way to spend time with the family, and the classic cars – his family owns seven of the old-model Minis – are just plain fun to drive.
“For me it’s the adventure,” he said. “Is it going to start in the first place, and is it going to keep running?”
Unlike the newer MINI models, which are also welcome at the show, classic Minis are famous for their small frame and bare-bones equipment. Most classic Minis were made without air conditioning or radios, but their lack of perks makes them easy to maintain and simple to soup up, fans say.
Hugh Cannon, who organized this year’s event, said he’s seen some Mini’s engines replaced with more powerful Honda engines, turning the cars into “rockets” that can go more than 120 mph.
“There are idiots out there and you see them, you’ll be driving along and Zoom!” he said. “I don’t go along with that. I’m a purist. I like the old cars, I like them just how they built them.”