OK, a blog update was long overdue (as always...), because a lot has happened. And I even needed to create a new Blog-category...
As I reported last time, I was assigned a BMW Mini as a daily driver by my new employer. Good news, innit? Last week I picked it up; a red Cooper, equipped with a pepper package, sunroof and satnav. Of course, we took some pictures, but I only got a chance to put anything online today.
We had a nice weekend, first on saturday doing a queen's day event in Zeeland with the classic Mini. Sunday was the day to really inaugurate the BMW. We read on the mini2.nl forum that The Gallery in Brummen (a place that always has loads of classic cars in stock and puts them on display in a very nice way, almost museum-like) was opened that sunday. So, we drove there, letting the satnav doing the hard work of finding a route that didn't include any motorways. It was a lovely day. The heat (almost 30 degrees) was almost scary, for the time of year.
Over the weekend, though, I started realising that it would become a bit of a disappointment if I had to drive this car until the contract expired. Although this is a Mini Cooper, that's where any similarities with my ideal Mini end. The sunroof and the satnav are nice, but together they would have payed for every single accesory on my personal wishlist (none of which are on the car to begin with). So, my sentiments were bitter-sweet when going for my first day at work. Exciting new job, but feeling like a prick for not liking the nice car they had arranged for me.
To cut a long story short, though, a sympathetic co-worker came up with a good idea; if I could find someone that would like to drive this car, I might be able to order my own. A little later in the week, an opportunity arose already, and at the end of my first working week, I had permission to go and get some offers (of course, orders can only be made after my trial period ends in July).
With thursday being a holiday in the Netherlands, I also took a day off on friday, to bridge the weekend. So, friday was the day to pay a visit to the local Mini dealership and have a chat about what they could do for me. Demelza came along and we learned that in the new 2005 model a few things have changed, so we asked for a test drive. Minutes later I was driving around Hilversum in a Liquid Yellow 2005 Cooper, which indeed does feel different from the Chili Red 2004 model I am driving now. I went home with an offer for a Pepper White Mini Cooper, with a Chili package and S-Spoke alloys being two of the highlights. Let's see what the lease companies can do.