DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Emily At Homestead Stacks

Q: Why did you choose this car?

A: The Mini Cooper is economical with great gas mileage. Your car is also custom made so you can get any specifications you want. You get e-mail updates on the production and your car actually has a birthday when it is born or completed.

Q: What was it like when it finally arrived and you went to pick it up?

A: I'm a librarian so I had every single paper that I needed including a cashier's check for the deposit. All the forms were filled out. When I sat down with the man at the finance department he said "I've never before in my entire experience had anyone show up with all the paperwork that they needed."

Q: Would you say your relationship with your car is extremely personal?

A: Yes, definitely. I never want to get another car. My husband says this is unreasonable because at some point you may have to rebuild the engine but I don't care. So it is a little bit unreasonable and irrational how much I do love my car but I hope that my children get to drive this car.

Q: Since you are a librarian, do you like to listen to books on CD in your car?

A: I like to rock out in this car, it's not really a car for listening to books on tape. It's a great car for long trips. I've been to Ann Arbor, New York City and Maine. I like to listen to loud alternative rock and roll.

Q: It sounds like you have fun driving this car and are an assertive driver. Have you ever had any close calls or strange things happen?

A: My car has an NRA sticker. My husband says people are rude to him driving a purple Mini since it is not a real is masculine thing to do. When we first got this car there were not many Minis on the road and people were very aggressive and rude. We had one guy who was road raging and followed us off an exit then got out of the car with a crow bar. To this day we don't really know why.

Q: Did you have a gun you could point to make him back off?

A: No, my husband just pointed to the cell phone and mouthed police.

Q: That was a pretty scary experience. Have you ever had anything else strange happen while driving?

A: Yes, just the other day I was getting on Interstate 376 and there was a pickup truck backing down the on ramp. The guy motioned me to back down. I refused. It is one of the most dangerous things you can do. But he kept backing up. I didn't know if he was going to fit by me because there were concrete walls on either side but he got around and continued to back down the exit.

Q: What do you like best about owning a Mini Cooper? 


A: The really cool thing about driving a Mini is other Mini drivers. It's a special car and not many people drive them. There is sort of a secret society for mini drivers and every time you drive by a Mini they wave to you. It's like every Mini driver feels a kinship with other drivers because not many people own them. I feel like I'm a member of a group that is a lot like me.