MINI Cooper caravan passes through Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds of MINI Cooper fans rolled into Salt Lake City on July 15 as part of MINI Takes the States. The event is meant to bring lovers of the peppy pint-sized cars together and benefit charities.

 

 

 

 

 

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Participants spent an evening at the Gallivan Center enjoying food, drinks and live music. Some are participating in the entire nine-day drive from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Seattle, Washington. Others are only participating in part of the event. 

“This is a road rally that we’ve been doing every other year since 2006. This is our 18th year and it’s our way of saying thank you to our customers,” said Patrick McKenna, the head of marketing, product, and strategy for MINI USA. 

According to McKenna, many buyers choose a MINI Cooper because they are fun to drive. Their size, speed and agility provide a unique experience to drivers as they zip down roads. Furthermore, a community has grown around the brand. 

“The customers just really have … a great bond amongst themselves,” said McKenna. “We have five new models now from MINI … some of [the drivers] bought the brand new cars right on day one to be able to drive a brand new car.” 

Old MINIs, new MINIs, four-door and two-door models, and cars sporting license plates from across the country were parked at the event. Regardless of the year or model, any MINI Cooper is welcome. 

More than just a MINI Cooper rally

McKenna said that the event is for more than just the community of MINI drivers. This year, it is raising funds for Keep America Beautiful and the American Camp Association. 

“We are raising money for the American Camp Association to send children to camp,” said McKenna. “And then also Keep America Beautiful because we’re driving through your beautiful city here and we want to help preserve that.”

The company works to raise money for different charities at each event. In the past, McKenna said that they’ve worked to help Best Friends Animal Society and Feeding America.

Camp MINI

In correlation to the organizations MINI Takes the States is raising money for, this year’s rally theme is summer camp. Themed signs welcomed drivers to Salt Lake and encouraged drivers to contribute pins to a bulletin board. 

Like summer camp, drivers have an opportunity to partake in some friendly competition during the trip. 

According to McKenna, teams have been established. Some points come from trivia questions, others from taking pictures or completing scavenger hunts, and sometimes, it’s for doing good things in the community. 

For example, McKenna said that one of the challenges was to help clean up an area. 

“We put the scoreboard up in the mornings and then they can kind of see where they are,” said McKenna. 

The caravan of MINI Coopers’ next stop is Bozeman, Montana. 

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