I fell in love with the Mini Cooper in 2003 after seeing the movie, The Italian Job, starring Charlize Theron and Mark Wahlberg, along with a handful of supporting actors; apparently, so did a lot of other people. Sales of the Mini Cooper soared by 22% the year the movie was released. Truth be told, the movie was the best car commercial I’ve ever seen.
One of these days I’m going to buy a little red and white Mini Cooper just for zipping around town; makes me feel spunky to zip. I admit, I can’t pass for Charlize Theron anymore (as if I ever really could?!), but maybe, just maybe, people might think I’m Charlize Theron’s mother given the age thing. If Charlize is any indication of the gene pool, her mother is drop dead gorgeous too. As I zip around town in my little Mini Cooper, all the older gentlemen will say, “Is that Charlize Theron’s mother? Wasn’t she Italian? Damn, she looks good in that Mini Cooper.”
I plan to go all the way, too; my dream Cooper has to be a convertible. There’s nothing like the feel of wind in my hair, especially while I still have hair.
If all else fails, there’s always The Villages.
One of these days I’m going to buy a little red and white Mini Cooper just for zipping around town; makes me feel spunky to zip. I admit, I can’t pass for Charlize Theron anymore (as if I ever really could?!), but maybe, just maybe, people might think I’m Charlize Theron’s mother given the age thing. If Charlize is any indication of the gene pool, her mother is drop dead gorgeous too. As I zip around town in my little Mini Cooper, all the older gentlemen will say, “Is that Charlize Theron’s mother? Wasn’t she Italian? Damn, she looks good in that Mini Cooper.”
I plan to go all the way, too; my dream Cooper has to be a convertible. There’s nothing like the feel of wind in my hair, especially while I still have hair.
If all else fails, there’s always The Villages.
No, not the Village People, and not Greenwich Village. I'm talking “Florida’s Friendliest Home Town,” The Villages, in Sumter County, Florida.
These are the Village people, enjoying the live entertainment available every night of the week.
The place is crawling with little cars (and hoppin' with retirees) that look a lot like golf carts. They're soooo cute.
Nice coat and tails!
Sure, we spotted what looked like golf carts going to and fro on the golf courses (apparently this is a golfer’s paradise with twenty million bazillon golf courses for back yards in the Villages ; I kid you not) where residents are promised “Free Golf for Life” (at least after the monthly amenity fees are paid).
It was like a Speedway with all the golf carts racing around the tracks.
But the streets of The Villages were covered with golf carts too, most decked out to look more like cars and trucks and all kinds of playful renditions of the real deal, what I like to call a Mini Gooper. It was little wonder this place was dubbed America’s Adult Disneyland, just 45 miles northwest of the real amusement park in Orlando. I was totally amused.
The streets of the Villages were one big rollercoaster.
Jimmy and I got the grand tour earlier this week while visiting my father. My dad isn’t an "official" resident of the number one fastest growing small town in American (at least according to a 2012 Forbes Magazine article), but as a resident of Marion county, where a portion of the 5.6 square miles of founder Harold Schwartz’s land sits, my father benefits from many of the amenities. Alas, he does not have his own Mini Gooper. Goopers cannot be driven on state highways. They’re really only good inside The Villages. They got a good thing going at The Villages.
I’ve struggled all week with Gooper envy. Can you blame me? Look at these darling little Goopers! They were everywhere, like ants at a picnic, a big retirement party for folks 55 and over. You have to wait almost a lifetime before getting the chance to drive one of these; and you don't even have to be a golfer.
I’ve struggled all week with Gooper envy. Can you blame me? Look at these darling little Goopers! They were everywhere, like ants at a picnic, a big retirement party for folks 55 and over. You have to wait almost a lifetime before getting the chance to drive one of these; and you don't even have to be a golfer.
Classy chassis is always a good option.
No beaches, but there are a few beach bums nonetheless.
No parallel parking necessary in The Villages.
Where's the chauffeur?
Keep on truckin'.
A Gooper wanna be.
Nobody gets speeding tickets! Nobody ever gets run over? Nobody runs out of gas (well, maybe the residents, but not the Mini Goopers). Do you even have to pay automobile insurance on a Gooper?
Nobody even seemed to be interested in Mini Coopers. I didn’t see one in the land of Goopers. Even the little Smart Car failed miserably when it came to the style and charm of all those Goopers.
At least I've got options now. I see either a Mini Coop or a Mini Goop in my future. Maybe I can start a new trend back home in Chicago, once all the snow melts. I'll be the envy of all my neighbors, which is really what any respectable four wheeled vehicle is all about anyway.
I'll be a star in my own movie; so what if it's called, The Wack Job!
Nobody even seemed to be interested in Mini Coopers. I didn’t see one in the land of Goopers. Even the little Smart Car failed miserably when it came to the style and charm of all those Goopers.
At least I've got options now. I see either a Mini Coop or a Mini Goop in my future. Maybe I can start a new trend back home in Chicago, once all the snow melts. I'll be the envy of all my neighbors, which is really what any respectable four wheeled vehicle is all about anyway.
I'll be a star in my own movie; so what if it's called, The Wack Job!
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