#1 Bringing Home Baby

Dragged from the "back 40"

The task of bringing the Mini home was much more challenging than I had anticipated. A sign of things to come no doubt.

It sat buried in a shed full of car parts--its home for the last 12 years or so. Surrounding the shed was a field of old and neglected vehicles. Each car looked as if it was waiting patiently for a new owner to rescue it from a bleak fate--like old dogs at a forgotten kennel, tired but still hopeful.

When I first saw the Mini there was no way of ascertaining its true condition. All I really knew was that it seemed more or less intact and that it had the two features that I had hoped for--external hinges and sliding passenger windows. That was good enough for me.

On the way home

The owner dragged it out with a tractor since the tires had long ago cracked open and the front wheels were seized. As the Mini scraped along the grass, it left behind a long trail of large rusty metal chips. By the time it made the journey across the field to where my trailer was waiting, only the sides and roof were holding the front and rear ends together, the floor was mostly gone.

It was challenging to get the Mini on the trailer. But after about an hour of dragging and lifting and nail-biting, it was securely on and we could make the trip to my house. It was similarly difficult to get it off the trailer. I was relieved to finally get it tucked away in my garage so that it could start its new life.