I have my father to thank for my love for classic cars. As a child, we would often talk about cars he owned, worked on or dreamt about. This love drove me to my career in engineering at Idaho National Laboratory.
Now an adult, my passion for cars is stronger than ever, so when the opportunity for a 6-month assignment at CEA Cadarache (the french INL-equivalent) came up, I quickly started to dream about what European car I wanted to bring back to Idaho as the ultimate souvenir. Although I was in southern France, I got most excited about the iconic British Mini and shortly settled on a 1960s model for the simplistic styling; sliding windows, small oval tail lights, tiny 10-inch wheels and a beautiful mustache grill to name a few details.
I eventually bought my 1963 Austin Mini Super Deluxe in a small village outside of Edinburgh Scotland, a mere 1200 miles from my apartment in Aix-en-Provence, France. The seller, my colleagues and European friends thought I was crazy to drive a half-century old microcar that far, but I knew the resilience my father taught me at a young age would be with me throughout the journey.
I wish I could say the flights to Scotland were uneventful, but a massive snowstorm a few days earlier resulted in my planes being delayed and finally rerouted to Glasgow. Luckily the airline scheduled a bus to Edinburgh, but this meant I wouldn’t have time to get to my hostel, so I slept in the airport for a few hours.
I finally met Mini in a small repair shop and my real adventure started. As I set off on my long journey, the realization of what was upon me finally started to sink in. The European road speeds are much slower than America; I only had a top speed of 70 mph, downhill, with the wind at my back. Mini ran well initially, but the defroster was another matter. Luckily the windshield was small so I happily wiped the condensation every few miles and continued on.
My first stop was to the DVLA, the British equivalent of the US DMV. Upon arriving I parked next to a matching white/black descendant of Mini so I took this as a good sign. Thankfully the visit was uneventful and I continued on my journey.
As it got closer to dusk, I noticed I had to use the manual choke more and more to maintain my speed. I had assumed it was a combination of the carburetor icing over and water entering the distributor from the wet conditions. Despite my concerns, Mini kept on. I only made scheduled stops for petrol, bathrooms and food until I neared London.
Late at night Mini decided it was time for an unscheduled stop. I pulled over on a motorway outside of London to fiddle with a few things under the hood. This time Mini struggled to get going and the battery was starting to go dead. On a hope and a prayer Mini fired up and I was off again.
My next stop was a London shop that specializes in classic Mini parts to get some spares for the rest of my trip. I drove through the night and slept in Mini because it was too late for a hotel. I awoke to find a shop employee wondering what I was doing in the parking lot. I explained my journey and he told me the shop was closed for renovations, but did offer to let me pickup a few small parts if I was quick.
The great thing about driving a British icon is that Mini was welcomed everywhere! A memorable stop was at the petrol station before entering France. I met a man that recounted the life and times of his mum’s Mini. I explained some of my difficulties and he even offered a solution to keep the distributor dry. He gave me a latex glove that we cut the finger tips off and slipped over the plug wires. He wished me well on my trip and I continued to the Channel.
As I pulled onto the train I could tell Mini was really struggling to stay running. Despite this I parked, got out of Mini and enjoyed the 35 minute drive under the English Channel. This was a pivotal moment I wanted to capture in my trip because I was finally entering France. Likely the first time Mini was ever in France, so I wanted to document the trip. I was quickly scolded for taking pictures with the flash on because it could set off the fire suppression system.
The train arrived in France and cars started to leave. I closed my eyes and pushed the starter button, which took several attempts before Mini would fire up.
My relief didn't last long because Mini died 200 feet later on the off-ramp into France. I pulled over expecting Mini to fire back up, but Mini resisted. I tried and tried before some servicemen came by. I don't speak fluent French, but I knew enough to understand they wanted to tow me to a nearby petrol station. This led to an awkward conversation with an employee that eventually led to an English-speaking tow truck driver that offered to tow me and Mini to a local hotel. Unfortunately it was Saturday night, so no work would be done until Monday.
I spent Sunday walking around the northern France town of Calais and made plans. Once Monday arrived, the tow truck driver took me and Mini to a repair shop with an older Frenchman that didn’t speak any English, but knew I needed help with Mini. I wasn’t convinced he’d find many repair parts for a classic British car in France, so I boarded the ferry on Monday to return to the Mini shop. I bought three bags of parts, most in duplicate, to avoid any further delays.
I returned to the French mechanic before lunch and he replaced a few small parts, but still didn’t have Mini running. He pointed at the ignition coil, so I put down my bags and pulled out one of two I had bought. I started to put it on, but was kicked out of the shop for lunch. No Frenchman from the north works during lunch; and lunch is a 2-hour affair.
I returned to find the ignition coil installed and Mini was running better than ever! I was late for work, so we drove through the night to makeup time. My co-workers were relieved, perhaps even surprised when we completed the journey. Mini and I toured around southern France, highlights included many coastal towns along the French riviera and the world's largest suspension bridge in Millau.
In my spare time, I started to arrange shipment back to America. The best route was between Belgium and California, so I took Mini by train to Paris and we drove to Zeebrugge before Mini boarded a boat.
I was without Mini for 4 weeks, but Mini got to see the Atlantic ocean and travel through the Panama Canal before arriving at Port Heumeme, Calif. The port employees just loved Mini and even waived the import tax fee for such a cute and inexpensive car!
Our trip to Idaho was mostly uneventful from there. Mini was welcomed in America too, thumbs up, pictures and smiles everywhere we went. We stopped to visit a friend in Las Vegas and attend a Monster Truck rally. I was met with whiteout-snow on the Malad pass, but we eventually made it home to Idaho Falls.
Mini’s road trips have slowed down significantly, but we do still tour eastern Idaho. Mini even made a small appearance on the cover of Idaho Falls-based Diesel Tech Magazine. Mini was photographed being lifted 3 feet in the air by the bumper crane in my recently finished Dodge Ram, the “Warhorse.” Mini has been kissed at a Sun Valley car show, visited Craters of the Moon and is always the subject of gas station discussions and silly parking lot photos.
A mini car equals mega adventures!
Click here to read more of Idaho Falls Magazine's May issue.