07/05/2009

By LAURA MCFARLAND  / Associated Press

Taylor Woodson has driven some nice cars.

His job detailing cars at a dealership in Virginia when he was 15 gave him access to drive Porsches and BMWs, and they were great. The car he really wanted to own, though, was a Mini Cooper.

He got his wish in 2008 when he got a used Mini S.

"I don't know if it is because of the people that own Minis and that there is so much you can do with it. ... For what it is, it is really fast, and it will go around corners like there is nothing to it," said Woodson, 17, of Greenville.

The Rocky Mount Telegram reported that when Woodson heard about the Tar Heel Mini Motoring Club, a network of Mini owners that reaches statewide and beyond, he was excited. The problem was that meetings and events for the club, which is based in Winston-Salem, were too far away to attend on a regular basis.

To solve the problem, Woodson and two other members have started a chapter of the club geared toward Mini owners who live east of Raleigh, said Bill Peebles, one of the founding members. The group had its second meeting June 20 in Tarboro.

"I know there are people with Minis all over eastern North Carolina. I have seen them in New Bern, Washington, Greenville and all around. We are basically trying to say we will go any place in this area just to try to get more people involved," said Peebles of Greenville.

Kelly Earp of Rocky Mount has been a member of the Mini club about a year and loves it, but he also dislikes that most of its events are held several hours away. He was excited to learn about the new chapter starting up but has not been to a meeting yet. He plans to try it out because it will give him access to more events closer to home.

"It definitely would be easier to do things as a group if there was a chapter on this side. That would probably generate more interest for other people that are driving one around here," Earp said.

Earp had wanted a Mini since 2001, but he didn't like some of the car's features then. He decided to wait a few years to see if a design he liked was released. He found one in 2006 and has been happy with it since.

"It is like a giant road cart, really, so they are perfect for taking road trips and scenic routes like the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is easy access for the chapter in Winston-Salem. For us it would probably be like driving the Outer Banks coastline. That would probably be a good trip," Earp said.

There is something about the Mini that brings owners together, Peebles said. He bought his Mini S in 2005, and it is the most fun car he has ever owned.

"When you go down the road, you get a lot of people that will stop and look at your car. I have never had one that people would actually stop at the corner and point at your car like it is something unique," Peebles said.

Part of the fun of owning a Mini is customizing it to look exactly how you want it, Peebles said. At the meetings, people talk and get to know each other, but often discussions center on what people have done to personalize their cars.

"One of the ones that probably was the most unique to me was this couple that had two white ones. They were in the bug extermination business, and if you looked inside their stripes, there were actually tiny little ants," Peebles said.

Sharing little details like this is part of why the statewide Mini club was started, said Mark Vogler, who found it in 2005. He had bought his first Mini a year earlier, but couldn't get any help organizing events to bring owners together in a club he was in at the time. So, he decided to start his own club.

Vogler didn't expect it to take off like it has. The club's Web site has more than 1,600 registered users from North Carolina and other states, he said. There even are members in the United Kingdom. Registration is free.

Club members meet for meals, picnics and charity fundraiser events, but the most important outings are the road trips they take, Vogler said.

"We are always doing something. We will go to Mabry Mill one month. We will go to Stone Mountain. We will go down to the beach to the Outer Banks. It really doesn't matter who goes. Some events will have 10 to 15 people. Some events will have 100 people," said Vogler of Winston-Salem.

Woodson hopes the eastern chapter will start having regular social and charity events, but his first focus will be to plan road trips people in the area want to explore.

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Information from: Rocky Mount Telegram, http://www.rockymounttelegram.com