That's a cool ride. You and your wife must fight over the keys…
Even though we have a Mercedes SL500, Julie and I do squabble more over who gets to drive the Mini.
I imported it from the US for her and she demanded it be red because she is a fanatic Manchester United supporter. Being a Chelsea fan myself, I'd love to paint it blue, but she won't let me.
You said you bought it from eBay with minutes to spare. How relieved were you when you knew it was yours?
I waited until the last minute and put my bid in and when I checked back later, I was delighted to see that it had been accepted.
I kept this a secret from my wife in case I did not get it. I was very keen on this particular car since it just had 19,312km and only one owner from new.
Did you have to wait long to get it shipped here?
My friend Mohammad at Nice Cars helped import it, but there had to be two other cars in his container to keep costs down. So, I had to wait for him to buy two other cars before putting my Mini on board and shipping it over. It took two months to arrive.
Was everything in order when you got it?
No, the sat-nav wasn't working, the AC was blowing warm and half the instrument panel was on strike. I had an estimate of Dh12,000 to get everything fixed.
But, whilst checking a Mini forum, a BMW specialist had mentioned the car might have switched itself to Transport Mode which cuts off most of the electronics to reduce drain on the battery. So, I plugged it into a diagnostic scanner and unlocked the car from this mode and it sparked into life. The AC became ice cold and the sat-nav screen switched on as did the rest of the gauges in the dash. It was a massive relief to see it all working properly.
It's fully loaded, but what are your favourite features?
Julie loves the Sport mode and the keyless go. I love the Hill Start Assist which holds the brakes on for a second to allow you to drive off smoothly without rolling back. It's a fantastic idea for a manual gearbox.
It looks cute, but it also has some guts…
Other drivers come up from behind and try to intimidate me, but I just drop a cog and blow them away.
The 1.6-litre turbocharged four-pot engine is sublime. It has a top speed of 240kph and is fuel efficient too — it'll do 100km from six litres. However parts are expensive. The tyres are Dh1,500 a pop and the kilometres are piling up too.
Are you possessive about it?
Not really. I think everyone should have one to play with. My boss, Paul White, is more like a best friend so when his wife, Dot, wanted to borrow the Mini for a weekend of fun, I had no qualms about it. Especially since he gave me his Porsche Cayenne Turbo S in exchange.
Which other interesting cars have you had?
I had a Chevrolet SSR truck — which was my favourite vehicle in Dubai.
I have a Jeep SRT8 for work, a Mercedes SL500, a Honda CBF1000 bike and a bright yellow Monterey 214 boat.
And what's the dream?
I have three — a Nissan GT-R, Audi R8 V10 Spyder and a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport convertible.
Bio
Name Jim Hardacre
Job Vehicle and plant manager for GTS LLC
From The UK
Wheels 2007 Mini Cooper S
In the UAE Four years
