Site is up for 40th photos

(photo by Colin Sauer)

The new gathering place for photos from the 40th reunion is now operating.

Check out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemini

Continue to send photos you took at the 40th, along with names and captions to Qwickmini.com.

Thanks much,
Tim Boyd

A veritable Mini smorgasbord

Here’s a very small sampling of the wide variety of Minis on display at the 40th Anniversary reunion picnic. Can you pick out which is which?

Besides the British variety, we had Minis from Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. There was a supercharged Moke and a turbocharged Clubman. There was a Mini Van, Tinnies and Woodies. There were Cabrios, a Mary Quant and a Rally Mini and keeping an eye on them all was a Liverpool Police Mini! (photos by Colin Sauer)

Too long between Mini rides

The last time Glenda Larson sat in a Mini was at the Autocross Olympics in 1967. That was, until last Saturday when she navigated for Alan Smith on the 40th Anniversary tour. Now Alan is well known for many things but never as a sedate driver so you can be sure that Glenda had quite a memorable trip. The last we heard she was going to immediately start shopping for a Mini of her own. Welcome back Glenda! (photo by Sandy McDaniel)

Did that REALLY happen?!

Can it be that SAMOA is the most amazing Mini club in North America? After 300 Miniacs and 78 Minis gathered at the 40th Anniversary reunion picnic last Saturday is there any doubt? The picnic was preceded by a tour of the beautiful Snoqualmie River valley. From the tour organizer and overall event chairman, Tim Boyd:

It was 10:45 Saturday morning as I made my way into Carnation to set up for the first Eastside Mini Tour in over 20 years. On the way to Tolt Middle School, thoughts ran through my mind as to what cars would be going on the tour. I was thinking a few minis and a bunch of SUV’s. To my surprise when I arrived at the school I already had people setting up for pre-registration and a few minis in the parking lot. I pulled into the parking lot and Dorothea and Judy brought their registration table over behind my car and we started staging minis. We had three minis line up and things were looking good. It seemed like every few minutes another mini would show up and get in line. By noon our line of minis went across the parking lot, around a tree and then next to the minis already in line. In all we had 27 minis, 3 Binis and 1 Mazda. The crew that had been working on this reunion for the past 8 months was pumped! I just want to say thanks to everyone that took part in this tour and to all the people that helped with it.

Tim Boyd

ps. would you believe me if I told you that the Jones soda bottles that all the tour entrants got are going for $45.50 on eBay!

Map and directions to the 40th

Click on the map to get a larger, printable example. See you Saturday!

Mini Meet West '85

SAMOA hosted Mini Meet West at the Westwater Inn across Capitol Lake from the state capitol in Olympia. There was a great turnout of Minis from all over the west coast and the event was a high point in the history of the club.

Accompanying photos show the cover of the event program (sad that Olympia Beer is now but a memory, at least their logo lives on) and some of the Minis and Miniacs who attended.

Long-time Vancouver Mini Club member, Ken Friend is seen "hanging around" the hospitality suite. David Vizard and David Anton from Advanced Performance Technologies were welcomed guests. At the banquet Oregon's George Thomas is giddy after receiving a trophy from SAMOA's Bruce Moulton. The famous "Monte Mini" of Don Racine sits next to Steve Ludwig's and Al Beebe's race Minis at the concours and all the Minis gather in preparation for the panorama group photo. Has it really been 22 years? Perhaps SAMOA should host another meet in the not too distant future....

Less than a week to the 40th reunion!

Over 200 Mini enthusiasts will be attending the picnic THIS COMING SATURDAY (the 18th). From founding members to Mini owners who will be joining SAMOA for the first time at this event. And there will be more than 40 classic Minis on hand.

The club will be grilling hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone. Chips and soft drinks will also be provided (remember, this is a county park so no alcoholic beverages are allowed). Present SAMOA members are asked to bring a side dish or salad. Former members are asked to simply show up with a big appetite!

Remember, if you have any old Mini photos stuffed in a box somewhere or any other SAMOA memorabilia bring it along.

SAMOA visits a former Seattle institution

1985 was a busy year for SAMOA and members had a choice of making One Lap of Washington, a round the clock non-stop dash, or One Lap of Seattle, a less ambitious event that ended at this famous Seattle landmark. Granted, this business wasn't famous when SAMOA first visited. It had recently been converted from an automatic transmission repair shop and at the time probably had a total of five employees. A few years later they moved down the road to a bigger space. Several years later they moved out of town altogether. Can you guess the name of this place that went on to become world famous? Yes, it's the very first Redhook Brewery. At the time, they made one beer, Redhook Ale, quite distinctive and nothing like the Redhook of today. It is a long way from Ballard to Woodinville.

SAMOA did a stellar job in the "tasting room" and Ted Atkins captured the event with this panorama. No fancy digital camera back in those days. This is four photos spliced together with scissors and paste. Click on the photo and see how many SAMOANs you recognise.

On the road to Denver, 1984

Seattle and Vancouver, BC area Minis toured en force to the first EAST MEETS WEST MINI MEET in Denver. Turned out the trip there and back was almost as much fun as the meet itself. Atkins, Kolosoff, Sauer, Beebe, Soucy are the names to go with the Minis in these photos, just a few of the impressive number of Minis that made the trip. And who can forget Patrick from Vancouver who brought his toucan along for the ride.

Bring your SAMOA memorabilia

Here's a whimsical look at a SAMOA Mini taken way back in 1980. A wonderful shot that sort of looks like a self portrait. Do you remember the car and the owner? Hint - the Mini owner/photographer is one of several family members who used to be involved with the club.

If you have collected SAMOA related stuff over the years (photos, trophies, t shirts, whatever) bring it to the picnic so we all can enjoy it. Be sure your name is on each item. And if you are tired of Mini stuff cluttering up the house the club will gladly include it in the ever-expanding club archives.

And the answer is...Shelly Staatz! Only a couple of long-time members guessed this one. Her dad, Merlin, and brother, Wes, were also SAMOA members and we're hoping the 40th picnic will be a Staatz reunion as well. Maybe Shelly will bring more of her great Mini photos!

Was it really 20 years ago?

Almost as shocking as the fact that SAMOA is 40 years old is the fact that these photos were taken at the SAMOA 20th reunion 20 years ago! The group photo is of those who were members in the 60s. in the other photos, the two handsome gentlemen in one photo are founding members Ray Honsberger and Del Gould. Jeorge McGladrey (Patience) is surrounded by many admirers (as always) in two of the photos. Jim Hunter, Al Beebe and Dave Harris, all 60s vintage members, in one photo and in the other with another member of 60s vintage, our much esteemed current president, Chuck Heleker.

Loosen your Mini seatbelt, it's a SAMOA picnic!

We got hamburgers, we got brats (ok, hot dogs), we got all the fixin's to put on 'em, we got soft drinks and we got a big ol' 40th Anniversary cake. All we need is you. If you've ever been a SAMOA member you'll hate yourself in the morning if you miss this bruhaha. And you really need to RSVP qwickmini@gmail.com.

Current members, if you wish, please bring a side dish to go with. Former members, bring a big appetite!

Back to the 60s again

Mike Howze has been "digging in the basement" (or wherever) like so many other former SAMOA members, now that Minis and the 40th reunion are filling his mind. Here is some of what he dug up. Dash plaques from some long-ago events (who could forget the Mini Mother Cross!?) and really fine t-shirt art by local artist Fred Palmer. Fred used to do a lot of illustrations for the hod-rod crowd but Mike managed to talk Fred into doing one of Mike's Cooper S. Groovy!

Hopefully Mike, and everyone else who have found SAMOA memorabilia, will bring it all to the reunion on the 18th.

This Mini really gets around

Ok boys and girls, it's Mini quiz time again. Some Minis come and some Minis go but this Mini has been in SAMOA since the early 70s. Can you name its first SAMOA owner? How about its present SAMOA owner? How about the four SAMOA owners in between (this is sort of a trick question)? Club members who attended MMW 2007 are automatically disqualified!

The TRUTH at last, at least about all the SAMOAns who've had their mitts on this nice little Mini. Chuck Heleker found this 1974 Canadian Mini 1000 in the mid-seventies at Fisherman's Terminal in Seattle. Catherine Bell, a Canadian living aboard a fishing boat, had it for sale. The rent had just gone up for the fish locker she'd been storing the Mini in. Bert Lobberegt purchased the Mini for his girlfriend at the time, Denyse McFadden but Denyse didn't quite catch the Mini bug and Chuck bought it back. Tim Corbett then purchased it from Chuck and when Tim moved to Corvallis he sold it to Michael Palmer. Michael in turn sold it to current owner, Barbara Praefke who has just installed a spiffy new 1275cc motor. We don't expect to see the orange Mini change hands again any time soon!

Tim Boyd got part of the history right and though Kathy (Dawson) Moellenberndt thought Jim Kirbach might have owned the car his name hasn't been mentioned by any of the previous owners. Of course, all previous owners and the car will be at the reunion. Let's see if they'll all fit in the Mini at the same time!

SAMOA goes road racing

In the 60s SAMOA was all about autocrossing but the 70s saw SAMOA Minis invade Northwest road racing circuits in force. Steve Ludwig led the way, on the track in 1968. He was soon joined by Pete Gerheart, Chris Miller, and Al Beebe. It was easy to pick out our club racers with their distinctive paint jobs; green and yellow on the Ludwig Mini, dark green and white for Gerheart, dark over light blue on Miller’s machine and purple with orange trim (which soon gave way to bright yellow) on Beebe’s blaster.

In these photos taken at Seattle International Raceway, you'll see Chris Miller (#738) chasing Roy Thomas down the hill between turns 2 and 3A, Steve Ludwig (#137) shadowing Al Beebe on the straight, Pete Gerheart (#200) on the strait and Al Beebe (#90) between turns 3A and 3B. The pace lap photo shows all the cars but Miller's at the front of the grid heading for turn 3A. Chris wasn't entered in that race or he would have been up there too! The Chris Miller photo was taken in 1976, the others in 1979.

Through the years over a dozen SAMOAns have raced Minis but these are the founding club racers who inspired them to get out on the track. Look them up at the reunion if you want to hear some great Mini racing adventures!

40th Anniversary shirts now available

What better way to celebrate 40 years of SAMOA than to do it in a brand new 40th Anniversary shirt! Three styles available: a 3-button short sleeve polo in white with black and gold trim on collar and sleeves, a white long-sleeve tee and a beige retro short-sleeve tee (updated version of the original SAMOA shirt design). Available at SAMOA events and meetings and of course at the 40th Anniversary Reunion picnic.

RSVP please!

RSVPs from past and present members are flooding in and it looks like the SAMOA 40th Anniversary Reunion picnic is going to be a HUGE event.

For any organization to survive for 40 years is a remarkable achivement. Even more so considering the crazed bunch of motoring fanatics that have made up SAMOA through the years. This is the chance to celebrate!

If you haven't emailed your rsvp (positive or negative) please do so now. We've got lots of goodies to get for the picnic and want to make sure there's plenty for everyone. Simply email your rsvp to qwickmini@gmail.com.

Looking forward to seeing you there. Don't miss it!

1971 Red Baron Run

And you thought the term "ART CAR" was something new? In the late 60s and early 70s The Tyee Triumph Club held the annual RED BARON RUN autocross. It was a big hit with SAMOA autocrossers as it was a chance to decorate their Minis too!

In May of 1971 the event was held at North Seattle Community College and SAMOA participants met early at the Denny's just west of I-5 on Northgate Way. In this group of photos you'll see Jim Kirbach's Cooper S (ex-Dick Penna) being prepared for battle, Dave Merkel's custom MkI (note the MkII tail lights!) and at the event, the huge crowd is rivited on Chris Miller's Cooper S and Chuck Heleker tightens his helmet strap just prior to a run in "The Grape" (check out that ultra-groovy paint job!). Northgate is barely recognizable in the background of the Kirbach photo and try not to shed a tear when you see the gas prices in the background of the Merkel photo!

70s autocross booty

I was up in the shop attic today and ran across this SAMOA Trophy from 1972...It brought back many memories!

I remember being in charge of trophies for that event and putting together probably 50 trophies total. The class designation on the roof was done with press on letters as was the place, 1st, 2nd or 3rd, on the door. I can't remember if the letters were then clear coated...maybe. The die cast cars were available at the time in bulk (collectors items by now!) and the walnut base came from Athletic Supply via their trophy department. The dash plaques were ordered from one of the specialty suppliers and came with double back tape.

Thought you might enjoy seeing some more "Stuff" from the '70's.

- Bert Lobberegt