COUNTERFEIT MINI JOINS MTTS

A counterfeit MINI has been spotted among the hundreds of genuine MINIs as they head west towards California on MINI TAKES THE STATES.



Looking suspiciously out of place among the rest of the cars lining up for the start of the drive from Louisville to Chicago this morning was a Kia Sorento, sporting MINI decals, badging and striping in an amusing attempt to fool onlookers.

The Korean 4x4 is being driven by George Constantinou as a late replacement for his MINI Cooper JCW GP that he was planning to drive but which he sold just days before the start of the rally. He borrowed the Sorento from a friend to avoid missing out on the epic drive.

"It's been attracting a lot of comments and one person even thought that it was MINI's next mid-size SUV!," said George, "I based the idea on a previous advertising campaign about counterfeit MINIS and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I think it was the first Kia ever to be seen on the Charlotte Motor Speedway!"

George, from Phoenix, Arizona, has a thing about the GP. "I think it is the pinnacle of the R53," he said. He still owns two GPs along with two classic Minis. However, one of his GPs definitely couldn't be used on MTTS as it is stored at home in a protective cocoon bubble – a climate-controlled storage device called a Carcoon – to preserve its ‘like new' feel.

"I really would have preferred to have driven my GP but it's not about the car on MTTS, it's about the spirit and the fun," he added. His co-pilot in the Kia is Robert Baillard, of Pasadena, California.