Seattle MINI

to where it all started: MINI NOT small, Bigfoot, Felicia Killman, and Lab Rat Garage at Olympus Rally. 🏁

Back then, Lab Rat and Felicia were running their very first rally as a privateer. Now she's an official MINI factory driver at the Rebelle Rally. 🤯

What a trajectory. From Olympic Peninsula gravel to the desert of Nevada, California, and Utah, and we're proud to have been there from the start. (Bigfoot, as usual, was just there for the snacks.)

Follow along and stay tuned. The best part of this story is still ahead. 👀

Beyond standard issue. Up to $1,000 in military incentives toward a new MINI at Seattle MINI. 🇺🇸

Long miles. Rough roads. Room for your gear. The MINI Countryman is built to go the distance, on the road or off it.

Seattle MINI offers active duty, reserve, veteran, and retired service members up to $1,000 toward a new MINI. Proudly serving Joint Base Lewis-McChord and military families across Seattle, Tacoma, Lakewood, DuPont, Everett, Bremerton, Bangor, University Place, Puyallup, Gig Harbor, Olympia and the rest of Greater Puget Sound.

👉 Tag someone who serves and share this with them.

Follow Seattle MINI to see everything we offer those who serve our country. Tap the link in bio to learn more.

Eligibility requirements apply. See www.SeattleMINI.com for complete details.

MINI Military & First Responder Incentives | Special Offers Explore MINI Military and First Responder Incentives. Eligible military & first responders save on new MINIs. Verify with ID.me to claim your offer today.

Think rubber ducks on cars started with Jeep? There’s an older MINI story.

Years before “Duck Duck Jeep” became a phenomenon, rubber ducks were already circulating through the MINI community.

The story centers on early modern-MINI enthusiast Ed Smith, better known online as MaxaMini. During a MINI drive on Long Island in the early 2000s, the group visited the famous Big Duck roadside landmark. Ed embraced the joke and began carrying small rubber ducks with him, handing them out to fellow MINI owners at events and on road trips.

And this isn’t just MINI folklore.

A MINI enthusiast post from March 2005 thanks Ed for a duck and describes him as someone who regularly handed them out at MINI gatherings. After Ed died unexpectedly later that year, MINI owners organized drives in his memory, and the duck tradition continued.

The much more widely known Jeep ducking movement came later, beginning in 2020.

Two different communities. Two different origins.

But MINI owners were passing ducks between cars roughly 15 years earlier.

So if you ever find a little rubber duck sitting on your MINI, you may be looking at more than a social-media trend.

You may be looking at a small piece of MINI community history.

Which, honestly, feels very MINI.

Modern MINI production began at Plant Oxford in April 2001.

Today, R50-based cars remain part of MINI Challenge competition—proof that the first modern MINI has lived a considerably longer performance life than most people realize.

And there's a reason.

This kind of racing doesn't need enormous horsepower to be interesting. Momentum, braking, line choice and driver input matter.

That's also why first-generation enthusiast MINIs like our local #37 still make sense.

They're small. They're direct. They communicate. And they're happiest when the driver is involved.

Some cars become nostalgic.

Some keep finding work.

Maybe the first modern MINI wasn't done yet.

Enjoying the long weekend? So are we (kind of) — open 11am–5pm today. Happy Labor Day! 🚗✨