If you don’t already know about Kim Rhode, you probably should. Kim is a five-time Olympic gold medalist in skeet shooting, and was the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta at just 13 years old. Oh yeah, she’s also crazy about cars, including MINIs!
Rhode’s father was quite an automobile hobbyist and he kept a large machine shop in his backyard. The young Olympian became enamored with the shop, and it wasn’t long before she was rebuilding engines and soon after that, full car kits. Despite the time and effort it takes to develop Rhode’s world-class skills shotgun skills, she still finds times to work on cars, and, to drive them.
“I build cars. I restore them, fix them and I drive them. Some people who collect cars don’t drive them…Mine are very much drivers. There’s a big difference between show cars and drivers. You’re going to have a lot more fun in them rather than towing the, I think.”
When asked about her dream cars, Rhodes rattled off the usual Shelby Cobra, Ferrari and then – huh?- a MINI Countryman?
“I’m also looking at the MINI Cooper Countryman. It gets up and goes. It’s a great little car. Four doors, lots of room, it’s hard to beat that.”
We couldn’t agree more! Congratulations to Kim Rhode!
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