MINI 50 Rocks South Africa!

It was definitely MINI Parking Only in the sleepy little town of Clarens, South Africa when the MINI 50 celebration came to town!

Here's another of those MINI turning 50 celebrations, this time from the usually quiet Free State village of Clarens, South Africa. If you know any South Africans, you know how much like enjoy a good party!

The weekend saw an influx of MINIs both old and new lining the streets. The village green was transformed into a "MINI-Woodstock" that hosted some of the country's most popular bands, and pubs and restaurants were packed to capacity with revelers of all shapes and sizes.

Besides the requisite overpriced MINI garment sale there was a real highlight: a Q&A session with Rauno Aaltonen, the legendary Finnish racing driver who won the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally behind the wheel of an original Cooper S. At age 71, the appropriately named “Rally Professor” took to the  stage for twenty minutes on Saturday afternoon and thrilled the crowd with his nostalgic racing stories from the golden-era of motorsport.

It was the place to see and be seen, where you could cut the enthusiasm with a knife. This, my friends, is what MINI motoring is all about!