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MINI Takes The States Marks 20 Years With Three Regional Rallies
MINI's biennial owner rally returned to Monterey for its 20th anniversary, drawing nearly 350 cars and 700 registered attendees to a California leg that owners used to press the brand on manual gearboxes, bigger SUVs and driving fun.
By Eleanor Ellington · 5 min read
MINI Takes The States has returned to where it began, with nearly 350 cars gathering in California for the 20th anniversary of the brand's biennial owner rally. The event started in Monterey on the same date and in the same place as the original 2006 run, which was staged to celebrate the first 45 Cooper S models delivered with the John Cooper Works GP Kit.
The anniversary edition marks a significant change in format. The original rally ran for 14 days and about 4,000 miles, finishing in Lakeville, Connecticut. MINI USA repeated the cross-country trip every other year, skipping only 2020, making this year's event the tenth. For 2026, the company split the route into three long-weekend rallies in California, New York and Florida, so owners no longer need two weeks of holiday to take part — a Friday off is enough.
The California leg opened with a Rise & Rally at Cardinale Stadium in Seaside, next to Monterey, before the convoy headed north on Highway 1 past Half Moon Bay and San Francisco, then inland towards Sonoma wine country. An evening MINI Mixer at the SOMO Village Event Center in Rohnert Park brought owners together over DJ sets. Saturday's meetup moved to the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, with the route running through the vineyards of Sonoma and Napa Valley before climbing over Carson Pass and descending to Lake Tahoe. The weekend closed with a Coopers & Coffee send-off at Palisades Tahoe in Olympic Valley, the 1960 Winter Olympics venue.
MINI says 700 people registered for the California leg, bringing close to 350 cars. Sean Green, who became Vice President of MINI Region Americas in May after running BMW Group China, attended his second MTTS and said a quarter of those taking part were under 50. He described the closeness of the MINI community as striking, recounting the story of a couple who met on the rally and later married. Owners travelled from the East Coast, Florida and the Midwest for the three-day weekend.
The gathering also served as an informal focus group. Jean-Philippe Parain, who has led MINI globally for a year, spent time with owners asking what they want next. Most of those questioned said the Countryman should grow larger, arguing that the current U25 model, already the biggest MINI on sale, is not spacious enough for their needs. The message was blunt: if MINI cannot offer that space, buyers will look at other brands.
Owners were equally clear that MINI's long-running «go-kart feeling» marketing line is not what drives their loyalty. They simply want a Cooper that is fun to drive, and said they would not object if a future model switched to rear-wheel drive. The original 1959 Mini was built around Alec Issigonis's transverse engine and front-wheel drive, a layout the modern brand has kept. The owners' brief is looser than the marketing suggests: make it look like a MINI, make it enjoyable, and they are interested.
The manual gearbox remains the most emotive subject. One Florida couple owns six MINIs, all with manual transmissions, a habit that began with a European trip in the early 2000s and a full year spent configuring their first order. They want MINI to bring the manual back and make that case to anyone who asks. No model in the current generation offers one; the JCW 1TO6 Edition was the last with three pedals, and MINI has said repeatedly that the manual will not return. When that decision was taken, 45 per cent of buyers of the outgoing JCW were choosing the manual.
The weekend also showcased the breadth of the owner base. MINI GPs appeared over the two days, fitting for a rally that exists because of the GP, but the standout cars were the unusual ones: a Cooper prepared for off-road driving and a Countryman off-roader built by a local MINI dealer. The California leg was driven in a Paul Smith Edition Cooper S, a package priced at 1,400 dollars for the Cooper S that requires the 4,100-dollar Iconic Trim and adds exclusive paint colours, the designer's signature on the tailgate and a hand-drawn rabbit on the floor mats.
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