As a child growing up in the 60’s, I love the quote “If you can remember the 60’s, you weren’t really there.” The intriguing thing about it is that many people think they remember who said it, but the problem is they disagree: Paul Kantner, Robin Williams, Paul Krassner, Pete Townshend, Grace Slick, Timothy Leary, and many others have been credited with the saying, but of course, no one who was there really remembers !
Well fortunately or unfortunately I do remember much of the 60’s, mainly because I was too young to know any better and they were my formidable years of growing out of childhood into those teenage years.
Recently I was taken back to the 60’s by recounting some of my family road trip memories, when, sometimes with a caravan in tow we were bundled into the FB Holden and ventured off playing “I Spy” an incessantly asking, “Are we there yet?”
One particular summer holiday trip travelling from Adelaide to Sydney whilst crossing the Hay Plains (which apparently is one of the flattest places on earth), I fondly recall the FB with no air-conditioning struggling at 55 mph being passed by a new Mercedes and a snotty nosed kid in the back seat glaring at us with disdain as they sped off into the distance.
I say fondly, as that day I realised there really is a God and he drives a Mini, because out of no-where a huge pall of dust signalled that a highway patrol wasn’t happy with the Mercedes either and took pursuit. By the time the FB chugged past the Mercedes, a huge cop had somehow squeezed his way out of the pursuit car and was writing out a ticket, and we kids in the FB’s back seat were hooting and hollowing and making faces at the snotty nosed kid as we drove off into the sunset.
Ever since that day I’ve had a love affair with the Mini and in particular the Cooper S which the NSW police used very effectively as Highway Patrol cars for a period.
So I was amazed at how time flies when Mini recently celebrated it’s 60 th Birthday on August 26 th , and if you’re a Mini lover also, you may be interested in these three ‘Top 10’ articles that Carsales put together to celebrate the occasion: