One of the cool things about my not-too-long-ago acquired car, the Morris Mini, is the retro-look dials and gauges and switches. If you enlarge the picture and look to the bottom-left of the cup holder, you'll see the airplane-style switches that control the windows and door locks, each protected by a steel half-ring so you don't accidentally hit it.
But for the really amusing stuff, look at the speedometer, center-mounted in the dash, and notice the gradations: Top speed, 150 mph -- 248 kph for those of you on The Continent.
The tachometer, over the steering column, redlines at 6800 rpm. (What that means for you non-techno folks is that once the engine speed gets to the red line, that's like Kirk demanding warp eleven from Commander Scott. "I canna doo it, Cap'n, she won' hold together!")
And even if the engine wouldn't blow up at that speed, a bump in the road as big as your little fingernail would send the car into low orbit, and adios, mate ...
This speedometer is what is known as "optimistic ..."
When I was a kid ma and pa used to take us to Lincoln City and across from the Sambos there was a gokart place. Oh man it was fun. I have since seen the new mini coopers and since they are so low to the ground thought it would be the closest I could get to the feel of the gokart.....and be legal on the street. Congrats, I am envious but hopefully down the road of time I will win the lotto and a mini cooper would be one buy. Hey how about they make one in a 4wd/suv- higher ground clearance model. That would be fun too!
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