Personally, I like Minis a lot. I thought about getting one when the Clubman came out. I mentioned it to my mom and she said "ya right!" and totally thought I was joking. I mentioned it to a few friends at work and they laughed it off too and even poked fun. I'm not saying I think it's a girl's car - HOWEVER that IS the perception that almost everyone I know has. You have to realize that most people in the consumer world are not car people. They don't appreciate the technical/engineering aspect of Minis or plenty of other cars out there, nor will they ever care. The concept of what constitutes a girl car is open for interpretation - in my experience though, nearly everyone thinks of the Mini as a girl car.

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2001 X5 4.4i
2002 Honda S2000