Miniology: Feeling the Love
Small cars must be feeling like the unlikely candidate who just got named Homecoming Queen. And if there’s any small, sporty, sharp little beauty I’m craving, it has to be the Mini. Over the weekend I was poking around on the net and ran across miniology.com. Instant love. For one thing, I’m coming to appreciate sites that pick a topic and stick with it. We have long since passed information overload online, and focus goes a long way toward selling a site in my book. Miniology gets a big thumbs up for focus.
Here’s how they describe themselves, “Miniology is the science and study of all things Mini. More specifically, this refers to automobiles, mostly the small British car market consisting of “Mini” (classic era 1959-2000, as produced by a variety of makers, including Austin, Morris, BMC, Leyland, Riley, Woosley, Rover), “MINI” (new era, 2002 model year+ as produced by BMW).”
Interestingly enough however, through their site and their video podcast, Miniology has built a bridge to other small car enthusiasts. “Now, we find that classic Mini and new MINI events are shared with owners of other small classic cars, such as the smaller MGs and Triumphs, as well newer cars such as the Nissan 350Z, Mazda Miata, Smart ForTwo, etc. However, we are still primarily Mini/MINI-oriented, so the news and events you find on Miniology will be largely focused (I won’t say biased, because we aren’t, really) in that direction.”
Yes, focus is good, but flavor is important to and the flavor of the day in the rapidly changing automotive world is “small” with dashes of “fuel efficient” and “environmentally friendly” for dash. (Why am I suddenly fighting the urge to stand up on a soap box and yell, ‘Small car owners of the world, unite!?’)
There’s plenty to keep you happily clicking around Minilology, from recent posts like “How to Build a Classic Mini” (complete with video) to club and event news and the latest on the much-hyped Mini crossover concept. Everything is easy to find in a tidy, three-column layout blessedly free of anything blinking, scrolling, or popping up. You get all the Mini love and none of the annoyance of clutter and superfluous, off-topic stuff. Nicely built, beautifully executed, economical but effective — wait a minute . . . no wonder they love the Mini. :)