MINI agreed to lend me a 2025 Cooper S so I could drive 3,100 miles to cover the action during Monterey Car Week. Read the first installment in this series here.
So sorry for not posting about day 1. It was simply a boring drive to Scranton, Pennsylvania with no detours. The photo below is me arriving at the Fairfield Inn, where I seem to end up staying at least once a year.
Day 2 started at 6 a.m. with a quick breakfast waffle and a Diet Coke followed by getting on the road to South Bend, Indiana.
The uneventful start of this journey made me happy to have both adaptive cruise control and lane assist, which seemed to make the miles on I-80 go by quickly. Both work exceptionally well and definitely help with traffic on the interstate.
After a single fuel stop, I made a quick call to my friend Brandon Anderson, the Executive Director and CEO of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum. He invited me to visit so I took a detour and headed to Auburn, Indiana.
I went to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum several years ago. Back then, it was great, but in the last few years with Brandon at the reigns, it has become something amazing and a must-see for any car enthusiast.
The cars on display are absolutely stunning, as is the exhibit dedicated to E. L. Cord that goes over the history of the visionary industrialist and beyond just his connection to cars by delving into his love of aviation and other ventures.
The single most amazing part of this museum is that it is literally in the original Cord/Duesenberg factory. This includes the clay modeling room, the design room, and Cord’s office. It is like taking a step back in time and the ghosts that are there seem to appear almost right in front of you. If you are a car enthusiast, you simply must see this museum.
The rest of the day was unremarkable and I made it to South Bend in time to grab something to eat and check in at another Fairfield Inn.
A quick bit on the 2025 MINI Cooper S: Yes, I sometimes do wish it had the paddle shifters shown in the owner’s manual but not installed in the car. Beyond that it was great in the rain, loved on- and off-ramps, and delivered 40 miles per gallon with the cruise control set at 80.
Tomorrow, the MINI and I are bound for Lincoln, Nebraska. The following day is the very long drive to Salt Lake City, Utah.
Check out the ClassicCars.com Journal soon for my day 3 installment. See you in Monterey.
