The year was 1972, best I can remember it, my father, Dale “Ivan” bought a 1960 Morris Mini Minor. An ugly grey car with an 850 engine with a starter in the floor. As kids we would charge the battery and put it in gear and use the starter to make it move along side the house. just enough to get a bit of a thrill. We also had no concept of what it meant to play all over it including the roof. In 1976-77 my dad and I took the engine apart and rebuilt it. bled the brakes as best we could for single leading shoes. He drove it to the local HS parking lot and I learned how to drive in my/his Mini.

Dale “Ivan” RIP dad! (April 6, 1930 - May 23, 1997)

Recently I put the car on eBay for 4 days and could not get myself to let it sell. Everytime I came close to the car memories flooded my mind and heart and I cried like a baby. I am not too terribly emotional, but this car pulled at my heart and I took it down. Decided to dedicate the car to my dad and to name it after him. Ivan the Mini is getting a transformation and will eventually be the title character in a new cartoon and marketing campaign and symbol to the legal Mini. What I would like to do with the car is to offer sponsorship and find a major sponsor to paint the car, fix any mechanical challenges and use it as a running billboard for a business. Just a few ideas. Will write more later!