"My parents bought me my first Mini in late 1993, just before my 17th birthday," recalls long-term Mini owner Lizzie Home, with a smile. "They wanted to buy me a car to give me some independence and to learn to drive in as I didn't go to college near where I lived. I guess getting me a car was a cheaper option for them than paying the train fare." There was a worrying start to the story: "Initially I said I wanted a Volkswagen Beetle so mum asked a car dealer friend to keep a look out for a Beetle. A few weeks later he said he'd found a Mini, a 1983 City E. I didn't want a Mini but mum said I should go and have a look. I saw it and smiled. I sat in it and smiled some more and that started a lifelong obsession. I named it Nigel, as my dad bought me a Nigel Mansell-branded road atlas for it." She passed her driving test in the Mini and is so glad that she didn't take the Beetle route. "Most of my long-term friendships have been forged at Mini shows over the last 28 years and I met my husband at the British Mini Showdown at Shakespeare County Raceway in 2002."
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