The Champion’s New Chariot

After months and months of research and lots of looking and thinking, we finally found a car to serve as the next Lilly-Mobile. It’s a 2003 Mini Cooper. It gets way better mileage, has a higher safety rating, AND is beyond cute compared to the other cars considered. We’re still finalizing our dog transport solutions. But —

We’re going from this set-up in my Toyota 4Runner. The crate is secured with hooks to cargo loops.

{photo lost}

To this set-up in the Mini Cooper:

{photo also lost}

With the back seat folded down, the crate still needs a bit of support for the edge that hangs over into the little cargo area. For now, I fold up a blanket to support that edge, but Tom is going to design me a custom solution that fills that “trunk” (or boot) space and levels it to the folded seats, so that the whole back area is uniform height, etc. Tom will include some tie-downs to that the crate is secure.

I was hoping the smaller soft-sided crate was narrow enough that I could keep one of the rear seats upright. That would have been the perfect solution if I want to take both Lilly and my niece (who is dying for a dog) somewhere (my niece is too young/small to sit in the front seat because of the airbag), but the crate is a couple inches too wide for that.

So, our three-girl adventures will have to be on foot from my niece’s house.

Lilly went for her first ride in the car on Sunday, and she hopped right up without any nerves or transition worries. Since she was always so far behind me in the 4Runner, I never really knew what she did back there as a I drove. I assume she faced backward.

With her right behind the driver’s seat in the Mini Cooper, and since the crate is mesh on all sides (except the bottom), she can see me and out the windshield (and through her own rear sunroof). So, she faced forward.

The 4Runner has crank, not power, windows, so whatever airflow solution I chose was what we had, but the Mini Cooper has power windows and a power sunroof (with sunshade, if we want air but not sun). It’s really neat.

Sunday on the way home from running errands, we had both windows down and the sunroof open. Very fun.

The Mini also has good tinting on the windows. With that and the lighter color (silver), I have high hopes that the car will be much cooler for both of us.

So far, I’m getting somewhere close to double the miles per gallon, and I’m loving it. It is exactly what I need — no more, no less. Maybe it’s all the drama and stress lately, but I feel a strong desire to be completely self-contained.