Tina Phipps, Warsaw, will drive and park her Minions-printed Mini Cooper on the Mackinac Bridge, Michigan, in hopes of breaking the Guinness World Record for largest parade of Mini cars. The attempt was last made in 2013, also on the Mackinac Bridge, to break the record set in 2009 in England. Phipps heard of the attempt in the United States from a friend and she thought “it looked like fun.” To break the world record, there must be at least 1,451 Mini Coopers participating and as of Tuesday, Phipps said there were 1,100 registered. Phipps has owned her yellow Mini Cooper for 10 years. She said owners of Mini Coopers can be crazy and she knew those in the parade would have many gimmicks and decorations on their vehicles. “Baby girl makes people laugh anyways because she’s yellow and she looks like sunshine,” she said. “With her being yellow, she had to be a Minion.” With the assistance of Brad Robert at Robert Signs Inc., her Mini Cooper now has a Minions vinyl decal wrapped around her compact vehicle. She said when she walks outside her home she sees people photographing it. She said it’s really cool to have two small local businesses working together for this trip. “This is really getting the attention,” she said. In the 10 years Phipps has owned her vehicle, she has only put 30,000 miles on it. She leaves Thursday to participate in the world record attempt Saturday. She said she will put more miles on her vehicle making this trip than she will for an entire year. Even if the world record attempt is unsuccessful, she said this trip is a good excuse to get out of town and do something fun. She’s not sure what to expect from the trip, and she’s not the biggest fan of bridges, but she knows there will be a lot of headlights flashing signaling “hello” to fellow Mini drivers. “You don’t drive a Mini because it’s a leisure vehicle, you drive it because you feel like you’re in a go-kart on steroids,” she said. “You can park anywhere, and zip around, they are just fun.” For more information and a complete list of Guinness World Record guidelines, visit the Mini on the Mack facebook page.
