UPDATE : For all you wondering souls, yes, Jessica has been driving with us already.  And she’s every bit the down to earth, nice young lady that the media portrays. Oh, and she absolutely loves MINIs; what a happy coincidence, so do we!

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Like all Australians, we here at Crash Test Dummy have been following the exploits of Jessica Watson as she sailed her way around the world.  Amazing stuff Jess!

When Channel 10 contacted us and said they wanted to surprise Jessica with some driving lessons, we were on board right away.

We asked Ben from 10 why Crash Test Dummy?  His resposne; a great car, a great name and a great motto.

After all, Jess has made quite the statement with her awesome pink yacht, so why make do with a  boring driving school car when she could have the adventure of learning in Crash Test Dummy’s mellow yellow MINI Cooper auto?

Here’s a copy of the gift certificate Jess was given this afternoon.  We look forward to having Jess on board driving with us real soon.  What a legend!

When I was young, younger than ten I guess, my parents had a flat in Queanbeyan.  That’s a town in New South Wales just outside of Canberra.  The little old lady who lived next door had a lovely little bird she kept in a cage and a lovely little car she kept in a carport.  Her name was Mavis although we always called her Mrs Perman and she was the proud owner of an original MINI.

One day she took my mother, my brother and myself out for a drive in her MINI, which was surprisingly roomy inside.  Anyway, I must have been particularly naughty, because at one point she stopped the car and told me if i didn’t pull my head in, or words to that affect, she would have me get out and walk home.  Sounds delightful, but I glanced at my saint of a Mum and she didn’t seem to bat an eyelid, so I must have been acting up something shocking.

Anyway, anyway, enough of my childhood trauma.  When I went to pick up Crash Test Dummy’s MINI from Brisbane MINI Garage, it had the license plate 056 MAV.  Now I hadn’t ordered anything fancy like a personalised plate, but here it was, a delightful little coincidence, MAV.  It made me smile; it stil makes me smile; and quiver a little bit, but mostly smile.  So, I have christened Crash Test Dummy’s yellow MINI “Mavis”.  And in one foul swoop, I’ve just become one of those people I hate who give inanimate objects a human name.

Oh well, here’s to Mavis the MINI…  Photos? I thought you’d never ask!

1.  Our MINI isn’t a soft top.
2.  There’s not much snow in Brisbane.
3.  This picture is an accurate representation of how it feels to drive a MINI.

When choosing a Brisbane driving school, there are a number of factors to take into account.  Looking around, however, it seems that the car is almost the last consideration for most driving schools.

And what factor comes first when they do choose a car?  Price.  Cheap and mostly cheerful rule the day.

But what if someone, like us for example, looked at it from a different persepctive. Say, value.  So Crash Test Dummy students get to drive in a …

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