MINI Mania

John Genduso says it was on Cinco de Mayo in 2007 in Jacksonville when the MINI Cooper changed his life. He was “a construction worker living in the middle of nowhere,” shopping for a replacement for his wife’s gas guzzling Infinity SUV. The Ocala couple traveled to Jacksonville to get their car serviced and stopped in at the MINI dealer and “fell in love.”

Today, Genduso, 39, is not only a proud owner of his sixth MINI Cooper — a custom 2013 blue hard top tricked out with a John Cooper Works body kit — he is a winning MINI car racer and working a “dream job” as an official motoring advisor who helped open the Sandy Sansing MINI dealership in Pensacola in 2009. “I am a MINI freak,” Genduso admits. 

He is also an active member of the Panhandle Chapter of the Sunshine MINIs Car Club, a social club of 101 MINI aficionados ranging in age from 16 to 80 who hail from Alabama to Panama City. The club has monthly motor meet ups at a particular destination or a special event that allows them to parade and then park their prized possessions and mix and mingle. “There is a MINI ad from Europe that says the MINI is the only car that comes standard with friends, and it’s true!” Genduso says. 

How is the decision to MINI-mize working out? “They’re awesome-cool-fun,” Genduso says. “It’s almost like a way of life.”