Today is the 2nd birthday of my Mini Cooper (okay, it's not really the birthday, but more like the adoption day - I took delivery two years ago).

Since then, I've been amazed at what I found fits well into the tiny little boot (or trunk) of my Mini. See the picture below for a reference point (I took this picture two years ago).



The little boot actually carries quite a bit of stuff. I don't hesitate going to the grocery store with the car, nor have Costco or Home Depot runs been out of the question either (within reason of course - I'm not hauling home a 37" LCD television home in the car for sure...). But in the same way my Roland D-70 keyboard used to fit perfectly in the back seat of my 1988 Mustang LX 5.0 coupe, I have found a couple of surprisingly perfect fits in the boot of the Mini.

- My full size violin in its case snuggles in perfectly between the tire jack case and the opposite wall of the Mini in the left-right direction in the lowered section of the boot.
- Refrigerator 12-packs of CocaCola fit perfectly in that lowered section in the front-back direction. You can get about 5 in (I forget exactly how many) but it's a perfect fit whatever the count.
- Eddie Bauer overnight duffel. This might seem intuitive, but the one I have really is a perfect fit once inside. Sometimes, a little, um, "encouragement" is required to get it into the boot. But once there, it's a happy camper.