British Invasion

What do you get when you mix 50-odd BMW Mini Coopers, 100 or so film fans, and weekend rush-hour traffic on far-west Highway 183 during the biggest motorcycle rally of the year? Well, yes, you get your humbled Chronicle scribe lagging a mile or so behind in a snarky Subie WRX that ought to beat the pants off these chipper little Limey buggers (but can't because two Harley-riding behemoths named Chopper and Skullboy have decided to clog the macadam in front of me for, oh, a good 30 miles). But more than that, you get looks of dazed confusion from everyone else on the road as the resilient, oddly sexy automotive stars of The Italian Job and last Friday's Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek's mini-Mini rally snaked their way up Lime Creek Road before heading to Mount Bonnell for (we kid you not) appropriately minuscule 6-ounce sodas and Oreo Minis. Unfortunately, Michael Caine, star of the 1969 original, had already left town a few months back, but that didn't stop this wee, twee British Invasion from being aces all the way, mate.