The Mini and MINI thread

[presta]

By my parents house, l sometimes see this duo, it disproves the theory that a Panda is a small car!
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There's a house just up the road from me that sometimes has Mini Coopers parked outside, sometimes one, sometimes two, they're the orignal 1960s ones, red with white rooves. I don't know if they live there or are visiting, but they're in mint condition.

 

[Drago]

That side on photo makes the original Mini look like a toy car beside the modern variant!

To be fair it's a Countryman, big old lumps, not a regular MINI.

 

[gbb]

My very first car, Mini reg MKS 988, I think was a series 1, 1959. Big foot operated button on the floor to operate either the washers or starter, can't remember which, it had both. External door hinges , sliding windows and if you drove it in the wet, the engine would die, water all over the ignition leads. I brought a cardboard cover that bolted under the two rocker cover bolts to cure it?
Third car was a 66 Mini Countryman ETO 399C.
I brought it off a fella that had done it up, 12 inch wheels, 1100 engine, primrose yellow (a nice soft colour) paIntjob and he had matt blackedall the woodwork and chrome. It was looker.
Killed them both.

Had a mid 70s mini van, awful and rotten.

All good fun cars (barring the van)...but don't think I'd have one now.

 

[Gunk]

Love a Mini, bought my first in 1983, a 1972 1000 paid £50 and it lasted a year before it failed the MOT and was so rotten it was well past economic repair.

More recently we have owned two R56 Coopers (a petrol and diesel) and an R55 Clubman Cooper D which we sold last year.

Just about to pull the trigger on a Electric Level 3

 

[Drago]

Just about to pull the trigger on a Electric Level 3

Mrs D raves about hers.

 

[craigwend]

First one ( see photo) P reg 998cc of joy and fun - 4 drum brakes that helped it stop event... wrote off (not my fault) and rebuilt for £250, lasted for 5 years before there wasn't much to weld the other bits to - still my favourite

Next one another 998, X reg, though front disc, so would stop quickly - though not unfortunately before a car hit me and wrote this one off permanently...

Fast forward many years and thought I'd try a 'new' one (well preloved..) - lots of safety features, 1400cc engine, much faster - not quite the same fun - you can't recreate your youth Also later a 'intermittent' electrical fault - that led to a part-ex it for something different...

 

[Jameshow]

To be fair it's a Countryman, big old lumps, not a regular MINI.

Regular mini is pretty authentic mini with respect to driving style but with safety upgrades and a little more refinement, runflats excepted!

 

[Jody]

An A+ 1275 turbo from the later MG metro would drop in pretty easily I'd have thought. That said, a souped up non-turbo bored to 1340 with various improvements might be faster still.

For no rational reason, somehow I'd want a supercharger rather than a turbo

Funny you should say that.

My mate had a highly tuned 1380 when I had my turbo mini. They were fairly equal until the boost got turned up.

His ended up being an A series with an R53 supercharger on it and about 180/190 bhp

 

[fossyant]

I bet an Aygo makes a Mini look small these days.

 

[Drago]

Car and Driver and Car Magzine each tested the Mini Cooper S Electric at 6.1 seconds, quicker than a petrol Cooper S and only a smidge dowin on the current JCW. That might explain why Mrs D's front tyres are already visibly wearing.

 

[Profpointy]

Funny you should say that.

My mate had a highly tuned 1380 when I had my turbo mini. They were fairly equal until the boost got turned up.

His ended up being an A series with an R53 supercharger on it and about 180/190 bhp

That would be very appealing

I did nearly buy, or at least seriously consider a
mini at the tail end of their run. At that stage they only did 1000cc, at least, that's all they did in the van version I wanted (brand new in 1983 or whatever it was). Bought a Maestro diesel van in the end, and whilst it was absolutely brilliant, a 1300 mini van would have been more cool.

 

[Reynard]

An original Mini here.

My first car and I still have it, though it's currently SORNed.

A very late production run Mk2 998 Cooper with a past history as a hillclimb / sprint car, hence the modern interior as the original had been stripped out. It's noisy, runs out of puff above 60 mph and is hampered by the tiddly 5 gallon fuel tank, but it's an absolute hoot to drive because it's stupid quick from a standing start and handles like a kart.

And yes, it REALLY doesn't like the rain, hence the aluminium plate zip-tied to the grille. If it's really wet, the old rubber glove over the dissy cap thing works quite well.

 

[fossyant]

An original Mini here.

My first car and I still have it, though it's currently SORNed.

A very late production run Mk2 998 Cooper with a past history as a hillclimb / sprint car, hence the modern interior as the original had been stripped out. It's noisy, runs out of puff above 60 mph and is hampered by the tiddly 5 gallon fuel tank, but it's an absolute hoot to drive because it's stupid quick from a standing start and handles like a kart.

And yes, it REALLY doesn't like the rain, hence the aluminium plate zip-tied to the grille. If it's really wet, the old rubber glove over the dissy cap thing works quite well.

PICS PLEASE

We don't need any of the modern washing machine versions !

 

[Profpointy]

And yes, it REALLY doesn't like the rain, hence the aluminium plate zip-tied to the grille. If it's really wet, the old rubber glove over the dissy cap thing works quite well.

I was told that originally in the prototype the engine was the other way round, with the carb at the front, but that made it prone to icing, so they turned the whole thing round putting the distributer in front and this prone to being soaked but also meant there was an idler gear for the forward gears but direct for reverse. This could be "one of those stories" and hence total bollocks but I have hear it.

That said, I never had any issue with my Metro, presumably with the same config. Well,
no issues with the distributer getting wet at any rate; lots of issues with rust, rear suspension, and a lot else but not that

 

[Jody]

What's the electric drive like @Drago?