Mini Cooper: Spotted
Race ready but road legal with 148hp. Looks rather fun...
Face it, you really want a go
'No expense spared' is used to describe this car's transformation and there seems little reason to doubt that. Sold as a plain old Cooper in 1991, it was purchased by 'The English Brothers' in 2002. They may sound like a pair of crooks from a gangster film but are in fact very successful sprint and hillclimb racers. Work began soon after to turn this car into an ultimate hillclimb machine, until it was purchased in 2011 by Mini racer Patrick Mortimer as a present for his wife.
The spec is just incredible. A Stage 3 1,380cc engine making 148hp with Omega pistons, a Kent cam, Weber carb and MED race cylinder head. There are Straight-cut gears, a paddle clutch and Salisbury LSD. As well as genuine Minilites on Yokohama Advans, Gaz adjustable dampers and a Cooper S brakes. That's before you get to the interior. A lot of time and money has clearly been invested into making this Mini a superbly capable and very successful racer.
Hold on tight!
Of course the benefit to using something so light as the basis for a competition car is the low cost of consumables. Apparently the engine has an invoice for many thousands and making over 100hp per litre it will probably require some specialist care. But tyres and brakes would surely last ages, and the suspension components aren't stressed by excess weight. You wouldn't even need a big trailer.
Finally there's the cool factor associated with being an old Mini. Who doesn't love 'em? Especially really fast ones? It won't be for those who just want to pootle around but for anyone who loves driving they would surely be hard pressed to buy more grins for £10K.
MINI COOPER
Engine: 1,380cc four-cyl
Transmission: 4-speed manual, front-wheel drive, limited-slip differential
Power (hp): 148@N/Arpm
Torque (lb ft): N/A
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1991
Recorded mileage: 53,885
Price new: £6,995
Yours for: £9,995
See the original advert here.
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These are even faster than you might think. Why? Well other people like them. People wave at you and actually let you out of side roads because, well, because it is a Mini. A total totty magnet too, from my limited experience. I wouldn't sell an RS for it though.
I also remember attending the Middlesex RSOC meetings in the mid '90s at the White Hart pub near Heathrow Airport. Racing used to take place on the dual carriageway (A4 Bath Road) until it was put to an end (predictably) by the local police. Eventually all sorts of cars used to turn up and 'race' the RS Turbo's and Cossies down the road. I remember a brand new (M or N reg at the time) E36 M3 wheelspinning 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear! Anyway, one day a blue/turquoise coloured Mini clubman (with quad headlights) and 7x13 Minilites turned up. I knew this car from magazine features I had read at the time. IIRC it had around 200 bhp from a heavily modified turbo'd A series. Probably started off as a Metro Turbo engine (which was my first car, miss that :-() but the way this thing shifted was unbelievable! like a video that had been played on fast x 2 setting!! All you could hear was the whining of the straight cut gears as it rocketed off in to the distance, and then appeared again out of nowhere. Needless to say many a Cossie owner were scratching their heads Lol. Everytime I see a fast (proper) Mini it reminds me of that mental blue car from years ago.
It says it makes power between 3000rpm and 8000rpm ie horrible on the road.
Bet it is riot when flat out though.
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