Why I bought it:
I bought the car at 17. After saving up from my part-time job I had around £4,000 to buy and insure the car and had been looking at Corsas and the like, but none of them floated my boat. Then one day I saw the car advertised on Gumtree. It only had two rubbish photos and hardly any description, but price was right at £2,000 and I decided to take a look as it was local and I'd always liked Minis.
I got there expecting to see something a bit tatty but was amazed to see a car in very good condition. It had a few issues, but I fell in love as soon as I saw it. I even managed to fit my 6ft 3in frame in, thanks to the bucket seats. I bought the car the next day for £1,600 cash (after getting it checked over, of course).
Sociable types, these Mini owners
Looking back I didn't know much about Minis at all and I was lucky that I got a good car. Rust is the key with these cars; they can rust everywhere and putting it right can cost hundreds if not thousands of pounds. Checking every panel carefully is vital. Since buying it I have seen cars advertised for twice the price of mine in far worse condition.
I also wish I could have had a longer test drive of the car as, after buying it, I realised the brakes were near-enough shot and the engine was well down on power. Mind you, I still got a very good car for what I paid and have never regretted buying it.
Things I love:
The main thing for me is the way it drives. It really is a joy on the right road. It's not quick at all in a straight line, but that cliche of handling like a go-kart is so very true in this case. I also love the attention the car gets. It is quite brash, but everyone turns to look. Younger kids especially seem to love it - I've even had people ask for their kids to have a photo in it before. Hopefully they will be the Mini owners of the future.
Finally the other thing I like about the car is how different it is - you can't get anything like it nowadays and probably never will be able to and, with the thousands of aftermarket parts available, I can genuinely never see myself selling it.
It's not subtle but who cares!
The car does have a number of foibles, the main annoyance being the fact the heater on these things is appalling and on snowy days it takes a good 10 minutes to defrost the car and a cold journey once you get on your way. The car also does not seem to be a fan of rain - it can run a bit rough if you go through deep puddles - but luckily it has never cut out or broken down on me. And since I now have a second car it will only be used for the summer anyway.
Costs:
In terms of running costs the car is very good, being only a 998cc engine (albeit it with a bigger carb and a performance cylinder head and exhaust) - I can get around 35-40mpg. Parts for these cars are also both cheap and easily available. I normally get mine from Old Skool Minis as they are based nearby and always a good source of knowledge if you have any problems with these cars. I also do the servicing myself, as they're so simple to work on, so for me the actual running costs have been very low. It has just been upgrades that's cost any real money.
Where I've been:
I've been to quite a few different places in the car, mainly various Mini shows across the country. When the car is fixed I plan to take it on the London to Brighton run next year, and the year after I am hopefully going to go to Le Mans in it with my dad, as neither of us have ever been before and it's something we have both always wanted to do.
Greg's Mini spreads Christmas cheer
I have a number of plans for the car in the future, the main one being getting the car back on the road as I had a small shunt in it that meant a new front-end. This should be all sorted and sprayed by the spring and I can then get all the new parts, such as custom door cards and headlining as well as finally getting it rolling-road tuned.
In the long run I am looking at fitting a 1,293cc turbo engine and a straight-cut gearbox in around 18 months or so with my aim being around 150hp. With a 750kg weight that should make the car pretty interesting to drive.