Cooper Sport ?
Discussion
Sorry to post what I think is silly question but how can I be sure if my car is a Mini Cooper Sport? I was led to believe thats what it was when I bought it a few years ago, and thats what I've always known it as, but now I've had to make the difficult decision to sell it and I cant find anything on the documentation to say it's a Sportspack. I'm currently in the process of getting some trade-in prices, and don't want to be saying it's a sportspack if it's not. The first place I've been looking for a new car looked at it and seemed to think it was mainly due to the wheel arches, I said I thought it was, but I don't want to be giving the wrong details about it.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice.
The Sport was available to order as a cooper sport, or you could order the Cooper with a sport pack option, at the dealer. Rovers WCS 2000 system used to be able to show the difference. It is a shame that so many people were led to believe the cars were the same, when in my opinion at least, they weren't.
The factory cars had the front edges of the wheel arches nibbled anyway, and there were small strengthening webs on the rear subframes. Also the original Cooper Sport was only available in a small colour range, ie Red, Tahiti Blue, Volcano Orange, BRG, and i think Anthracite.
It is likely to remain the case that owners of Coopers with Sportpacks, simply will never accept there was a difference, and just don't care, as that is how they bought it from Rover garages. Yours if it has small strengthening webs on the rear subframe below the base of the rubber spring mount, will at least be more likely a Rover job.
There is other stuff, but I would have to dig it out.
The factory cars had the front edges of the wheel arches nibbled anyway, and there were small strengthening webs on the rear subframes. Also the original Cooper Sport was only available in a small colour range, ie Red, Tahiti Blue, Volcano Orange, BRG, and i think Anthracite.
It is likely to remain the case that owners of Coopers with Sportpacks, simply will never accept there was a difference, and just don't care, as that is how they bought it from Rover garages. Yours if it has small strengthening webs on the rear subframe below the base of the rubber spring mount, will at least be more likely a Rover job.
There is other stuff, but I would have to dig it out.
IIRC, the 'Sports Pack' option included a number of changes, not only the 13" mini-lite wheels and wide arches with the wing modified in the factory (with lip), but it had Koni dampeners (orange in colour) to cope with the heavier wheels, modified steering rack with reduced turning circle to stop the large wheels hitting the body, alloy spacer behind rear wheels/hub, 2 x fog and 2 x spot lamps, chrome finishing pipe on the exhaust, extra voltmeter and oil temperature gauge on the dash.
The 'Sports Pack' was an option on the Mpi minis. Checking the wing lip and putting the wheels on full lock to see if the wheels foul the inner arch are quick ways of checking as lots of people will add the arches and wheels, but not bother to retain the lip or change the rack.
The 'Cooper Sport', 'Sports Pack' and 'Sports' names are often bandied about and with the availability of parts making copying easy, its not hard to see why people get confused.
For example, there was a 'Cooper Sports' limited edition in 1998 which incorporated most of the 'Sports Pack' bits, but was only available in green or black and had a dark green leather interior and BMC rosette on the rear flank, Yellow V on the front wings.
The 'Cooper Sport' was the run-out model, which again used the 'Sports Pack' bits, plus had silver/black leather seats, silver roof/bonnet stripes, alloy dash, etc. This spec was used on the last mini ever made.
The 'Sports Pack' was an option on the Mpi minis. Checking the wing lip and putting the wheels on full lock to see if the wheels foul the inner arch are quick ways of checking as lots of people will add the arches and wheels, but not bother to retain the lip or change the rack.
The 'Cooper Sport', 'Sports Pack' and 'Sports' names are often bandied about and with the availability of parts making copying easy, its not hard to see why people get confused.
For example, there was a 'Cooper Sports' limited edition in 1998 which incorporated most of the 'Sports Pack' bits, but was only available in green or black and had a dark green leather interior and BMC rosette on the rear flank, Yellow V on the front wings.
The 'Cooper Sport' was the run-out model, which again used the 'Sports Pack' bits, plus had silver/black leather seats, silver roof/bonnet stripes, alloy dash, etc. This spec was used on the last mini ever made.
....and a sports throttle pedal.
Quote:The 'Cooper Sport' was the run-out model, which again used the 'Sports Pack' bits, plus had silver/black leather seats, silver roof/bonnet stripes, alloy dash, etc. This spec was used on the last mini ever made.
Sorry, this is wrong.
The Cooper Sport was available from the start of the twin point car, and the run out cars had the silver roof, and seat centres, finishing off with the Cooper Sport 500 which was the same car with a plaque on the inside of the glove box lid, certifying the car was made to the original Issigonis design.
That part made it a joke, because the wheel arches, plastic rear storage compartments, made it further away than ever, engine, front mounted rad, super long final drive, ever since the twin point began.
There was the limited car mentioned, but was it not a John Cooper car?
There was the Cooper Sport, and the Cooper, (or Mini) with a Sport pack, (which meant you could have a Nightfire red Mini with Balmoral cloth, fitted with Sportpack). The Cooper Sport has been described.
I still have some of the brochures, if I could post pics on here, I would.
Quote:The 'Cooper Sport' was the run-out model, which again used the 'Sports Pack' bits, plus had silver/black leather seats, silver roof/bonnet stripes, alloy dash, etc. This spec was used on the last mini ever made.
Sorry, this is wrong.
The Cooper Sport was available from the start of the twin point car, and the run out cars had the silver roof, and seat centres, finishing off with the Cooper Sport 500 which was the same car with a plaque on the inside of the glove box lid, certifying the car was made to the original Issigonis design.
That part made it a joke, because the wheel arches, plastic rear storage compartments, made it further away than ever, engine, front mounted rad, super long final drive, ever since the twin point began.
There was the limited car mentioned, but was it not a John Cooper car?
There was the Cooper Sport, and the Cooper, (or Mini) with a Sport pack, (which meant you could have a Nightfire red Mini with Balmoral cloth, fitted with Sportpack). The Cooper Sport has been described.
I still have some of the brochures, if I could post pics on here, I would.
Sorry, but the ‘Cooper Sport’ model was not available when the Mpi version was first launched in 1996.
You only had the ‘Mini’ and ‘Mini Cooper’ models to choose from and they both had the same drive train, but with different trim.
The ‘Sports Pack’ was an optional extra, but it was not an individual model as such. The ‘drilled throttle pedal’ was already part of the Cooper trim, so not strictly part of the Sports Pack. Same for the fog lamps come to think of it….
The ‘Cooper Sport’ model was launched in 2000 as one of three special editions to commemorate the end of production. The other two were the Mini Seven and Mini Cooper. There was actually a forth model called the Knightsbridge, but this was not available in the UK.
The ‘Cooper Sport 500’ was exactly the same as the ‘Cooper Sport’ above, but with the plaque in the glove box (plus a few marketing goodies) to denote it being one of the last 500 cars before production ended in Oct 2000.
As I mentioned before, the ‘Cooper Sports’ (plural) was a limited edition available from Rover dealers in 1998 in think.
The only other similarly named car was the ‘Cooper Sport 5’, which was one of numerous John Cooper Garages retro-fit conversions and this one included a 5 speed gearbox. Although, you could order the car and kit direct from JCG if you wanted to.
I bought my ‘Cooper Sport’ brand new from a dealer in March 2001, five months after production ended, and had the 90 bhp S-Works conversion fitted by JCG a couple of years later. I still own the car today.
As I said in my earlier post, it’s easy to see why there is some confusion, unless you’re an anorak like us….!!
You only had the ‘Mini’ and ‘Mini Cooper’ models to choose from and they both had the same drive train, but with different trim.
The ‘Sports Pack’ was an optional extra, but it was not an individual model as such. The ‘drilled throttle pedal’ was already part of the Cooper trim, so not strictly part of the Sports Pack. Same for the fog lamps come to think of it….
The ‘Cooper Sport’ model was launched in 2000 as one of three special editions to commemorate the end of production. The other two were the Mini Seven and Mini Cooper. There was actually a forth model called the Knightsbridge, but this was not available in the UK.
The ‘Cooper Sport 500’ was exactly the same as the ‘Cooper Sport’ above, but with the plaque in the glove box (plus a few marketing goodies) to denote it being one of the last 500 cars before production ended in Oct 2000.
As I mentioned before, the ‘Cooper Sports’ (plural) was a limited edition available from Rover dealers in 1998 in think.
The only other similarly named car was the ‘Cooper Sport 5’, which was one of numerous John Cooper Garages retro-fit conversions and this one included a 5 speed gearbox. Although, you could order the car and kit direct from JCG if you wanted to.
I bought my ‘Cooper Sport’ brand new from a dealer in March 2001, five months after production ended, and had the 90 bhp S-Works conversion fitted by JCG a couple of years later. I still own the car today.
As I said in my earlier post, it’s easy to see why there is some confusion, unless you’re an anorak like us….!!
the rack is an interesting point, as i have seen people claim that the 'sports pack' rack was quicker ratio than standard, this isnt true, its just got a shorter ratio to stop the std 6x13's hitting the inner wing under certain suspension positions.
ive seen a couple of these racks and both simply had a line of weld in the rack bar part to stop the pinion turning the rack too far.
ive often wondered if lazy dealers simply peeled the rack boot back and laid a line of weld in the rack if a car was getting retro fitted with the sportspack option!!!!! rather than fitting one of these racks if needed?
i have seen a cople of cars retro fitted by rover dealers where the reinforcers for the wings hadent been fitted - or the lip remade by bending the wing up with pliers. on both cars stress cracks had come up and into the side repeaters! - nice!!!
ive seen a couple of these racks and both simply had a line of weld in the rack bar part to stop the pinion turning the rack too far.
ive often wondered if lazy dealers simply peeled the rack boot back and laid a line of weld in the rack if a car was getting retro fitted with the sportspack option!!!!! rather than fitting one of these racks if needed?
i have seen a cople of cars retro fitted by rover dealers where the reinforcers for the wings hadent been fitted - or the lip remade by bending the wing up with pliers. on both cars stress cracks had come up and into the side repeaters! - nice!!!
guru_1071.....right it is not a quick rack, just a limiter, never looked inside, and dealers wouldn't have bothered welding stuff on, they fitted racks, (or not depending on care level)
The centre two lamps were long range spot lights, available as accesories, or part of the Sports, and you could (with the factory fit) make them come on with the others or not. The throttle pedal was also on the Cooper. The fog lamps were on both Cooper and Sports. (The long range lamps need to be spaced out at least 1/2" from the grille at the mounting, and tilted up to work, if you do this they are fantastic.)
It is correct about the Cooper Sport 500 being the same as the Cooper Sport from 2000, but that was not the first Cooper Sport, it was there earlier.
I havent talked Mini since I put mine into storage a few years ago, but I used to work in Rover dealers, in service, and sold them for a while too, and even sold mine to me! .... lol.
There was nothing limited about the Cooper Sports until the John Cooper LE, or the 500. The JC LE was the best in green. I had an 'R' reg Sport in Anthracite, which I bought for the turned dash and door furniture, and sold it, then had one of the last Tahiti Cooper Sports, a week before Rover was sold to BM, fitted the dash to it and traded it after my now ex wife crashed it, only to enhance the value and got as much as i paid for it without finishing the repair. The Cooper 35th I still have, as they never made anything better. IMO of course, but it was tuneable as opposed to the twinpoint which was not so to the same degree, and pre mods drove the tyres off the latter cars.
Rover withdrew the towbar accessory with the twinpoint becuse the f/d was sooooo long it couldn't pull anything! Max speed in third too!
Anyway, the o/p will be possibly enlightened as to how much 'opinion' is out there re his car, and more than likely it will be accepted for its condition as a Classic Mini, and if the bits mentioned can be pointed out to said trader, I guess he won't argue.
The centre two lamps were long range spot lights, available as accesories, or part of the Sports, and you could (with the factory fit) make them come on with the others or not. The throttle pedal was also on the Cooper. The fog lamps were on both Cooper and Sports. (The long range lamps need to be spaced out at least 1/2" from the grille at the mounting, and tilted up to work, if you do this they are fantastic.)
It is correct about the Cooper Sport 500 being the same as the Cooper Sport from 2000, but that was not the first Cooper Sport, it was there earlier.
I havent talked Mini since I put mine into storage a few years ago, but I used to work in Rover dealers, in service, and sold them for a while too, and even sold mine to me! .... lol.
There was nothing limited about the Cooper Sports until the John Cooper LE, or the 500. The JC LE was the best in green. I had an 'R' reg Sport in Anthracite, which I bought for the turned dash and door furniture, and sold it, then had one of the last Tahiti Cooper Sports, a week before Rover was sold to BM, fitted the dash to it and traded it after my now ex wife crashed it, only to enhance the value and got as much as i paid for it without finishing the repair. The Cooper 35th I still have, as they never made anything better. IMO of course, but it was tuneable as opposed to the twinpoint which was not so to the same degree, and pre mods drove the tyres off the latter cars.
Rover withdrew the towbar accessory with the twinpoint becuse the f/d was sooooo long it couldn't pull anything! Max speed in third too!
Anyway, the o/p will be possibly enlightened as to how much 'opinion' is out there re his car, and more than likely it will be accepted for its condition as a Classic Mini, and if the bits mentioned can be pointed out to said trader, I guess he won't argue.
Sorry to labour a point, but there was no such model as the ‘Sports’.
The ‘Sports Pack’ was an optional extra on the 1996 MPIs. The standard model names were Mini and Cooper.
The ‘Cooper Sports‘ (plural) was a limited edition in 1998 (available in Green or Black).
The ‘John Cooper LE’ was a limited edition in 2000 and only available in green (with red leather interior and other bits)
The ‘Cooper Sport’ was the top of the range Mini in the final three run out models before production ended. The Cooper Sport 500 was the same spec, apart for the plaque and goody bag.
This was the only time the Cooper Sport (singular) was used as a model name.
The ‘Sports Pack’ was an optional extra on the 1996 MPIs. The standard model names were Mini and Cooper.
The ‘Cooper Sports‘ (plural) was a limited edition in 1998 (available in Green or Black).
The ‘John Cooper LE’ was a limited edition in 2000 and only available in green (with red leather interior and other bits)
The ‘Cooper Sport’ was the top of the range Mini in the final three run out models before production ended. The Cooper Sport 500 was the same spec, apart for the plaque and goody bag.
This was the only time the Cooper Sport (singular) was used as a model name.
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