RE: 10 million Minis made!
Discussion
I have a notamini mini f56 with the base 90hp BMW triple diesel and it is one of the best most endearing cars I have owned. Yes it's big, yes it's somewhat cartoon like, but it does everything I need, can be comically frugal, drives better than most in class and remains classless and classy, an anomalous state of affairs that means I can leave it anywhere
I've been really happy with my 2017 F56 Cooper S and I've had it 2 years now. It is brilliant fun to drive on country roads and I like the interior too. It is a bit poor at getting the power down and it gets a bit scrappy if you push it too hard but overall it is decent enough.
I'd really like a go in the original Mini though because everyone raves about those for sure.
I'd really like a go in the original Mini though because everyone raves about those for sure.
the original BINI R50/53 is a fantastic rebirth honouring everything about the original at the start of a new century. of course it was different, but it was also quite distinctive from anything else on the road and took over where the original left off. i find some of the later BL iterations far more of a letdown. Frank Stephenson's design is a modern classic. The original and R53 are both great cars. the latest 5 door is plain sad to look at though.
I remember in the late 70s going with a mate to see a mini he wanted to buy. It was an absolutely mint 1071 Cooper one of the rarest. It was in lovely nick the old boy who had it kept it in a garage and it just looked like new even the seats were pristine.
So he bought it and the utter cock put stupid wide wheels on it and drove it to destruction.
First car I ever drove was a mini and at 6'2" it wasn't easy or comfortable, I used to borrow a mate's converted minivan and that was easier to drive, did the seat go further back in those? They were a hoot to chuck around corners, awful in the wet (distributor on the front of the engine, what could possibly go wrong?) and cramped. Many jolly japes seeing how many people we could get it. Ah youth, wasted on the young?
I quite like the BMW ones as at least I fit in properly. R56/57 being the sweet spot for me, first MINI R50/53 being a bit tiring to drive hard suspension but the prettiest and the new F56 being frankly ugly and too conventional (moving the window switches to the doors, etc. harrumph)
So he bought it and the utter cock put stupid wide wheels on it and drove it to destruction.
First car I ever drove was a mini and at 6'2" it wasn't easy or comfortable, I used to borrow a mate's converted minivan and that was easier to drive, did the seat go further back in those? They were a hoot to chuck around corners, awful in the wet (distributor on the front of the engine, what could possibly go wrong?) and cramped. Many jolly japes seeing how many people we could get it. Ah youth, wasted on the young?
I quite like the BMW ones as at least I fit in properly. R56/57 being the sweet spot for me, first MINI R50/53 being a bit tiring to drive hard suspension but the prettiest and the new F56 being frankly ugly and too conventional (moving the window switches to the doors, etc. harrumph)
I had two old Minis a 1985 (?) Chelsea
followed several years later by a 1976 1000
The 80's one had manky body panels but a solid floor pan, the 70's one looked great but the floors were more holey than the Vatican. The 1985 one was fitted with a 1275 engine from an MG Metrot, this I subsequently fitted in the 1976 one, but with the original diff to raise the gearing a bit.
Many years later it was followed by an R50 Cooper
(picture of my own car)
followed several years later by a 1976 1000
The 80's one had manky body panels but a solid floor pan, the 70's one looked great but the floors were more holey than the Vatican. The 1985 one was fitted with a 1275 engine from an MG Metrot, this I subsequently fitted in the 1976 one, but with the original diff to raise the gearing a bit.
Many years later it was followed by an R50 Cooper
(picture of my own car)CABC said:
the original BINI R50/53 is a fantastic rebirth honouring everything about the original at the start of a new century. of course it was different, but it was also quite distinctive from anything else on the road and took over where the original left off. i find some of the later BL iterations far more of a letdown. Frank Stephenson's design is a modern classic. The original and R53 are both great cars. the latest 5 door is plain sad to look at though.
Agreed. At least BMW went to the trouble and expense of designing a new model, rather than a cynical (and crap) reshell of an existing car from their lineup.I've always wanted a 'classic' rover mini cooper....they're just too expensive for what they are. £3k? ok sure... but £5-6k upwards? no thank you. Ontop of that the slight paranoia of being hit by any car that's 2000 or newer, especially head on...even 'small' things like a a Ka/fiat500
Well my BL Mini story is that I never owned one, and never wanted one!
I much preferred RWD so had many Fords in my early years of driving, each one generally being Faster than the one it replaced! laugh:
Then in 2003 Mrs Tidy decided to test drive an R50 One, and put down her deposit in time for it to be ready on her 50th Birthday.
It was a great car, but within 6 months of her getting it someone in our road pulled out of his drive right in front of her so it needed £4,000 of repairs. She was never as happy with it after that.
Still the dealership she bought it from invited her to the launch of the R56, so the inevitable happened - her Cooper was on order before we left! She had a few options on her One, but the options she choose for her Cooper upped the price by another 50%.
Anyway she picked that one up on Christmas Eve 2006, and I liked driving that one even more! Sadly as we now live in different houses I don't get to borrow it any more, but she still has it and it's only done 56K miles.
I asked her years ago to let me know if she ever thinks of selling it - hopefully she will.
I much preferred RWD so had many Fords in my early years of driving, each one generally being Faster than the one it replaced! laugh:
Then in 2003 Mrs Tidy decided to test drive an R50 One, and put down her deposit in time for it to be ready on her 50th Birthday.
It was a great car, but within 6 months of her getting it someone in our road pulled out of his drive right in front of her so it needed £4,000 of repairs. She was never as happy with it after that.
Still the dealership she bought it from invited her to the launch of the R56, so the inevitable happened - her Cooper was on order before we left! She had a few options on her One, but the options she choose for her Cooper upped the price by another 50%.
Anyway she picked that one up on Christmas Eve 2006, and I liked driving that one even more! Sadly as we now live in different houses I don't get to borrow it any more, but she still has it and it's only done 56K miles.
I asked her years ago to let me know if she ever thinks of selling it - hopefully she will.
ElectricPics said:
The original Mini was a model with many variations, not a brand. BMW's current Mini is a brand with lots of models, which isn't the same thing at all. This is like VW claiming their Golfs in party frocks were Beetles, even though the originals weren't actually officially called Beetle.
I loves my beetles, original X 3 and 'new', one of the few cars I really, really miss
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