Back to mini ownership!

[Furyblade_Lee]

After 6 years without a mini, i have just bought a nice 1963 Mini Minor, Tartan Red and 3 owners. It is totally original and have every invoice including the original invoice for £522! And £1 for a mat set! Well happy, and plan to do the London to Brighton this year, the firt time since 2000.

Dilema i have is, i was looking for a straight MK1 with which to build an Historic Rally Car, something i can rally with my daughter when she is a bit older. But this car is almost too nice to take away from original. Good or bad idea? From what i can tell it already has a 1,000cc engine instaed of the 850 and also has a remote gearchange not a magic wand. So it is not 100% original as is. Should i be preserving this car or selling it on and buying another to convert? Not sure how many Minor MK1's are left out there.

[Festive Ferg]

I wouldn't worry about originality.












Just don't put a fking bike engine in it.

[Dino42]

It's a difficult call, I like modified cars so I'd say it's fine to turn it into a rally car, as long as you're sympathetic with what bits you use... but some people will be horrified.
In the end it's your car, do what you want with it!

One thing I would say: It'll almost certainly be cheaper to buy a ready prepped car than modify your current one, it's amazing how much all those little bits add up to - ask Peter (Cooperman) how much his mk1 cost to build!!

[Cooperman]

I built my 1964 Mk 1 Cooper 'S' in 1994 and it cost me around £10,000 plus labour. It has now done over 30 Historic National Rallies and won 5 outright, so it's quite competitive. The transmission has been the weak point, as always, but it has c.115 bhp.
I am currently restoring a Mk 1 850, 1966, and I want it to be original with the exception of the hydro suspension, which I shall convert to dry for better reliability.
However, as I have a complete spare original 's' 1275 block, plus rods and an EN40B 'S' crank, together with an original 3-syncro box sitting in the workshop, I have been tempted to build another 'S' rally car.
I think so long as you do it to meet historic regulations and use only the period parts which you are allowed, there is nothing wrong with that. A lot of 850's were built into Coopers and Cooper S's in the 60's and in '69 I had a 1275 'S' rally car which started life as a 997 Cooper.
Anyway, it's your car, so do whatever will give you the most pleasure. Go for it.
If you want any advice or assistance with the rally prep, just email me.

All the best,
Peter

[Furyblade_Lee]

Think i will mail you Peter, cheers! Collecting car tomorrow after checking it in daylight all going well.