1997 Rover Mini Cooper 1275cc Mpi.
I purchased my Almond Green/Old English White 1997 Rover Mini Cooper 1275cc Mpi in January 2007. It had covered 29K miles with three previous owners. The colour and specification of this particular model harks back to the 1960's Mk1 Austin Mini. In 1997 Rover introduced a 'Retro' range incorporating 1960s colours of Almond Green, Surf Blue, Old English White and Yukon Grey into the production range.
- The Almond Green classic paint finish cost an additional £300.
- The Webasto electric sunroof cost a further £795.
- The Porcelain Green leather trim would have been £500.
- The Sportspack kit that included 6x13 inch wheels and arches totalled £795.
- The wood door and rear quarter cappings cost £295.
The above optional extra's would have been added onto the standard 'on the road price' for a Mini Cooper 1.3i price tag of £9095. A bit of calculation and that puts the final purchase price in the region of £11780. This price excludes warranty options and special dealer options supplied with the car.
The Mini has been my daily driver along side various other Mini's owned during my time of ownership. The modifications since I purchased the vehicle as a standard model have included a set of 13x7 anthracite super light alloys wrapped in Dunlop SP2000 175/50/13 tyres, a stage 2 Maniflow LCB and Stainless Steel Fletcher big bore exhaust, clear side repeaters and a wavy grille, walnut interior handles to compliment the dashboard and door cappings, a K&N air filter and replaced the original Rover cassette player with a Sony head unit. I have recently added Mpi over-riders with corner bars to continue the 'retro' theme and Minispares Hi-Lo's at the rear. I eventually intend to take the car off the road for a complete rebuild and have the engine rebuilt/modified by Green and White Mini Spares.
A few photographs of the 1997 Rover Mini Cooper.
1999 Limited Edition Rover Mini 40 1275cc Mpi
My 1999 Limited Edition Rover Mini 40 is by far, the best Mini I have owned to-date!
This limited edition commemorative model introduced in 1999, created to celebrate the 40 years of Mini production was available in three colours; Island Blue, Mulberry Red or Old English White. A total production run of 250 models were manufactured for the UK market, priced at £10995 and went on sale from 5th April 1999.
150 finished in Mulberry Red.
50 finished in Island Blue
50 finished in Old English White
The car combined styling elements from the 1960s with modern technology. Sitting on 13 inch sports pack alloy wheels with body-coloured wheelarch extensions, the Mini 40 LE had twin spot lamps and a large bore chrome tailpipe. The car came with a factory chrome 'GB' badge on the rear, an anniversary gold 40th decal and single pin stripe and a gold-plated Mini 40 badge on the bonnet!
The interior boasts red leather seats and top dash rail with contrasting cream piping and the same leather treatment extends to the handbrake and gearknob. An alloy dashboard only available to this car prior to the Cooper Sports and incorporates a factory fitted high-quality ICE system complete with CD player and Goodmans ICT speakers. Additional facia-mounted instruments with chrome detailing and 'Mini 40' branded clocks.
I purchased the metallic pearlescent Mulberry Red 1999 Rover Mini 40 1275cc Mpi model in June 2010. It had covered a mere 12491 miles from new!!
The previous and only keeper of the Mini 40 was an old lady!
The story goes...purchased brand new in 1999 after walking into a Rover dealers to buy a normal car and spotted the stunning Mini 40 so the husband purchased the car as a present for his wife, Olive. The car was rarely used and covered 30 miles in one year! This is the kind of stuff I like, just makes it more interesting to get an insight of what it was like to walk into a Rover dealers and buy a new Mini.
The car still retains the original tyres, Rover tax disc holder and service windscreen sticker along with the private registration on a 'Colwyn Bay' Rover dealers plate.
I was also given the accompanying presentation pack housed in a metal brief case with a 60s style log book which has been stamped by Longbridge then due it being a non-official document it had to be stopped!! It also contains an unopened model of '621 AOK' (the first Mini in '59) and the original Rover letters specifying it's authenticity.
Thanks for reading!!
