48 replies to this topic

[Cooperman]

My 18-year old Grandson had a 1275 Cooper MPI as his first car, totally restored and rust-free (by us). He has decided it is not suitable for daily driving due to the miles he does and the lack of reliability, so he has bought a Diesel Mondeo and is going to sell the Mini (hooray, space in my workshop to build my 1964 850). He can still drive my 'S' and the 850 when it's finished, so he is not 'Mini-less'.
As a classic car the Mini cannot be beaten for style, retro drive and sheer old-type fun. Just so long as you can restore, service & maintain it yourself.

 
Be my grand dad?

I think all young Mini owners are my Grandsons!

[mab01uk]

The end of production in 2000 is a major factor.......up to that point although annual production had dropped to only about 10,000 per year it was enough to satisfy demand and constantly replace the Mini's being lost due to rust and accident write off's, etc. You could still treat it as a 'throwaway' car and just buy another rather than bother with an expensive restoration.

After that point the numbers of later Mini's which had kept the supply of cheaper first time drivers with a steady secondhand supply for 40 years slowly disappeared and everyday Mini numbers have steadily dropped since due to the usual annual attrition rate. At the same time many previous Mini owners were prompted to get a Mini again before it was too late as they were no longer made.....so increasing demand and reducing supply has pushed up prices and moved the older Mini's into a higher profile worldwide as an iconic classic car.

Edited by mab01uk, 17 August 2013 - 08:30 AM.

[mab01uk]

apart from that..............mini's......and all classic cars are much better than the crap that's available today, at least you can fix a classic car at home and you dont need a laptop to do it with either!!

 

Many Mini enthusiasts also have modern everyday daily driver or family cars that I would not call crap.........my own daily driver 2002 MINI and my 2001 Mercedes C-Class family car have both exceeded 100,000 miles and never broken down or needed any major repairs since being bought secondhand 5 or 6 years ago. They are also serviced annually at home diy by me without the aid of a laptop so far, as only oil and filters is usually required and even the spark plugs are only replaced at approx. 40,000 mile intervals.

Edited by mab01uk, 16 August 2013 - 11:29 PM.

[Tamworthbay]

Look for a GT Cooperman I picked up mine (admittedly nearly five years ago, two owners 75000 documented miles recent restoration) for £1700, even now you can pick up a really nice useable, but admittedly not concourse, for a little over 2k. Stetch to £2500 and there are some really nice cars out there. They are an absolute bargain. Triumph Heralds and Dolomites are also dirt cheap, although I have noticed that later heralds are picking up (perhaps because vitesse prices seem to have jumped a grand overnight). MX5s are another case of super cheap classic transport, £1000 will get a nice one but there are a lot of frogs to kiss before you find a good one. Cheap useable minis can be found but it takes time and a lot of luck, the days of autotrader having a page of minis in the under £500 section have long gone.

[Leics1275]

Ahhh Clive, those were the days, £500 and hours of fun before it broke and you bought another LOL

[Tamworthbay]

Indeed, swapping RD350s for £200, MK1 escorts £300 with an MOT, my mate buying one and painting it in gloss yellow to make it look like an RS then writing it off into the vicarage wall in Little Eaton (you can still see a trace of the paint) I just need a time machine and a big barn..........

[Madabout....]

I think if we all had big barns and could time travel we would all have some nice cars! My biggest regret is being at uni 14 years ago and getting hold of a rot free non running early split screen camper van for a £1000. Got shown down by my parents for buying it so sold it to help get some financial support at uni! I wouldn't even be able to afford one now!

I can understand early minis being worth good money as they are period classics. My dad has a mk1 mini Cooper S built as a works rally replica with all correct period features. That in my mind is a true classic is old enough and rare enough, rare enough and desirable enough to qualify. I can see where that fits against other classics from that genre.

What I struggle a little with is how a '90s built Mini like mine can make such high values as it's not old enough in my mind to be a classic yet. I guess as one of the posters above mentioned it's the fact when they stopped being made there was still good demand for them but no longer a new supply route.

Don't get me wrong I think Minis are great fun, learnt to drive skidding a mini pick up round a farm and been to many historic car rallies and watched them rip around. I've not bought mine as an investment but to have some fun with and use to introduce my little boy to cars so if it achieves that I be happy.

Edited by Madabout...., 17 August 2013 - 07:26 AM.

[Badboytunes]

 I've not bought mine as an investment but to have some fun with..

 

Same here, we bought ours because we have always liked them, my first car was a Mini 1000 Mk3 ( 1975 ) in Harvest Gold. Sadly it was written off back in 1988 and I always said I would have another. Personally, I would use one as a daily as i think they are ok, although a tad noisy at 70mph.

 

We paid £5k for "Poppy" and have spent a further £2k on bits and pieces. Its not an investment in my eyes, just a play thing which we are fortunate enough to be able to park in a warm garage if we deceide to use our MINI's instead. They are great little cars and if I were 18 again, I would not hesitate in owning one over a Poxhall Corsa, Shitron Paxo or similar chav mobile.......

[Archived2]

You can still get £400-500 minis but you wont get an mot etc.

 

Add some elbow grease and learn to use a cheap welder. This is going to teach you well for future mini ownership anyway 

 

Sub £1500 cars are not a good investment IMO. Get the best you can find within your budget and capabilities and roll up your sleeves.

My first mini was a crashed 1100 clubman and I did exactly that. Taught me well.

 

Got arc eye, a broken hand and shed lots of blood, sweat and tears but I looked after my car better than any of my mates and I even got girlies to play inside it. Hey thats the point of a car when you are young right? 

[JustSteve]

I don't understand the anti-mini comments on this forum. A mini is perfectly capable of national speed limits comfortably...  I took mine to over a tone once and didn't feel like it was about to explode. It is also not by any means, slow! Being young, I have friends with corsa's etc, and I can tell you that my mini will out accelerate a number of other 'small cars' and out-handle them too!

 

If the mini really is so unusable, then how come production lasted for 41 years and billions were sold?! 

 

I have a mini as a daily drive and love it. Currently driving 25k a year in it. 

 

 

 

Back on topic ..I don't consider a mini to be expensive at all! Specialised and performance parts are, but to be able to buy a reasonable mini for 2grand? That's only 8 year old fiesta money.... I know which I'd rather own!!!

[mab01uk]

Nothing wrong with a Mini as a daily driver.....many of us 'oldies' did that for years in the past but time has moved on and it can't be denied that Mini's are fun to drive on the right roads but on long trips at sustained high speed on motorways they are noisy and tiring to drive, especially as you get older! If you are really doing 25k a year and still have no desire for something more refined with a 5th gear and some creature comforts as a daily drive then well done.

[minimarco]

Classic cars aren't expensive, you only have to look at a new car to realize that (also factoring in the money you'll lose when buying new).

[ShaunaFTW]

Inflation, getting rare, people almost always wanting to make a profit, it's not just minis that are expensive all classic cars are. I imagine another reason is no tax/people thinking classic cars are dirt cheap to insure still. 
Personally, I just look at what I could have got for how much I've spent on mine and there isn't much comparison really other than the benefit of 5th gear and the ability to bolt on and off some panels. My mini is reliable and comfortable to use daily because I've rebuilt it properly and not bodged it together. 

Just whack a 's' 'gt' 'rare' on a title and a lot of people will pay more that what it's worth anyway. 

[Ethel]

Supply & demand, the supply bit is obvious. Demand wise, everything else about them is cheap compared to other cars, and classic ones in particular. Their image doesn't require string back gloves & a flat cap to drive one, which along with cheap insurance, makes them popular with youngsters too.

 

It's a good thing if it means it'll be profitable to restore more of 'em. That's if you can't make as much breaking one, if only we'd had the foresight to squirrel away the guts from more Metros.

[HARBER07]

apart from that..............mini's......and all classic cars are much better than the crap that's available today, at least you can fix a classic car at home and you dont need a laptop to do it with either!!

 

This point of view is normally portrayed by people who don't move with the times. You can get a code reader or laptop software to diagnose a problem for as little as £30 now. More often than not, it will tell you exactly where the problem lies without second guessing symptoms. I'm not knocking simple, cheap(er) motoring, but modern cars are far far from "crap".