Thought I would say hi, long time lurker, not much of a poster -so far. All that is set to change though after a purchased a mini last week.
Mini History:
Mini No1 I purchased my first Mini, a 998cc Mini City E when I was 14. Mot failure but fairly decent. After some new sills, a full rebuild with Spax, Hilo, Cooper S brakes etc inc respray it was ready for when I was 17. Total herbert about town at that time, thrashing it way too much and I shudder to think how none of us got hurt. But hey, it was a fantastic time, great fun and got me on the road to being a petrol head I suppose. I had the mini for a few years and was building up an all singing and dancing MED 1380 and SCCR box, when I eventually sold it to a chap in Ireland who rebuild it again and now races it in a classic series over there. It was resprayed from Blue to White and I last saw it on the cover of a Mini Magazine looking great. I still have the magazine at home. :)
Mini No2 Purple Mini, poo brown seats, dirt cheap. Ran about it in for a while, was good fun and a cheap car whilst I saved for a Mk2 CRX. I ended up owning 2 or 3 Honda’s before moving into turbo charged Nissans.
Mini No3 1966 Mk1 Morris Cooper. Lovely car, had been rebuilt and then de-spec’d to sell. It still had a cage, and a decent 1275. It was a dark blue with yellow cage and yellow strip around the windows, I must have some photos somewhere. I will have to dig them out. It went well and I loved it. It did have a Bill Richards 8 Port engine in before I owned it and was owned by a chap (I think) called Lee McNair. I dread to think what the car is worth now, I bought it and sold it for about £3k I think. What’s the going rate now for a Mint Genuine 998 Cooper Mk1 -£15k?!...Gulp.
So, there is the brief history. Since all of that I have owned a load of more modern cars, and most of them have seen track work in some form or another, including many trips to the Ring and Spa which I absolutely love.
Finally I have settled down a “bit” and now have a house with a drive and small garage! – That took about 10years to save for. But now it’s ours and I am filling it with toys as best I can, but something was missing…..you guessed it a mini.
After thinking about what would be my Perfect mini to keep, and one that I might be able to afford now the prices have risen a lot. I decided it would be tax free, pref a Mk1 or at least Mk1 style. It doesn’t have to be that original or concourse, but clean, tidy, reliable and fast enough to have fun and cause some red faces. 10” wheels with no arches were a must. I came close to a few leads, and nearly managed to get a van that has been dry stored for years, but that didn’t happen. And then one fell in my lap.
A local chap owned it in the village I recently moved into, and by local I mean he lives 100yards away. We both have land rovers so that got us chatting and I happened to notice a fairly obvious shape under a cover on his drive. He said it was an early and rare Mk2 Mini 850. I said that was cool and he would have to show it to me sometime.
A few months later, it was still sat there, so I knocked on his door. Sure enough he was happy to show me the mini, which had been sat unused due to a Hydro leak on the suspension. I wasn’t expecting much, but was blown away. Firstly it was clean, and dry and not covered in rust. It was painted in Almond Green, which I love, and it was clearly a Mk1, not a Mk2. Chuffed. Better still it has a few detail things wrong with it and he was willing to sell. So the deal was done. He drove it around and now I have another mini, one to keep. Here are a few pics as I have picked it up, there is lots to do, and I hope to crack into it over winter when my current Land Rover (and house!) rebuild is complete.
Please let me know what you think. J
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