57 replies to this topic

[mini_kev]

whats wrong with just a car and trailer?? or hows about one of them A-frame thing that fir onto the back of a car?

Edited by mini_kev, 14 November 2006 - 01:06 AM.

[minislapper]

whats wrong with just a car and trailer?? or hows about one of them A-frame thing that fir onto the back of a car?

He's not old enough to tow a trailer !!!!!

[Bam]

I just found out that i cant even afford to insure it!!!


Ive thought of 2 plans:

1. get my dad to rent a 7.5 tonne truck every time i want to race, that will cost £150 a time!!!
2. insure my mini on track day insurance and drive it to the events, if i bend it then i will push it onto the road and get the aa to pick me up!!!


This is really stressing me out, i have nerly finished my mini and want to get racing but the only thing that is stopping me is the way of transporting it.


Please help.

[Jammy]

Thought about doing night rallys? Still get to go racing, but the liklehood of you bending your mini, and therefore being able to drive it home, is a lot less.

Other than that I can't think of anyway for you to get your mini to the rally, other than hope you can drive it there and back.

[Bam]

Thought about doing night rallys? Still get to go racing, but the liklehood of you bending your mini, and therefore being able to drive it home, is a lot less.

Other than that I can't think of anyway for you to get your mini to the rally, other than hope you can drive it there and back.

Im taking part in the championship so i want to compete in all of the events.

Maby my dad could tow it?

[Garagiste]

Sounds like you might owe your Dad a few favours!
Another possibility might be a horsebox (van style rather than towed). Again, not much of a daily driver though. Nor is the old BMC transporter, which might be a tad out of the price range, too...



Edit: how about a flatbed VW transporter? More like it as daily transport, and if it can carry an F1 car:

Edited by Garagiste, 14 November 2006 - 02:40 PM.

[Mini-Dave]

why cant you stick with your original idea and tow a light trailer with a suitable car?

Dave

however, some of those vans, with BEDS in the roof, are so cool!!

and i thought you only had to take a test to tow a trailer, if i passed your test after april this year???

Edited by Mini-Dave, 14 November 2006 - 02:52 PM.

[Bam]

Could i use a fixed towing bar and tow my mini to events?, the only thing is if i bend it im screwed.

I might have to purswade my dad to let me put a tow bam on his volvo. (he wont be happy, its 06 reg!)

Thanks for all of your suggestions, keep them coming.


Chris.

[Jimmyarm]

When you look at the cost of running the van (insurance will be ridiculous if you can even get it !) against the cost of hiring something and getting your old man to drive it each time, you will be better off with the latter for a couple of years.

Even if the transit thing is doable, what happens when you bend the mini so much that it wont fit in the back !

How many events do you reckon you will attend in a year ?

[Bam]

at least 1 event a month.

[Jimmyarm]

So £1800 if you hired it from where you said, reckon just the insurance on the van would be that much !

Am sure you could find a local company with a flat bed that would lend it out cheaper than that, particularly if you stuck a great big sticker with their details on the side of the car !

[minivanman]

sounds a good idea Jimmy - you could try local plant hire firms for sponsorship, they may let you borrow/hire one of their trailers too?

[fairylou]

I'm writing on my girlfriend's behalf, who's just bought a mini mk1 as a project car... so i'm sure we'll have lots of questions and rants about how great minis are and how *rubbish* they can be some days, when it's raining and a simple job has turned into taking over a whole day.

Well anyway back to the subject, sorry to drag this thread up from years ago, as i said she's just bought the car and didn't think about how to transport it, on the advice of a friend who has a race car, she's hired a luton van and some ramps, the ramps however are 8ft long, and someone's just pointed out that a mk1 mini with 10inch wheels, 6inch ground clearance with 6' 8inch wheelbase, would bottom out when entering the van, i've done a little drawing and it appears so, has anyone done this before? please help us, in our ill planned dilema, my only plan so far is to drive the luton up onto a kerb, (front wheels) and then let the rear wheels down to help it out a bit, i'm not sure thats going to be enough. am i worrying over nothing?

(we are transporting from Essex to Manchester so to pay a transport company, although an ideal solution, is too expensive for us... and we can't find anyone with a tow bar to get a transporter trailer)

Thanks for any help

[Jordie]

planks of wood.

Take afew long planks and pile them up under the ramps. Making small steps down so the car can still drive up. Drive up on the wood, then onto the ramps. The wood lifts the ramp angle, so should stop you bottoming out.

[scrippo]

How come you're not old enough to tow a trailer? According to DVLA website you can be 17 with a B+E licence. It'll cost you about £90 to take the test. I've done one with work, and it was pretty straight forward (one reversing manouvre with the trailer on, which might be worth practising off road if you can. They also test your ability to hitch the trailer, and general driving) If you can pass a regular test, the trailer test is no problem.

I'm sure you can pick up a 12ft car trailer fairly cheap second hand, then the cost of getting a towbar fitted to a medium sized car (just check it's towing weights in the specs) and you're away.

My penny's worth.