20 replies to this topic

[Matt_20]

Hi,

Close to my house i have found a driveway with 3 minis sitting on it...Well, 2 minis and a half of a mini!

One of these is a faded red one with no rear part to the roof, and i can see from having a nose, that the roof material stuff is rolled up in the back. Therefore using my detective skills i have established that it is a softtop, convertible or whatever the real name is?!

What id like to know is, (1) how many of this type were made, and is it possible that someone has done this to the mini themselves.
(2) It looks in ok condition, but definitely a project as it has been sat there fore a while, but if i were to knock on their door, what kind of money should i offer for a car that theyve had sat on their drive for so long?

Any info about this type of mini would be great!

Thanks,

Matthew

[twinks22]

Hi,

Close to my house i have found a driveway with 3 minis sitting on it...Well, 2 minis and a half of a mini!

One of these is a faded red one with no rear part to the roof, and i can see from having a nose, that the roof material stuff is rolled up in the back. Therefore using my detective skills i have established that it is a softtop, convertible or whatever the real name is?!

What id like to know is, (1) how many of this type were made, and is it possible that someone has done this to the mini themselves.
(2) It looks in ok condition, but definitely a project as it has been sat there fore a while, but if i were to knock on their door, what kind of money should i offer for a car that theyve had sat on their drive for so long?

Any info about this type of mini would be great!

Thanks, only the rover models were made in tofactory convertibles,
a couple of firms made custom soft tops all depends on the style a picture would be helpful it also maybe a roadster type.just because its been sitting a while does not mean they are willing to sell havin 3 i guess would make them mini people.
price depends on the condition there desire to sell and what you want to offer,
we paid £300 for ours but a lot more since,

Matthew

Attached Files

•  minishow_brighton.jpg   243.73K   5 downloads

[Matt_20]

Wow nice paint job!

The car is basically a rolling shell, and looks similar in shape to that one in the picture,

Keep the info coming, ill try and sneak a picture later!

Matthew

[Dan]

There are lots of different things it could be. People have been building their own Mini convertibles for almost as long as there have been Minis and several coachbuilding companies have offered conversions or self build kits. In addition to this there are two different official Rover factory spec convertibles that were sold in the '90s. The first was the Lamm Cabriolet, Lamm being a German coachbuilding firm who developed a convertible shell on behalf of Rover. Rover sent completed cars from the production line which were then altered in Germany and sold on to the dealerships around the world. This is not too different from what various coahbuilder such as Crayford were doing in the '60s to make Mini convertibles except that it was an officially approved model sold by Rover dealerships rather than a bespoke conversion done on behalf of individual owners. The other official car is the Rover Mini Cabriolet which had a very unique bodyshell with winding rear windows and the first Mini to have innertia reel seatbelts in the rear and the only Mini to have a four speaker stereo as standard. It is actually one of the best convertible shells ever made and is very rigid compared to many other convertibles or even many saloon cars. Both Rover cars are in fact convertibles despite being called cabriolets.

If you can get some photos then someone will be able to identify what you have found.

[Guess-Works.com]

The one above is a "Keiths Converable" conversion..

Rover did make one convertable which looks like this....



Notice the absence of a roll over bar as additional ridgitity is built into the windscreem, and the seat belt mounts on one little pillars... If you look inside one you will see that the inner sills have HUGE box sections added to retain the cars shape.

[Guess-Works.com]

ps.. found that pic on this website....

http://uk.msnusers.c...erhomepage.msnw

[Dan]

The seatbelt pillars are the thing I don't like about the Rover car. I think they ruin the body line when the roof is down, they are there because the seatbelt shoulder mounting has to be at a certain height and I think they are what allows the rear windows to pivot but I don't like them.

[Matt_20]

Hi,

I drove to the house and took some pictures today, not that good as i didnt want to look like a weirdo taking pics of their cars!!!

Well...here they are anyway!

http://i101.photobuc...ith/Mini002.jpg

http://i101.photobuc...ith/Mini001.jpg

[Guess-Works.com]

looks like a Keith's, but I'd be worried if the metal on the top of the car is what he's chopped out, as I can see the cross member on the roof !

[Matt_20]

Yer i wondered what that bit was!?

Can you elaborate on where this should be...dont want to sound stupid but hey, theres no such thing as a stupid qustion...is there!!!??

Oh hang on...is that the piece which goes under the front seats?

Edited by Matt_20, 30 April 2007 - 03:23 PM.

[The Matt]

looks like a Keith's, but I'd be worried if the metal on the top of the car is what he's chopped out, as I can see the cross member on the roof !

Start of a spaceframe project?

[Guess-Works.com]

Oh hang on...is that the piece which goes under the front seats?

Yep... but I can also see a scuttle in the back seat, but does not look like that's been taken off the front, as the wing and A panel's still present... so would suggest that they are parts of another shell...

[Matt_20]

Yes...There is a mini further back on the drive which has not got a front, so could be from that.

[Phaeton]

Hi,

I drove to the house and took some pictures today, not that good as i didnt want to look like a weirdo taking pics of their cars!!!

Well...here they are anyway!

http://i101.photobuc...ith/Mini002.jpg

http://i101.photobuc...ith/Mini001.jpg

Oi stop taking pictures of my Mini's













































Only Joking

[Matt_20]

Phew!

Edited by Matt_20, 30 April 2007 - 03:58 PM.