Stop me from following the trend!

[CMF_Toma]

Ahh Ive had enough. Keep seeing Micras for sale at pretty good prices and all these fantastic Minis at cheap prices. Seems the economy is telling me to go back to the Mini! :<

Would really love to have a Mini. The Micra is great but i only gotit because it looked like a Mini. Getting a remot control Mini for my bday doesnt help either.

Maybe next year I'll go back to the classic Mini and give it another go. Might even get a turbo one. ;D

 

[CMF_fred]

ok, so your suggesting the original mini?

sure the mini is fun...but it aint a modern car (designed in 1959 wasn't it)
You need smaller spanners and a hand transplant to work on them.

the driving position is still like driving a bus
push rod, 2 valves per cyclinder, no cross flow head.
spongy 4 speed gearbox

the micra has enough spiritual heritage to call it a mini (1275cc, wheels on each corner, clever packaging, good power to weight, made up the road from cooper, even sounds the same cooper s, supper s....)

of course classic cars hold some mystique that is had to ignore.....

 

[CMF_Toma]

Lol. Ill drive my 'Micra Cooper S' with pride

Maybe ill get a beaten up old moke and fix it up. I saw a lil Moke carrying a huge aluminum boat (bigger than the car) doing about 80km/h. It was the most awesome thing to see. Had the engine strapped on the back of the moke too.

 

[CMF_Family Hack]

Toma you buy the original Mini and I will be around every weekend to help you do whatever you want to it.
The closest thing you will ever get to driving a go cart on the roads legally. Yeah I know its safety features are non existing the driving position is well demanding to say the least. Forget about 1275cc take it out to 1310 cc with a weber carb on top and you will not be left at the lights.THere must be quite a few later models about 7/8 years old floating around as a company in Sydney was importing them from Japan and briging them up to Aussie standard until they changed the rules.Original shape but with a fuel injected motor/ AC etc.
My first car was a Mini 850 ( no syncro on first gear in those days)followed by a 998 cc Cooper and then a 1275 cc Cooper S.How I survived that car I will never know as I did some crazy things but no drink driving, radar etc in those days.Anyway in the Cooper S the cops could not catch you in their Holdens/ Fords.Only cop you worried about was the one on two wheels.No fun anymore.Flick through the web as there was/is a company on the Gold Coast who specialises in doing the original ones up and modifying the engine to take unleaded fuel.

 

[CMF_fred]

mokes are THE car. a good one is worth heaps.... don't figure

yeh, hack, a mate had a 1380 mini back late 70's, after he lost his license 3 times through speeding fines he bought a more sedate car.

 

[CMF_micragirl]

Isn't that what Mr Bean drives?

 

[CMF_fred]

he rules the road

I gotta git me on of those padlocks for my drivers door!

 

[CMF_Yom]

Mr Bean is a legend!!

Toma old minis are cool but its probably an idea to keep the micra as you can't expect an old car to be ultra reliable i guess.

PErsonally I want a mini with one of those Honda VTEC engines in it... You can then hookup aircon to them as well.

 

[CMF_Family Hack]

They were very reliable after they fixed certain problems on the original 850cc Mini like every time it rained car would stop due to water in the distributor. Distributor right up the front and in heavy downpours they would stop. Guess in merry England they did not have torrential rain. My first one had sliding windows as well plus a start button located between the front seats. Turn ignition on push down start button. Gear stick came straight out of the firewall about 2 foot long!!Learnt a lot in that car and some of it not about driving.
THe Cooper S never let me down and it copped a right royal hammering. Surfboards on the top, down the coast each weekend, sleeep in it plus other things, some weekends leave work early Friday and drive from Brisbane to Sydney non stop for the weekend and be back for work Monday morning.
Sigh! those were the days.How times have changed some for the better some for the worst.We sure had more freedom on the roads.Funny the mob I kicked around with had its own code of conduct about what was okay re driving and most of us belogned to car clubs which I am sure gave us a degree of self control.

 

[CMF_Yom]

*drool* haha

 

[CMF_Toma]

I must say, my 1975 model leyland Mini van was pretty unreliable. re-built the engine, radiator was toast, brakes needed to be pumped to work... But it was so much fun. And yeh, Ive seen some nice ones..

http://tinyurl.com/yep8hf

But i dont have $19,000.

I think Ill wait till something real special comes along. Like a $500 POS that i can give some TLC, so then everyone can say OMG!

Even an 1988 Mini costs about $11,000... which is probably what they paid for the damn thing! *sigh*

 

[CMF_Yom]

OMG!!!! I'm in love.

 

[CMF_micra-man]

These folk do some interesting kits for the mini
http://www.zcars.org.uk/mini/index.htm

 

[CMF_mipcar]

A stock 1275 mini would run rings around a stock micra for handling.
Mini cooper or Mini with a worked motor is very quick.Will always have a better power to weight ratio then modern cars as a "real' mini was so light.

Mychael

 

[CMF_MacGillaZ]

Having had 2 clubmans and certainly enjoying the modded 1275 one to pieces I can certainly atest that they are tough buggers to let go of and not constantly pine for when you see a nice one

'Driving' dens modified micra reminds me very much of the old mini days, but with a bit more go and certainly a lot more stop (had non boosted discs on the front, great feel ... bad when you were really going for it)

Personally, If I had lots of money I would build a Z cars kit car, that would be a nutty mini, but a micra is a much more sensible car, and with a few mods easily quicker than anything but the fastest of minis. Yes they are not as cute, or as small, or as british, but they are far more reliable, comfortable on long drives and ready to go whenever u are.

Micra engined mini, that would be interesting ... but again ... 2 cars for one, keep the micra and turbo