51 replies to this topic

[panky]

Love them all, modded, standard and everything in between. I've always tweaked my cars but never gone full out custom, I just like to alter them to suit my needs, personal taste - and pocket

[Stu1961]

Each to his or her own I say. Personally I love the retro look especially the earlier solid colours, cannot make my mind up what colour to have surf blue, island blue or bronze yellow making that decisionis almost stressful in a pleasant way,  it has to have an 'A series' engine anything else just isn't classic Mini, a small increase in power nothing major so increasing longevity couple this with 71/2" discs, factory suspension and a nice interior and that will do me.

[minimans]

Just another divisive question? Why do we have to put people into neat little boxes? You may as well ask briefs or boxers? It makes not a jot of difference to the world...................

[Cooperman]

You do to your own car whatever you want.

The only problems seem to come when you post photographs and specifications and ask what others think. That's when the arguments start.

Don't expect everyone to like what you have done. What one person thinks is great, another will think stupid. That's just human nature and personal choice.

[greenmini1275]

It makes me laugh when people say, there were millions of minis built, do what ever you want. There were millions, MOST have been scrapped over the years, there is about a quarter of the original number of Minis left on the road, especially in Britain, thanks to Americans buying loads of them. So yes do what you want to your car, but just make it reversible otherwise you have effectively taken a car off the road because 90% of people wont like what youve done.

Im a purist who agrees with changing engines for other A Series engines and upgrades to standard equipment.

[mab01uk]

It makes me laugh when people say, there were millions of minis built, do what ever you want. There were millions, MOST have been scrapped over the years, there is about a quarter of the original number of Minis left on the road, especially in Britain, thanks to Americans buying loads of them.

 

These were the DVLA figures for the Classic Mini as published in the November 2010 issue of Mini Magazine.......not sure if the latest figures for 2017 are available anywhere?

30,000 Mini's left on the road in UK 2010
UK Statistics:
63,592 Classic Minis still registered in UK on October 1st 2010
of which:
32,847 were taxed,
30,745 on SORN

(Wolseley Hornet and Riley Elf derivatives were not included see separate figures below)

5,505,874 Total Mini's produced 1959-2000
1,581,887 = UK sales (28.7%)
3,923,987 = Rest of world (71.3%)

 

A 'Freedom of Information request' by the Elf/Hornet Register revealed,
On the 22 August 2010, there were:

327 Riley Elf vehicles with a current licence and 225 with a SORN,

275 Wolseley Hornets with a current licence and 166 with a SORN

 

As this old thread below shows it is difficult to confirm exact numbers as Minis were registered under so many different brand/marques over the years on the DVLA database,

eg. Austin, Morris, Austin Seven, Austin 7, A7, BMC, BL, Leyland, Austin-Morris, Rover, or even just plain Mini (Mini officially became a 'standalone' marque under BL in 1969 with the introduction of the Mk3 Mini range).

 

The Number Of Classic Minis Still On The Road In GB?

http://www.theminifo...the-road-in-gb/

Edited by mab01uk, 26 September 2017 - 07:28 AM.

[Laurie]

Benny is currently one of the SORN, but really only 30,000 left running on the road as of 7yrs ago?! Blimey! I thought that figure wouldve been much higher!
When you count how many of those 30,000 have been left unadulterated and natural the figure Im sure drops even lower.
I dont hide the fact Im a Purist+ Benny has alloys for a start, something a mini 1000 in his day wouldnt have had.

I was behind a Morris Cooper from the 60s at the L2B this year, itd been stripped, gutted and rallied (latter according to the owner),.... I felt so sorry for it. Whats getting on for a rare car - butchered

[nicklouse]

Benny is currently one of the SORN, but really only 30,000 left running on the road as of 7yrs ago?! Blimey! I thought that figure wouldve been much higher!
When you count how many of those 30,000 have been left unadulterated and natural the figure Im sure drops even lower.
I dont hide the fact Im a Purist+ Benny has alloys for a start, something a mini 1000 in his day wouldnt have had.

I was behind a Morris Cooper from the 60s at the L2B this year, itd been stripped, gutted and rallied (latter according to the owner),.... I felt so sorry for it. Whats getting on for a rare car - butchered

but that is what we did to them. used them. and they are still about.

 

many of the losses are due to exports and scrapage deals.

[Cooperman]

There are modifications and there are modifications.

 

It is generally accepted within the classic car fraternity that 'period modifications' are always acceptable. So a Mini may have Minilite or other period alloy wheels. Alloy wheels on Minis strted to appear on the race and rally cars in about 1966 - 67. Some people fitted the 7" Cooper disc brakes to drum braked cars and then later fitted 7.5" 'S' discs with appropriate wheels of correct 'S' offset. That's a very good 'period mod'. Many cars had wheel width increased from 3.5" to 4.5" for road use and such wheels were available direct from BMC. Group 2 wheel arch extensions were homologated as options in early 1966 (from memory).

 

The 1964 Mini 850 I am currently doing a 'nut & bolt' restoration on will have some minor mods. The head will be cleaned up and flowed a bit and it will have slightly larger inlet valves. The cam will be a Kent 256 or similar. I may fit Cooper 998 discs and calipers just to avoid having to keep adjusting the brakes. You can't se them when the standard 3.5" x 10" steel wheels are fitted. It will have a rev counter and a voltmeter, electric screen washer pump and an alternator (one that looks like a dynamo). I may fit Hi-Lo's so that I can set the suspension to standard ride height easily and re-set as the new cones settle. I may fit a 3.44:1 FDR.

 

The modifications I personally dislike are flip-fronts because they are unsafe and they de-value the car so much. I don't like different engines because as far as I'm concerned if a different make of engine is fitted it is no longer a classic Mini, it is a hybrid vehicle and not a true classic car any longer. I feel the same about a Mk.1 Cortina with a Ford Zetec 2.0 litre engine and 5-speed Sierra gearbox.

 

We are all custodians of the classic little Mini and future generations will want to own and enjoy them as they were back in the period. The Mini is a true time-warp icon and shows what driving was like in the 1960's. Surely that is what classic car ownership is really about.

[mab01uk]

Minis have always been much modified and in the 1960's a whole industry built up supplying modified Mini parts for owners.......practically every owner replaced the standard 'bus' style steering wheels for instance.

Here is a link below to a pdf file of a 'period' special supplement from Popular Motoring magazine on modifying your Mini in the 1960's.

Mini Mod Guide:-

http://mk1-performan...i_mod_guide.pdf

 

Many more here on the Mk1 Performance website:-

http://mk1-performan...r-articles.html

 

And a couple of my modified Mk1 Minis in the 1970's:-

http://www.theminifo...1-mini-in-1974/

[pusb]

Each to their own.

 

However there are two things that slightly annoy me when people are selling certain Mini's 

 

1) Seeing adverts on eBay etc which make a big deal out of a particular Mini being a rare "special edition" Mini, then when you look at the pictures you see that all the "special edition" parts such as the interior and decals have been removed and replaced with generic aftermarket stuff.

 

2) Seeing adverts showing a 1988 Mini Mayfair with a chrome grill and a Cooper S badge being described as a super rare Mini Cooper.

 

Rant over! Lol

[Cooperman]

Plenty of 'period mods' there to choose from.

[Simples]

I build cars for myself not for others, I can normally appreciate the effort that goes into any build, but bog standard cars bore me silly

[greenmini1275]

Each to their own.
 
However there are two things that slightly annoy me when people are selling certain Mini's 
 
1) Seeing adverts on eBay etc which make a big deal out of a particular Mini being a rare "special edition" Mini, then when you look at the pictures you see that all the "special edition" parts such as the interior and decals have been removed and replaced with generic aftermarket stuff.
 
2) Seeing adverts showing a 1988 Mini Mayfair with a chrome grill and a Cooper S badge being described as a super rare Mini Cooper.
 
Rant over! Lol

Yeah blatantly lying about a mini your selling is annoying. Like 90s coopers that have nothing Cooper left in them. Its not just the engine that makes them a Cooper, its also the interior, the white roof, decals and bonnet stripes, and people think they can ask a fortune for them. A guy I went to see was selling his Cooper S Carb for £9k, it was in good condition but he had removed everything, except the engine, that made it a Cooper.

[Cooperman]

I build cars for myself not for others, I can normally appreciate the effort that goes into any build, but bog standard cars bore me silly

 

Nice period modifications can really improve most classic cars. However, I can't say that a true bog standard classic should bore anyone if they are a true classic car enthusiast. A standard Mini is always fun and will give a real 1960's retro drive in the same way as a Cortina or other car of that era will.

 

Personally I can't see much of a future in spending a lot of money actually de-valuing a classic car by fitting non-period stuff, but if one can afford it then I guess that's fine. If I want a fast car I don't want a classic Mini, I want something really quick which will only cost me what a classic Mini will cost (or even less).

 

A classic Mini is just that, an old, relatively slow but truly iconic and retro car which period modifications will probably enhance even more. I know the big values are in the early Cooper 'S' models, but the truly iconic Mini is arguably the early 850, which is where it all started. They just look so right and so 'clean'.