Hi Everyone,
following the internet long tradition of first posting on a forum, here is my first post !
My name is Benoit Dupont, I live in the french Alps and I'm a the owner / Care taker of a '91 Cooper Mini that came with a 1380cc. I have this car for about 13y now and there is just no way I'll part with it. :)
As with any mini I guess, mine has a bit of a story:
I bought it from a guy from Paris who collected Porsches and thought it was a good idea to offer this lil red thing to his wife. so he bought it from a guy in south of France, had it shipped to Paris. the lady drove around the block with it and it scared the sh*t out of her so she would not drive it again.
turned out, the guy who originally had it was a rally racer and this car was what he tought would be a civilian version of his race car: 1380cc, hard suspension, single and loud exhaust. not terribly tuned up, but enough to scare the lady.
So I bought it ! And it has been with me ever since.
unfortunatly, I did not know much back then and the car was modified quite harshly to fit 13'' wheels and sportpack arches. I'm ok with that, but I can't go back to smaller wheels unless I am replacing my front fenders.
the car did not change much over the last decade and I'm now working on it to make it as the 4 wheels equivalent of a cafe racer: something light, reasonably fast, and not overtuned with LEDs everywhere. Basically the car will remain stock on the outside, keep the interior as it will remain "stock-looking" on the outiside. one of my influence in that matter is definitely what a guy like Magnus Walker is doing with his cars.
the engine will not receive a huge performance upgrade. it's good enough for what I do.
in the process and since I had terrible experience with aftermarket parts, I am currently making my own version of parts and I intend to share with you what I do. I have been kind of pissed off several time with sub-par quality stuff so now I'm getting either the good stuff from reputable guys. or I remake it myself, or I mod an old one I get for a few bucks from the bay.
anyway, pictures will be coming soon! cheers guys!
