Had a classic at 17, daily driven an MPi for two years doing 70 miles a day at the age of 19.
Would I do it again, in 2020? Without a doubt. You live once, enjoy your passion.
The simplest repair weekend for me was when I filled up with petrol after work, the car spluttered and died, I got towed home and ended up having to strip and clean the carb, then replace all the fuel hose and add a fuel filter...
Foolish me had let the fuel get too low in the tank. Lesson learnt very quickly and made work on the Monday ?
Then the worst was clutch failure on the way home from work a few weeks later... The engine was out 3 times in a week ?? piss poor parts... Etc haha
But yes classics are great fun, grease the nipples every 1000 miles religiously and change the oil and filter every 3000 miles and you'll be OK... I used to change the Comma classic oil in mine at 5000 miles and didn't have issues BUT that's not to say that any one else will not so 3000 miles between changes.....
A modern car will have better heating and demisting capabilities but will need a computer to diagnose faults, not cheap like the mini.
Hope this helps amongst the other opinions
Cal