58 replies to this topic

[Black.Ghost]

I was talking about a difference between. sprite and a Cooper.

I'm not that clued up on all of the LEs. Most had similar power, but wasn't it the S models and the Works upgrades that gave them more power and handling?

Either way, anything is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. The late LEs go for decent money and I think will only go up in value.

[giner88]

I was talking about a difference between. sprite and a Cooper.

I'm not that clued up on all of the LEs. Most had similar power, but wasn't it the S models and the Works upgrades that gave them more power and handling?

Either way, anything is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. The late LEs go for decent money and I think will only go up in value.

yeah i agree but in the end i think All minis will increase in value, all become rare to the point where theres just as many mini sprites on the road as a later LEs. As people are more likely to keep LEs on the road where your standard Sprite would just get scrapped, so numbers will even out and therefore prices too. Maybe LOL

i just want a cooper. i think thats my mission this summer

[mk1leg]

Oh dear........another cooper or not thread......................

[PaulnPJ]

LOL, so where does the export Kensington fit on this with the way of engines and the like, its different enough somewhere to have a different code in the VIN number to the Cooper and the Sprite...

IIRC it is based on the sprite though...

[govig]

when the cooper s finished,albeit in a rather boring mk3 form

Boring??

[MaxAndPaddy]

I was talking about a difference between. sprite and a Cooper.

I'm not that clued up on all of the LEs. Most had similar power, but wasn't it the S models and the Works upgrades that gave them more power and handling?

Either way, anything is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. The late LEs go for decent money and I think will only go up in value.

yeah i agree but in the end i think All minis will increase in value, all become rare to the point where theres just as many mini sprites on the road as a later LEs. As people are more likely to keep LEs on the road where your standard Sprite would just get scrapped, so numbers will even out and therefore prices too. Maybe LOL

i just want a cooper. i think thats my mission this summer

He has LE envy...ignore him

[mab01uk]

when the cooper s finished,albeit in a rather boring mk3 form

Boring??

It was rather boring and disappointing at the time, British Leylands takeover of BMC and cutbacks mean't the Mk3 S had very little to visually distingush it from a standard Mk3 Mini 1000........even the grille was no longer different to lesser Mini's. Lord Stokes and the BL takeover had already decided the future of performance Mini's was to be the 1275GT and John Cooper was now out of favor and royalties.......big mistake, nearly 20 years of future Mini Cooper sales lost! (Although the 1275GT did sell quite well until 1980).

Edited by mab01uk, 29 February 2012 - 10:43 PM.

[Black.Ghost]

I was talking about a difference between. sprite and a Cooper.

I'm not that clued up on all of the LEs. Most had similar power, but wasn't it the S models and the Works upgrades that gave them more power and handling?

Either way, anything is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. The late LEs go for decent money and I think will only go up in value.

yeah i agree but in the end i think All minis will increase in value, all become rare to the point where theres just as many mini sprites on the road as a later LEs. As people are more likely to keep LEs on the road where your standard Sprite would just get scrapped, so numbers will even out and therefore prices too. Maybe LOL

i just want a cooper. i think thats my mission this summer

He has LE envy...ignore him

It's true

[giner88]

I was talking about a difference between. sprite and a Cooper.

I'm not that clued up on all of the LEs. Most had similar power, but wasn't it the S models and the Works upgrades that gave them more power and handling?

Either way, anything is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. The late LEs go for decent money and I think will only go up in value.

yeah i agree but in the end i think All minis will increase in value, all become rare to the point where theres just as many mini sprites on the road as a later LEs. As people are more likely to keep LEs on the road where your standard Sprite would just get scrapped, so numbers will even out and therefore prices too. Maybe LOL

i just want a cooper. i think thats my mission this summer

He has LE envy...ignore him

It's true

LOL MaxAndPaddy stop stiring

[Cooperman]

As said earlier, a 'can of worms'!
Now, here is a question. I have a friend who bought an 850 in 1961 which he started rallying. Then the 997 Cooper arrived, so he re-built it as a 997 Cooper with the right bits, engine, brakes, speedo, etc., and rallied it in that form, always entering as a Cooper 997. Later the Cooper 'S' arrived and, as he was sponsored in his motor sport by a major BMC dealer he again re-built it as a 1275 'S' with a new body shell as well - the original was getting a bit tired. He did many International rallies in it with reasonable success in his class.
In the late 70's he took a break from rallying, but kept the car. Now it is restored and he competes in historic rallies entering it as a Cooper 'S' and he has all the FIA/MSA papers. The V5 says it is a Morris Mini with the engine a 1275 cc with a Cooper 'S' engine number.
The question: Is this a Mini Cooper 'S'?

[Mini_Magic]

No because it didn't come out of the factory that way. No matter what you do to it, it's still a replica in my opinion.

Same as those Italian Job Minis that were in the news, they're still replicas because the real ones were thrown off a cliff.

[Mrpeanut]

I'm a newb so expect to be shot down in flames but surely if it ain't born a Cooper then it's not a Cooper? If Andy has a few ops and becomes Angie has he really become a woman?

[giner88]

well i think cooper is the spec. If its all cooper spec its a cooper. hmmmmmmm owel everyone can have there own views and opnions.

[Cooperman]

But the 'works' rally cars didn't come off the production lines as the Cooper 'S's they were rallied as. They had replacement shells, engines of different sizes and one, 18CRX was built as a 997, then became a 1275 and was rallied by the 'works' as a 1275. Reg. numbers were swapped between cars.
The cars built for competition as Cooper 'S's did not have anyone saying they were or were not true Cooper 'S's. If they met the specifications of the Cooper 'S' as shown on the homologation papers lodged by BMC for the 'S', then they were/are considered to be 'S's.
It's just a matter of perception.
A true 'can of worms'.

[Mrpeanut]

The more I read on the subject the more i think that relaxed regulations back in the day allowed fakes to rally creating this perception that spec beats authenticity. Original is original, fake is fake whatever you do to it.

Now to find my tin hat!