58 replies to this topic

[timmy850]

The problem for the MINI is it is just like any other modern hatchback. But every modern hatchback owes everything to the Mini. All modern hatchbacks are transverse engined front wheel driven. Only the MINI can claim the continuity with concept, company, its engineers and one of its original factories. The MINI is the best looking and much of that is to do with the attempt to follow through the original design. The FIAT 500 is a serious rival by the same designer but it has none of its own original engineering concept. It too has adopted the Mini formula.

 

Yep, at least the mini pioneered the front wheel drive, east west engine layout. So if the new mini has that layout, and most small cars since have gone down a similar path, that's a good thing and a credit to the original design.

 

Be thankful the new mini is a similar concept to the original - "small", front wheel drive, good handler, and tries to appeal across different demographics

New Beetle and Fiat 500 are less than shadows of their original concepts - they've lost the key design that made them great

[Teapot]

Interesting. Doesn't bother me any more. A few years ago while in the US I noticed they were implying in a TV ad that the BMW MINI won the Monte Carlo Rally. That was pretty galling.

In fact this new ad is odd. What have dominoes got to do with driving? What image are they trying to convey? Why can't the Bini be sold on its own merits, whatever they are? Did they advertise the original mini as "son of Morris Minor?" Of course not, because it was completely new.

Time the Bini came out from the shadow of the real mini and stood on its own, er, wheels. I can imagine advertisers feeling p***ed off having to compare and contrast it all the time with its dratted little half-brother.

[surfblue]

 

 

^{Haters gonna hate, but I ask,... If Rover were able to make a decent car and keep their name alive, would the haters of the MINI hate it as much if Rover made it?}

do you not remember the great battle of the mpis not being proper minis many a bans happened then, sad times

 

 

I do ......in the early 1990's when the 'Rover Mini Cooper' had just been re-introduced if you turned up at a Mini Show like Beaulieu in a new Rover Cooper, many original Mk1/2/3 Cooper owners made it quite clear you were not welcome and called them 'plastic' Rover imitations of the 'real' Mini Cooper even though John Cooper was deeply involved in their re-introduction. As with the New MINI today they would usually say John Cooper just sold out to make more money   ......some got even more upset when the Rover Coopers were entered into concours, especially when many were still almost brand new and rust free or had only just left a Rover showroom the week before!

 

At this time the Mini Cooper Register (of which I was and still am a member) nearly tore itself apart over the new Rover Cooper and eventually the club membership was asked to vote on allowing in the Rover owners.....much to the dismay of some the vote was yes......it all seems silly today but there are still a few 'die-hards' who look down on any Mini Cooper made afer 1971...........not to mention those that dismiss any Mini or Cooper made after 1969 without sliding windows!

 

I do remember being pee'd off that brand new minis were winning concours competitions over those which had bee painstakingly and lovingly rebuilt but back then I was running round in an 87 City E and the new Coopers were out of my league, way too expensive.

[Kieranlee999]

do they have these sort of arguments on beetle forums and fiat 500 forums or is it just mini owners that complain about the new ones? anyway can you sling the new mini into a corner I only learnt to drive in one so couldn't have too much fun

[Mini 360]

anyway can you sling the new mini into a corner I only learnt to drive in one so couldn't have too much fun

Yes.

 

Also this thread.....

 

 

[sheffieldcomms]

do they have these sort of arguments on beetle forums and fiat 500 forums or is it just mini owners that complain about the new ones? anyway can you sling the new mini into a corner I only learnt to drive in one so couldn't have too much fun

I know a beetle owner that thinks the new ones are the devils work

[mab01uk]

 Did they advertise the original mini as "son of Morris Minor?" Of course not, because it was completely new.

Time the Bini came out from the shadow of the real mini and stood on its own, er, wheels. I can imagine advertisers feeling p***ed off having to compare and contrast it all the time with its dratted little half-brother.

 

BMC did use the Minor name on the Mk1 Morris Mini's......'Mini-Minor'......however it was never intended to replace the Minor which carried on in production until 1971......the Mini eventually replaced the smaller Austin A35 range.

 

The Austin Se7en version of the Mk1 'Mini' did however use its predecessors name so was marketed as 'son of Austin Se7en'......not Mini even though completely new.

 

The Morris Minor is sadly forgotten by many today and most younger people would be unlikely to recognise or desire one today as the marque or brand died in 1971 and did not continue, the Morris Minor Owners club would love to attract more younger enthusiasts...the advantage of maintaining a modern day link is that the awareness of classic Mini's through the modern MINI will continue and still be relevant to younger generations.....we should be glad of that fact that it will stay in the mainstream due to the link..

Edited by mab01uk, 12 March 2014 - 01:54 PM.

[CityEPete]

Would the new mini exist if the old one didn't? I doubt it so for me that's a pretty strong connection, my wife works on a retail park ten miles from home, the old mini gets used most days for that run, her mother lives a hundred and sixty mile round trip away and can be very ill with no notice so the bini will be used for that. I'd rather have a new mini than a Peugeot or Chretien etc, just having an old mini won't do everything we need so both is the answer.

[CityEPete]

Citroen not Chretien? what's that even mean!

[MrBounce]

I think the point that a lot of people are missing here is that BMW are a BUSINESS. And businesses usually only exist to make MONEY. They have taken a brand that was out on its feet with a 40 year-old product and brought it bang up to date. They have expanded this niche business with a fair few different niche models. Believe me, the heads of BMW do not give two hoots about whether it panders to the classic brigade or not. They are making money from their product. And very well played to them for doing it. Would Rover have done better? Given their track record I very much doubt it.
 
I for one don't like the BMW Mini, never have. But you cannot deny that solely as a business exercise it has done BMW well and will continue to do so. I for one would not buy a BMW Mini simply because of the way they treated the independent traders shortly after its launch. Snotty legal letters dictating that small businesses were no longer "allowed" to use the Mini name, despite many being establish for several years, did not do them many favours amongst the classic Mini fans. They really shot themselves in the foot, and I think this is where a lot of the bad feeling stems from. Had they sat down with the Mini clubs to establish their new product rather than "barging in" and doing it their heavy handed way it might be a very different scenario today.
 
The BMW Mini is a good car and a well-executed brand. I just don't want to own one.

Edited by MrBounce, 12 March 2014 - 01:33 PM.

[andy159]

Citroen not Chretien? what's that even mean!

isn't chretien from red dwarf?

[CityEPete]

No idea but my samsung predictive text likes it more than the word Citroen, Lol

[Tamworthbay]

do they have these sort of arguments on beetle forums and fiat 500 forums or is it just mini owners that complain about the new ones? anyway can you sling the new mini into a corner I only learnt to drive in one so couldn't have too much fun

I know a beetle owner that thinks the new ones are the devils work

he is getting confused, that was the old one.

[sheffieldcomms]

 

 

do they have these sort of arguments on beetle forums and fiat 500 forums or is it just mini owners that complain about the new ones? anyway can you sling the new mini into a corner I only learnt to drive in one so couldn't have too much fun

I know a beetle owner that thinks the new ones are the devils work

he is getting confused, that was the old one.

 

Lol nice one