37 replies to this topic

[1984mini25]

Photo's would speak a thousand words

[smudger]

it could be a test car for rover, hence the bigger tank and 5 speed box. i have seen this Mini in the flesh, and its a mass of weird things, some things are standard, others i havnt seen before.

the 5 speed was fitted by rover, on certain cars, and those gearbox's supplied by JKD.

is this one of them?

[syholl]

The 5 speed box WAS an option by Rover. Yes they were built by Jack Knight, and mostly fitted by John Cooper Garages, but it was an optional extra that appeared in the Rover brochure at the time, and you could spec it for your Mini from 1996 onwards.

I know because i bought one in 1997, with 5 speed box as just one of many optional extras that i added. Rover did fit some of the gearboxes. When my first one self destructed, Rover fitted a new one in Blackpool. The second one was done by Minisport as i had lost a bit of faith in Rover, unfortunately Minisport were even worse as that one only lasted 1000 miles. Hence why i have a 1997 Cooper S with a VTEC engine in it...!

Still don't think those gearboxes were available as far back as 1992.... Sounds like a windup to me...

[TWICEmonkey]

Still don't think those gearboxes were available as far back as 1992.... Sounds like a windup to me...

Could very well be considering he's not replying to anything

[minipip]

the other strage thjing is all the support brackets for the engine?! if they wernt bushed properly then woudent the engine shake the car apart?

[miniman/nico]

hi i will take some piccys 4 u at some poin just been busy working on the mini as i said i do not no the history of the car in the log book it says there was 3 owners but as i looked through the papper work its had 4 a male he was the first to buy it but it was bought in 91 and not driven in the log book it was only registered to the road a year later in 92 then he sold it to a old lady who bought it as a 998 after the old lady a young lad bought it ive asked him bout this stuff ive been finding and he said he didnt have a clue this was different he said he thought it was standard to have all this on it. ill take some pics to moz and ill post them cheers for the replys.and im not 100 percent sure its a 998 like it says in the log book but it seems to fast 4 a 998.

[Dan]

The 5 speed box WAS an option by Rover.

No it wasn't. It (the Jack Knight version) was an option by John Cooper Garages either on the Mini Cooper Sport 5 pack or on it's own. The only Rover badged version was on the Mini Hot Rod, which was assembled by JCG on Rover's behalf. Both of the ERA development cars also had a JK 5 speed, but they weren't anything to do with Rover at all. I've got many copies of the late Mini brochures from the twin-point era and none of them list the 5 speed, and neither did the options list when we ordered a car in '98.

[Amy]

The 5 speed box WAS an option by Rover.

No it wasn't. It (the Jack Knight version) was an option by John Cooper Garages either on the Mini Cooper Sport 5 pack or on it's own. The only Rover badged version was on the Mini Hot Rod, which was assembled by JCG on Rover's behalf. Both of the ERA development cars also had a JK 5 speed, but they weren't anything to do with Rover at all. I've got many copies of the late Mini brochures from the twin-point era and none of them list the 5 speed, and neither did the options list when we ordered a car in '98.

That's being more than pedantic don't you think....?

If you are ordering a car from new- direct from Rover- to your own spec- and a 5 speed box is one of the options- then most people would say it was an option given by Rover!!!

It's obvious the Jack Knight gearboxes weren't built by Rover- were the seats, the carpets, the steering wheels...? Nope- they were made by other manufacturers and offered as an 'optional extra'.......

I think Sy remembers spending his hard earned cash on a brand new car- and who he ordered it from!!

[Dan]

It was never on the Rover options list. John Cooper Garages is and was nothing to do with Rover. They are just a dealership and they fitted the 5 speeds themselves. There was a thing at the end of the Rover brochure that said you could have any car you like built however you like if you were willing to pay but that's the custom option that all car makers offer, not an option.

[mini-gti]

There was a thing at the end of the Rover brochure that said you could have any car you like built however you like if you were willing to pay but that's the custom option that all car makers offer, not an option.

contradiction there mate

perhaps the dealer that syholl got his mini from offered the option, it could have been dealer specific

gaz

[TWICEmonkey]

The 5 speed box WAS an option by Rover.

No it wasn't. It (the Jack Knight version) was an option by John Cooper Garages either on the Mini Cooper Sport 5 pack or on it's own. The only Rover badged version was on the Mini Hot Rod, which was assembled by JCG on Rover's behalf. Both of the ERA development cars also had a JK 5 speed, but they weren't anything to do with Rover at all. I've got many copies of the late Mini brochures from the twin-point era and none of them list the 5 speed, and neither did the options list when we ordered a car in '98.

Read the whole paragraph and you'll see that your both right

The 5 speed box WAS an option by Rover. Yes they were built by Jack Knight, and mostly fitted by John Cooper Garages, but it was an optional extra that appeared in the Rover brochure at the time, and you could spec it for your Mini from 1996 onwards.

[mini-gti]

kier mate dan was arguing that it wasn't in the brochure though

gaz

[Dan]

contradiction there mate

Now that's some professional pedantry!

And yes, that's what I meant. It was never a listed option. Rover did look at fitting the Jack Knight design to all Minis for a while when they changed to the twin point setup but decided that it was not economical for them to do that and would result in more warranty claims. Before that they made the same investigation into 5 speeds when the ERA was launched and came to the same conclusion. That's why the ERA development cars built by ERA to show to Rover had the Jack Knight box.

[syholl]

It was in the options list, and it WAS in the brochure. I had 5 different brochures from Rover before i bought the car, and i had circled all the extras that i wanted, including 5 speed box. I still remember sitting in the dealership and he clicked on the option for 5 speed gearbox amongst other things.

Here is the original Rover order form i got, with 5 speed box listed as one of the extras

 Rover_order_form2.jpg   953.48K   37 downloads

And here i am collecting it from Rover,

 Bluey3.jpg   77.19K   29 downloads

To be honest, i think it did depend on the dealership, Peter McKiernan worked at Blackpool Dutton Forshaw Rover dealership. I travelled all the way there because my local dealership in Bolton didn't offer any of the extras. They couldn't even do me a Sportspack Mini in Tahiti blue as it wasn't an available option on their computer. But it was definitely on their list of optional extras, even their demonstrator model had the 5 speed box fitted (which my sister bought about 6 months later), see below
 kate5.jpg   119.19K   8 downloads

[93-rio]

So it seems the 5 speed was and wasnt an option depending on dealership. You'd have thought you'd get the same options from all dealers its not like they work for the same company is it?