21 replies to this topic

[carthorse]

I ran a similar spec engine in my daily for a while and it did become a bit wearing to drive it traffic in the rush hour. Fast A roads it was fantastic, but early morning in the rain and a queue of traffic......... Not much fun.
I'd look for a pretty near standard mpi for everyday use, but as others have said bodywork is the key, especially on the later cars which rust away almost as fast as you can weld them back together!

[Cooperman]

My Grandson has been into Minis since he was 4-years-old and he is now 20.

He restored his first Mini when he was 15 to 16, then sold it and bought a 1997 MPI for use as his first road car. It was totally restored by he and me over several months and he was so proud of it. He passed his test and used the Mini, but he got fed up with the level of maintenance needed and the lack of road performance compared to modern cars. So he sold it and bought a 1.25 Fiesta which was much more practical until some idiot in a Mitsubishi 4 x 4 drove into him and wrote it off. With the insurance pay-out he put down the deposit on a 2007 Mondeo Titanium X 6-speed Auto Diesel which, almost 2 years later he still has.

I guess he is lucky as he can still drive my Minis, including my '64 Cooper 'S' to shows and occasionally to work.

He found a classic car not really suitable for modern driving. Of course it is possible and there should be no major problems, but an oil change every 1500 miles or so, plus high tyre wear, monthly greasing of suspension and lack of performance/retro feel becomes off-putting after a relatively short time.

[Rog46]

It's not that they're not suitable, really just that they need more maintenance (if you only use it as a second car you don't notice that!) whatever you decide inspect the underside for rust at least annually and reapply or touch up any dodgy areas in the wax anti-rust coating.

[Cooperman]

To be honest, if you want to use a classic car for everyday driving, there are better choices than the classic Mini (e.g.: MGB-GT, Rover 2000/2200).

The Mini is special because it is a 55-year-old design icon and was the start of the use of front-wheel drive which has now taken over the automotive world with but few exceptions.

I love driving mine for the sheer retro driving experience, but if I'm going any long distance I put mine on a trailer.

When sitting on a motorway in my daily car at 70 to 80 mph and looking at the tacho reading less than 2000 rpm I often think of how a Mini would be revving at that speed. In the '60's & '70's most cars were high revving at motorway speeds, but modern engine design has provided higher gearing with better low-end torque.

It was always the case that after around 40,000 to 50,000 miles a Mini needed an engine re-build.

But for those who don't do high mileages, are prepared for the maintenance and are happy with the retro ride & feel of the classic Mini, good luck to you.

[pusb]

I used mine everyday for 9 months and it didn't let me down. Only thing I had to replace in that time was a wheel bearing (there were a lot of things I did replace however that didn't necessarily need it).

 

The only reason I bought a second car was so I could take my time in doing things to my Mini. Having to rush fitting a new carpet for instance on a Sunday afternoon because you need the car for work on Monday takes some of the fun out of it.

[ACDodd]

If you can do the maintenance yourself no problems. I have driven nothing but a-series powered cars every day for 18 years. Be prepared for tinkering at weekends. If you have to pay for a mechanic get another car.

Ac

[lyndseyp27]

It will cope fine if you get a good solid one. Don't do what i did and fall in love with the first one you see or it could be as problematic as mine has been (and mine has been known to set on fire a couple of times). Still, she puts a massive smile on my face (now she's safe!) and i love using her as often as i can (i do have 2 other cars though so i don't use this as a daily by any means). As i do no work myself (massive lack of knowledge) it has also cost me a pretty penny, worth taking in to consideration if you don't plan on doing any work yourself. 

 

You only live once - do it!