21 replies to this topic

[MikeRotherham]

Last night I caught an episode of Bangers and Cash. It was an old episode although it was new to me.

 

The item of interest was a 1995 Mini Cooper that was being auctioned on behalf of an elderly lady who was replacing it with a Smart Car.

 

The car had done 210,000 miles and it still had the original clutch.

 

It had been reshelled.

 

She had it from new and it was in daily use.

 

It just struck me as remarkable.

[Colinmac1330]

I have 103,000 on mine, still a bit to go to match that though!

[stuart bowes]

i think the key thing there is 'elderly lady'

 

i.e. never ragged, always pottering around below 3k rpm and probably regularly serviced 

 

mechanical sympathy x100

 

still reshelled though obviously because even the best care in the world doesn't stop a mini being a mobile colander

Edited by stuart bowes, 09 December 2022 - 12:38 PM.

[unburntfuelinthemorning]

I wonder what the oil consumption is like.

[absx2]

I had a 165000 mile Rover cooper and it would use 1/2 a pint a week, that was 200 miles which was in line with the original 60`s owners hand book for a 1275.

Great motor that one, nice and loose and would hit 7000 revs no worries.

I didn`t care if it blew up as I had plenty more kicking around.

[MiniMadRacer]

Didnt "Bangers and Cash" claim it had the original clutch too?

[Aly-g]

Last night I caught an episode of Bangers and Cash. It was an old episode although it was new to me.

The item of interest was a 1995 Mini Cooper that was being auctioned on behalf of an elderly lady who was replacing it with a Smart Car.

The car had done 210,000 miles and it still had the original clutch.

It had been reshelled.

She had it from new and it was in daily use.

It just struck me as remarkable.

A better buy than the (I think ? ) 1963 cooper s heap of rust that had to be moved with a pallet and fork lift and sold for £18000. !!!!!

Allan

Edited by Aly-g, 10 December 2022 - 01:32 PM.

[stuart bowes]

I still don't really get the value that people put on coopers, really in reality what is that badge worth

When you buy it presumably all the components are in need of replacement and you put all new brakes and suspension on using exactly the same gear that people with non coopers use.. so we're left with the engine, which you can do all the same mods to a standard engine (and in a lot of cases, you do better than cooper spec anyway)

So in the style of triggers broom with all the new handles and brushes, what you get is a shell that's exactly the same, running gear exactly the same and engine to whatever spec you have the money for. And a little badge that says 'cooper'

Like I fully respect the man and what he did, don't get me wrong, but I just question the value of them now, after all the rust has set in and you end up doing all the same repairs

Edited by stuart bowes, 10 December 2022 - 03:06 PM.

[sonscar]

Why,you forgot to mention the all important V5 registration document.Car 10K paperwork 40K.Such is the values of modern life.Steve..

[Bobbins]

But what's the value of anything? You can replicate a Rembrandt or Monet and likely do it better, do a bit of patching up to most old museum pieces, and don't get me started on footballers ... but that's the way if the world!

[stuart bowes]

yeah you won't get any argument from me about football lol

 

Paintings.. to me they don't have any real value but I can at least see that they are works of art, they stay as they are, you don't go swapping parts around, maybe the odd tiny repairs as and when totally necessary but even then it's done by a highly skilled person which is value in itself..

 

I dunno I didn't mean to rock anyones boat or anything, it's just when I see them on autotrader or ebay at much higher prices than standard minis I think, really is there an actual benefit.  the logbook I suppose, yeah, if you value that heritage maybe and you're gonna rebuild it with period correct parts and all that jazz

Edited by stuart bowes, 10 December 2022 - 06:03 PM.

[Cooperman]

The subject of originality and history with classic cars is a source of so much disagreement.

The Cooper & Cooper 'S' are no different in this respect. On one hand the Coopers are remembered for their competition successes and that has led to a high valuation for original cars.

The irony with that is the fact that the cars used to generate those successes were often originally 850 Minis rebuilt with Cooper or 'S' parts.

However, if there are people out there who will pay such high figures for what they believe to be 'genuine' and 'original' Coopers, then that is their choice. The insurers of my 1964 raly Cooper 'S' told me it was undervalued at £45k and suggested that £50k was more realistic. I pointed out that it had some 'rally marks' on it, but was told that those actually made it more genuine as it was not 'oer restored' as many rally replicas are. Mine is the 'real thing' I was told. Most rally Minis have been re-shelled, usually into a shell from an 850, but mechanically they are still as they should be.

[stuart bowes]

that's all totally fair and I wouldn't disagree at all, just to clarify I'm not really talking about actual race cars with interesting histories, that's a whole other ball game, they could finish a stage on three wheels held together with gaffer tape and if anything it probably makes them even more valuable

 

I was really only thinking about production line cars, and the quite marginal differences between them, which are then mostly negated by years of repairs / replacement parts / rebuilds

[Aly-g]

the only reason you would lay out so much money on these way overpriced cars is for investment , to be put in a nice heated garage or warehouse full of collectible cars hoping that they will add to your already vast fortune, or of course if you purchased the car for out of the box classic car rallying, i'm quite happy with my mini 1000 that i have modified  to my liking comfort and enjoyment I've probably devalued my car but I don't care I love driving it daily, the smile it puts on my face whenever I get behind the wheel is worth all the money in the world to me.

 

 

Allan

[Clip]

What absolutely staggers me is the price people pay for a number plate. Who cares if it is the 7000th number plate made in your state. Mines probably around the 29th million, that’s got to be more impressive!

 

 Capture.JPG   27.47K   1 downloads

 

or this one:

 

 Capture2.JPG   25.75K   2 downloads

Edited by Clip, 10 December 2022 - 11:08 PM.