BMC/Morris Mini Mark I/Cooper- Any advice from owners?

[stephenb (Stephen)]

Originally Posted by The_bluester

The old A series engines can be made to really go, and to sound great but they do tend towards oil falling out of them as a default setting. A mini would be silly amounts of fun in good condition, I am just not sure how cheap one would end up being.

On the club permit scheme, it does not work for a regularly driven car, the number of days you can use the car a year are curtailed (60 I think) and you absolutely MUST fill in the logbook every day you drive it. If you are caught without then the fine is for driving unregistered.

Hi Paul, re: club permits, thanks for the clarification. That makes perfect sense. I guess whatever car I end up choosing it will been to have full Vic Rego.

The MX5 wasn't on my radar as I know absolutely nothing about them (had to Google them actually). My family have owned Minis, Mark II Ford Escorts and an LH Torana (ex SEC - State Electricity Commission - company car!). These were the top three I started my list with.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Never owned a mini, but I owned a lot of nicer cars - cortinas and capris included.
The old capri was excellent but my fave was a V8 2.5 litre Daimler - the saloon version like Morses.
Given the opportunity I'd have my Daimler back in a shot. Walnut and leather - beautiful.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Originally Posted by tilbrook@rbe.ne

Hi Stephen,


There's no such animal as an 1800cc mini!
Not unless it was transplanted out of an Austin 1800 with a lot of modification.


Justin.

I owned an Morris 1800, it was not a Mini, I also had an Austin 1100, again not a Mini although there were 1100 cc Minis made along with many other variations.
IMHO they were all biaches to work on due to the engine\gearbox integration and design of the spider\CV joint system plus the E-W engine layout in a cramped bay. Not to mention clutch plate and radiator access. And water ingress to the electrics ... I only had one hydrolastic failure in the 1100, fun to drive with one side of the car sitting hard down on the blocks, .. not !!
I've rebuilt gearboxes, diffs, heads, strombergs, exhausts. you name it on those models. Never again.
Although I did love driving a fast mini ....they were fun !

Keep clear of Alfa's as well, fast and fun but very unreliable. That info is from watching the Alfa Club trying to run an event at Hampton Downs Race Track. Only 4 of the 12 cars that started finished ... Two had already broken down driving to the track. Expensive to fix as well.

I'm getting a mixed message for the OP's requirements. He states he wants a cheap easy to fix runabout but then states preferences which are obviously enthusiasts type cars which cost more and are harder to maintain.

A cheap easy fix car to me would be a '92 and up Toyota/Nissan 1300-1600 cc hatch back or similar for earlier stated reasons. The sort of first car I'd buy for a teen driver because they are so reliable and cheap.

Maybe the market is different in Aust to NZ but over here I could easy find several dozen locally at less than $2000 even for an early 2000 or later model. My little Mitsi Mirage 1600 turbo I sold recently only cost $1100 and was a right little goer.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

If you're going to go for a sports car, you can't fail to appreciate the MGA1600MkII.
Pretty with excellent roadholding and balance.

[taminga16 (Greg)]

Jennifer, I agree the MGA is lovely looking and in 1962 it was regarded as a car that handled well, but the past is another country and they did things differently there. (with apologies to L.P. Hartley). Projects are a wonderful idea but can rapidly turn into nightmares.

"I have dug a lot of wells that turned out to be nothing but holes".
Greg.

[The_bluester (Paul)]

On this list, I could really see myself in an early (To be more affordable) second generation MX5. Small, light, nimble, fun and no roof! I think the second gen MX5 has also aged the most gracefully of the affordable sports cars of that era. The Gen 1 cars look a little 90's now (Though in the early form are the most pure sports car of the bunch IMO) I never came at the styling of the current car.

Actually I did not like many Mazda's much for about the last ten years. The RX8 styling concept looked great on the RX8, not so great on pretty much the entire rest of the mazda range including the current ute.

The current small to mid sized mazdas however! They have ceratnly found a designer with some flair.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

I drive a 2004 Mazda 3 saloon and I love it!.
I'd love an MX5 - and an nice BT50 for touring

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Like a 'MINI' Dodge Viper ,, oh yea . 90's V10 muscle .
Brian.

Originally Posted by The_bluester

On this list, I could really see myself in an early (To be more affordable) second generation MX5. Small, light, nimble, fun and no roof! I think the second gen MX5 has also aged the most gracefully of the affordable sports cars of that era. The Gen 1 cars look a little 90's now (Though in the early form are the most pure sports car of the bunch IMO) I never came at the styling of the current car.

Actually I did not like many Mazda's much for about the last ten years. The RX8 styling concept looked great on the RX8, not so great on pretty much the entire rest of the mazda range including the current ute.

The current small to mid sized mazdas however! They have ceratnly found a designer with some flair.

[taminga16 (Greg)]

Originally Posted by jenchris

I drive a 2004 Mazda 3 saloon and I love it!.
I'd love an MX5 - and an nice BT50 for touring

Jennifer,
I am living your dream. I love my MX-5 and the ute is brilliant too.
Greg.

[stephenb (Stephen)]

THank you to all the genuine responses who have helped me make a well-informed decision.

For the foreseeable future I will keep my hilux ute and spend some $$ doing to work to it.

[The_bluester (Paul)]

Originally Posted by brian nordstrom

Like a 'MINI' Dodge Viper ,, oh yea . 90's V10 muscle .
Brian.

Funny, I had never thought of the second gen MX5 like that, but yeah, there is a distinct resemblance to the early Viper V10.

Funny thinking of the Viper, they must have been quite low revving, they sounded pretty different to anything else out there but the V10 Beemers that were about a few years ago had much more of a touch of the F1 engines in the sound they made. I used to cross the city (Melbourne) CBD on foot each afternoon and often coincided with some higher up leaving work in his V10 M5, he was quite partial to giving it a serve as he left. Very nice sound.