RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted October 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 19, 2012 Owned three Mini's in succession from 1980 - 1993. The final one was a black Mini Mayfair with tinted windows and a sun roof, the latter being a 40th birthday present. We sold it due to the expense of work necessary to pass the MOT. It was one of my favourite cars and 'twas still going strong in 1998 when I spotted it being driven by the father of one of my pupils! We had a mini - 808MKJ. It was 20 when we bought it in 1980 from the neighbour who'd rebuilt it as a bitza, and Deb used it extensively when she first passed her test. The metal was really thick, quite unlike more modern cars. It served Deb well, although did burn a valve a couple of times, so I got used to taking the head off etc. I can't imagine getting my hands that dirty on a C21 car! I think we sold it about 1983 to a friend of Deb's sister, as we were moving, had a Landie and an MG Metro. Driving that mini was a very pleasant experience - when you can say that about a 20-year-old car, it tells you something about the design, I think. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 (edited) Ian, if 808 MKJ were still sat outside chez Oldddudders now in mint condition you could probably ask £10 - 15k for it and easily get it! The reg number alone would be worth a bob or two as well. Recently the earliest '59 Mk1 Mini Saloon off the line fetched just over £40k in rusty / unrestored condition (it predates 621 AOK which resides at Gaydon) and a very early van went for about £30k... rediculous really isn't it? That same £30k could just about buy you a half decent E-Type or be used as a nice deposit on a house. Barking, what! Early Minis are still great fun to drive, it's like being in a go-kart with a roof. My first one was a '77 BL Mini 1000 in tomato soup orange with a tatty black vinyl roof that had been exported new to Italy and re-imported back a year or two later... it came back with a rare Innocenti Cooper interior which I didn't twig about until after I'd sent it to the crusher! Edited October 19, 2012 by Rugd1022 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashcombe Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 My first Mini was a rather unfortunate shade of yellow - not good to see on the morning after! I remember the 2nd and 3rd registrations of my Mini's: the second one was green with the reg. YOA 119T and it listed to one side (the driver's) causing one of our neighbours to speculate as to the weight of a previous owner! My favourite (the Mayfair) had the reg B569 EWP. Happy memories...! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted October 19, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 19, 2012 Aren't they adorable? 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 A neighbour of ours bought one of the first Minis. The registration was VS9999 - can you imagine what the asking price for that registration would be now? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 (edited) My Pal, Dave bought a FrogEye Sprite in 1973 for £100.00 it even came with the reg., MRS 64. I bought a MiniVan in 1968 for £50.00 at 4 years old - the cills had already rusted through.............I sold that and bought an early Volvo P1800 with the original eggbox grill in dark metallic Green an almost perfect copy of The Saint's. Then I had a new Yellow Mini. I was always breaking the engine stabilizer bar, always overheating them. After that I bought one of my favourite non-sports cars a brand new Citroen GS in 1976. The only car I made money on was one of the final runs of a Renault 5GT Turbo. I bought it new and actually made £1,000 on it when I moved to the 'States. Best, Pete. Edited October 19, 2012 by trisonic Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted October 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 19, 2012 DIY Update Further to this morning's ramblings I collected management from work & shopping earlier this afternoon. "What have you been up to today"? she said "Erm-oh just pottering about" said I "Only I wondered why the first aid kit & your toolbox were sitting on your Workmate" said she "Oh-I was thinking about finishing that little job in the bathroom" I whispered "Fantastic-did it go alright?" she asked with a smile, "Well not exactly to plan-I sort of got a little bit sidetracked if you know what I mean" I mumbled "You've been doing train stuff again haven't you? she hissed Guilty as charged Bob 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted October 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 19, 2012 I was always breaking the engine stabilizer bar, always overheating them. Something to do with driving style, perhaps? Just a guess, of course, Pete. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Something to do with driving style, perhaps? Just a guess, of course, Pete. ''A little exhuberance is it Sir? That's the ticket...'' ! When I went to view my S and take it for a test drive it had (still has ) so much torque in all four gears I thought I was going to break an engine mount or the stabilising bar, obviously it wasn't quite my property at the time and I was a bit sheepish about pranging it, but the seller was a sporting type who encouraged me to 'press on' so I did, until his mate's 4.2 litre E-Type came past us on one of the local dual carriageways in Hertfordshire, I thought it prudent to back off a bit by then. A week later with the deal done and the keys in my sticky mitts I made a point of taking it home via as many twisty A and B roads as I could find, a short section on the M1 aside - it was one of the best Mini drives I've ever experienced on a gorgeous warm Summer's afternoon. Great stuff ;-) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted October 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 19, 2012 SWMBO used to have a mini - 12" long, black leather.... (sigh) 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Minis? Those were the days. All second hand but started with an 850 with iffy brakes. Every set of lights saw frantically pumping the brake pedal to get it to stop. Risky perhaps but with few cars on the road, considerably less scary than today. Next one was a 1071s which I thought went like ###### off a shovel, but in reality slower than most family cars these days. Engine out, bored out by Oselli Engineering, long centre branch exhaust and a full race cam made it impossible to drive sensibly. Nothing below 3000 and then all hell let loose. Took all the badges off and put the hub caps back on. An 850 mini badge on the back and then the fun began. Sold that and then had a standard 1275s with a Webasto sun roof. That went for a Mk1 Lotus Cortina, best car ever, which had to go when the first Mrs S came along..... .....and no regrets. It was a fun time to be young! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted October 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 19, 2012 It was a fun time to be young! Oh yes - at 23 I had a year old Triumph TR6. I had some fun with that, not all driving related either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted October 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 19, 2012 That went for a Mk1 Lotus Cortina, best car ever, No contest - but didn't the cams need re-shimming about every 1500 miles? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Not in the time I had it. KMM1B. I got it from a mechanic at Ian Walker Racing. Best £440 I ever spent. Ally doors, boot and bonnet plus reserve tank strung across the boot between the wheel arches. Checked out the reg now and it must have gone to the great scrapyard in the sky.... A year old TR6, Mr H? You old smoothy. No wonder you always have a smile on your face..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Engine out, bored out by Oselli Engineering, long centre branch exhaust and a full race cam made it impossible to drive sensibly. .....and no regrets. It was a fun time to be young! Didn't Oselli make the Reece Minnow carb (sic) for the Mini????????? I remember a terrifying drive down the centre lane of the A11 from Epping to Woodford in a Lotus Cortina Mk.1............. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Ah, High Beech, that brings back another ton of fun thoughts.....Scooters and then cars on the Sunday cruise.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Something to do with driving style, perhaps? Just a guess, of course, Pete. Moi? Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iL Dottore Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Mrs iD had a mini, which she loved, but I've always found them cramped. My two biggest car related regrets are firstly not buying a 1970s Mercedes Benz 220S (W108 series - with vertical stacked headlights) from a rich roommate at University, he wanted $400, which I had, and the car needed another $200 for tyres (which I didn't have). The second regret was turning down a Jaguar Mark VIII and a Jaguar Mark IX for £5000 the pair. One had a superb body and interior and a clapped out engine, the second had a rusted out body but a superb, sweetly running engine (the idea would have been to use the best parts of each in a rebuild). Alas, I had neither the skills nor the garage for such a job... My dream is still to own a 1956 Bentley S1 Standard Steel Saloon (affordable good condition examples - apparently - can be had for the price of a new mid range Ford). UNFORTUNATELY Mrs iD said she'll only tolerate me having one "boys toys" hobby - Model Railways OR running a classic Bentley.... women can be so cruel... Good night all. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Anyone remember Wal Phillips fuel injectors? Had one fitted to my GT200 that really made it fly although kick starting became an art form. With no air filter at all, it could suck for England...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted October 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 19, 2012 Mrs iD had a mini, which she loved, but I've always found them cramped. Depends upon who what you're trying to do, iD! ISTR Cosmopolitan Magazine suggested feet out through the sunroof was an aide to happy car ownership in some models. With no air filter at all, it could suck for England...... I knew a girl like that! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debs. Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 (edited) Cosmopolitan Magazine suggested feet out through the sunroof was an aide to happy car ownership in some models. Ah! those were the days: when a Coventry Climax was purely vehicular, and not a libidinous-locus. Edited October 19, 2012 by Debs. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium southern42 Posted October 19, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 19, 2012 Ah! those were the days: when a Coventry Climax was purely vehicular, and not a libidinous-locus. Those were the days when it didn't rain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelintrev Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 All, this talk of mini's.. first 1959....bought for a hundred quid in '67....with genuine 1500 miles on the clock.....little old lady owner who went shopping once a week, (Mum knew her).. that then rotted away.. (I think reg was ?AR430) then a New Clubman in '73.... that would not start if the weather was damp.......but did have a lot of "fun" in that ended up with a Clubman Auto Estate....for carting my trainset around in when new boss put the block on service engineers using company vans for tasks like that.... Hey, look at the time.... night night! Trev. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted October 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 19, 2012 I bought my first car when I was 30. It was one of the last type of Cortina. It was brown. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDolfelin Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Didn't see many Minis today ... but I nearly ran into a Roe Deer not 300m from the house. They can really cover the ground when the mood takes them. No time to get the camera out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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