O.k., I know this is a bike site but apart from a few headbangers I sort of (stupidly?) trust your collective opinions.
Right: We have had a D reg., blancmange coloured Austin Mini City e in the family since 1994. It was bought as a “short term” vehicle as we needed a second car at that time and it was going pretty cheap due to a couple of parking bruises. Mrs. O ran it for a few years, I used it for a couple of years, the kids used it to learn to drive and then my daughter ran it while she was at art college and then university. I failed it’s MoT a couple of years back and got parked up in a lock-up I now need to vacate, but registration stayed in Mrs. O’s name, so 50K mileage, 3 owners from new with fully stamped service book and a few upgrades.
Driven, yes it started with just a battery charge, a plugs clean and a bit of fresh fuel, out of the garage Friday it went for an MoT. What a surprise, it failed and I got a list of things needing fixing.
Apart from the £100 professional welding job, £150-£200 of bits and a good days work will get it through an MoT and it will be saleable as a scruffy but sound Mini. A road legal minor project.
So: The big question.
Do I sell at that point?
Or do I keep it as a spare family car and just gently improve it as and when?
Yea NumNum, reckon it`s got a 25 pounder lodged in the roof, needs a quick weld to secure it.
We used to live in a house with two 500kg bombs lodging in the ceiling, could not collect rent as they seemed to have squatters rights so fixed it wit a bit of sand and cement.
In the mid-90’s I was given a mustard 1973 Clubman one owner very low mileage absolutely mint and I crashed it into a hedge.
They are rubbish-handling death-traps.
I would keep it and fix it up. Unless you need the money or the space. If you bring it up to a good standard it may increase in value. There are a few original Minis around Kensington and they are incredibly trendy.
It all depends on whether you need the space or the money you might get for it. Or whether you spend the money getting it road legal and then have it sitting about ona maybe it will get used?
It will be worth more with an MOT of course but how much more, that’s difficult to say without seeing it. Classic mini’s can be cool but they generally need to be in very good condition.
If you was to sell it as is what do you think you would be asking, my daughter needs a small car and she might be interested.
rear subframes rot…front ones dont as they’re usually covered in oil from leaks
the welding is most likely either the inner or outer cills,front floor pans or damper mounts or in the heel board where the rear subframe mounts.with a mini once you find one bit of rust you keep finding more!:laugh:
as for keeping i’d say yes
i’ve had 6 mini’s including a 81 mini van and they’re great fun little cars and a right laugh on the twisty back roads and empty car parks.
Keep it!
I still have my mini (first car I owned) in a lockup, and I can’t make myself sell it. It’s such a lovely car, and even though I haven’t driven it for over 3 years, I know I would regret selling it. If you ever want to buy another, you’ll miss the one you have because every mini you buy will have some hidden history.
If it needs any professionally work, give Andy at MLM (http://www.mlmotorsport.com) a call, he’s possibly the only honest car mechanic I’ve ever meet. He’s done quite a bit of work on my mini over the years, and is quite cheap too.
What the f… speed were you doing to lose control of a Mini?
The only time I’ve seen a Mini (1293 cc Cooper S) lost on the road was in a night rally in the Ashdown Forest. It just ran out of road, dropped over the raised edge and slid for 20-30 yards on it’s roof before burying itself in a bush of scrub.
Even then, got pulled out and put the right way up, liquids put back and driven home.
Witnessed all this from close up. I was in the passenger seat. 4 point harnesses are very handy.
Nearly flat out at 60 on a long sweeping right hand in Clayton near Hassocks on my way to work one morning. Slightly icy. Suddenly oncoming dustcart on my side of road. Evasive action to avoid resulted in 50m skid and mini in the ditch/hedge. Could have been a lot worse- when I got out I saw there was a large tree stump right in front of where I’d ended up- a metre further and it would have met my knees. The car wasn’t actually that badly damaged but considering it was perfect before the accident I thought I’d better sell it on before I did it again. After that I bought a V8 Rover P5B-certainly likely to fair a bit better in a crash…though fortunately I never tested that one.
i so damn regret selling all the minis i’ve had at one point i had 3 at once :Whistling:
Yes I was being sarcastic of course…