So did you have one?

[Tuercas viejas]

Feast on this!
And I had my first of many, a 1964 in blue with dark blue roof lic plate 6044 DD.
Dig those mini skirts !!
Tuercas viejas

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[Dickster]

Yep, I had a few minis, loved them

 

[Petrol Pete]

My mom had one , dark red with a white roof.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

My first wife had one. It was the best car for commuting in the winter - never a problem in the snow. The only negative was getting a stiff new bypass hose into place when refitting the head.

Talking of wives and mini skirts, my first wife wore one for our wedding in 1968.

 

[SpikyMikey]

My first wife had one. It was the best car for commuting in the winter - never a problem in the snow. The only negative was getting a stiff new bypass hose into place when refitting the head.

Talking of wives and mini skirts, my first wife wore one for our wedding in 1968.

Those A Series bypass hoses were a complete PITA; I remember having to change one on a Marina once. But then someone came up with the brilliant idea of making a flexible version

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Those A Series bypass hoses were a complete PITA; I remember having to change one on a Marina once. But then someone came up with the brilliant idea of making a flexible version

The flexible bypass hose was just a slightly less PITA. I found that it never quite squeezed down enough to guide it into position when the cylinder head was in place. So you still had to manoeuvre it around with one hand whilst carefully lowering the cylinder head with the other. Not too difficult when the engine was on a bench, but a bugger when leaning over the car wing during heavy winter rain with fingers losing all their feeling.

 

[st13phil]

My first wife had two of the things, a 1975 998cc Clubman, and a 1980 850 Super.

The Clubman wasn't that old at the time (5 or 6 years old) but was a bit jinxed. Before we were married, we were coming down a steep hill somewhere near Croydon one hot, sunny, Saturday afternoon with me driving when I experienced massive brake fade. It was only by snatching a lower gear, standing on the brake pedal and yanking on the handbrake that I managed to scrub off enough speed to avoid being t-boned at the junction at the bottom of the hill. Never did find anything wrong with the front drums or shoes, but it was a very unpleasant experience. Then a few months later my ex was driving on the A2 around Dartford when the bonnet catch decided to let go and the bonnet flew up. It filled up with water when it rained, too.

The 850 wasn't so plagued with issues, but my ex did manage to collide with a local garage's wrecker truck in the snow one winter which resulted in extremely odd front suspension geometry and a private sale to a trader soon after...

I alternated between thinking they were great fun to drive and wanting to set fire to them.

 

[Smart320]

Had a very early white one in 1969, my wife and I lived in a small flat at the time and I rebuilt the engine and gearbox on a small table in the kitchen , I found 2 or 3 small roller bearings on the floor after I had rebuilt it , luckily I had sold it as soon as it was running again

 

[A.J.]

I have had three Mini's in my lifetime. A Mini Van followed by a Mini Traveller followed by a Mini 1275 Cooper S. All in Almond Green. Not by choice, it just happened that way

 

[Deleted member 159894]

Always wanted the van, ended up owning a shitty brown one where I could parallel park just by ramming on the brakes when approaching a space, it was a total shed.

My mate spent hours tuning his, 1340cc bored out engine, high lift cam and some other stuff. He asked me to give it a good thrashing on the way to a country pub one night, I obliged and it went like stink. A few pints later we came out of the pub to find his Mini sitting in a pool of oil. Oops!

 

[ChrisHGTV]

My dad had two. A Farina grey 850 and then an Aubergine Radford Cooper S. It was quite special with twin fuel tanks, almost works spec engine. Apparently it needed fairly regular fettling by Coopers (were they in Surbiton?) Alas he had to sell it not long after i came along. He traded it for an Austin 1800!

I've never had a mini but lusted after a 1380 Avonbar with Jack Knight 5 speed box when i was just getting started in cars. Avonbar were in Weybridge/West Byfleet from memory. I bought some bucket seats from them for my first Alfa.

My Sister in law in Guernsey has a fully restored Mini Cooper - one of the last 500 made (of the proper Mini's). Unfortunately the later ones seem even more prone to rust.

 

[Mactech]

Yeah, I've had a couple. My first car was a 'lightweight' 59 Mini. The very early shells were considerably lighter. That grew from 850 to 1273cc in the space of 18 months It didn't end well as I managed to shorten, lower and reduce the width all in a matter of seconds. I did manage to sell the power train for more than I paid for the car in the first place.
My second was a 'Countryman'. This one was donated an 1100 engine and took me and my only wife on honeymoon.....to Switzerland!
The radiator in this was still the 850 one which was fine in GB. High summer and high in the Alps and it wasn't quite so happy.
Having a light grasp of thermodynamics the heater was on full with my new wife's feet out the sliding side windows.
We did did get back home and I still have a wife.....

 

[Gbrowncls55]

First car was a mini 850 in Tartan red with a Cooper like black roof. Then a few cars later an Island Blue with white roof gen Mk 1 1275 s, and much much later on a mk2 1275s which I had for 20 years and only sold about two years ago. All loads of trouble and loads of fun. Very fond memories.

 

[grober]

Breathing was always a problem with the A series engine particularly with the siamesed exhaust ports= 3 exhaust ports on a 4 cylinder engine!----- Till the crossflow heads came along.

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[davymead]

576 AUW a 1961 850cc my first car and loved every minute of owning it.
Dropped the front seats on the floor, followed by a steering wheel lowering bracket, tiny and absolutely lethal steering wheel, plus a gear stick extension. Twin exhaust including chrome pipes, rear spotlight for reversing, all allegedly to make it look like a Cooper S which it clearly wasn’t. All barking but at the time all those years ago, completely normal spending every penny of surplus hard earned on your pride and joy.

 

[A.J.]

576 AUW a 1961 850cc my first car and loved every minute of owning it.
Dropped the front seats on the floor, followed by a steering wheel lowering bracket, tiny and absolutely lethal steering wheel, plus a gear stick extension. Twin exhaust including chrome pipes, rear spotlight for reversing, all allegedly to make it look like a Cooper S which it clearly wasn’t. All barking but at the time all those years ago, completely normal spending every penny of surplus hard earned on your pride and joy.

Remember the Peco exhaust for Mini's ?? Rarely saw a Mini without a Peco

 

[davymead]

Remember the Peco exhaust for Mini's ?? Rarely saw a Mini without a Peco

Spot on, couldn’t remember the name.

 

[Mactech]

Remember the Peco exhaust for Mini's ?? Rarely saw a Mini without a Peco

If you were under 20 and had a Mini, most thought it was actually illegal to drive without one! I know I did.
I have subsequently taken a rather more mature outlook on this

 

[Wearsthefoxhat]

Passed my test in one and owned a couple in my early days.. yup one had a Peco exhaust and iirc, put “big” 145 x 10 Wolfrace wheels on it.

 

[AMGeed]

OCC 96................... Metallic blue 1964 Austin Mini Cooper 998cc.
Enjoyed my time with it, but the back seats were too small for my purposes.
Sold it, and bought a Capri 2000GT. TEL127H. Good times.