Every now and then I get an idea in my head - usually this involves buying a car and going racing in some way. The recent Top Gear which featured Rally Cross is no small contributor to my current idea!

This time I have found a way to justify it to myself (bear with it - even the wife has taken it in so far...):

I thought about a way to start doing a bit of hillclimbing, then developing the car a little and progress onto a spot of racing (something like the NSSCC which is local to me). My garage, however, has 2 motorbikes in it and no se7en anymore (and I'm not in a hurry to sell the bikes at this point).

We only have one car in the household, which the wife generally has (she's at home all day and I walk to work). Occassionally I need to take the car for a business trip and she's left high and dry with no wheels and 2 kids.

So, I thought about the idea of getting a cheap little hatch back that could easily take the kids when needed but also be run in the 'shopping car' class of my local hillclimb/sprint series. Then, as time allows and she isn't looking, the interior will fall out, a cage go in along with some engine tweeking and it could be on the grid at Croft before she blinks (I'll get a chewing for it, but that's inevitable for something at some point anyway!).

Car's in the frame are Saxo VTS/106 GTi, 206 GTi, 306 GTi-6, 205 GTi, Clio 172 - basically all roads seem to lead back to a small french hatch that can be had for a grand or less.

I floated the idea with the Chief of Staff (Domestic Operations) and rather than outright dismiss the idea, she said "wouldn't a Mini be better".

Now, my immediate thought was 'no, it would just be slow'. But actually, I've always fancied having a mini and now my thoughts have strayed somewhat.

So, should I get a mini that needs lots of care and attention and will need a heap of money putting into the engine to make it anything like quick (I think, anyway - having never had a mini I'm not sure what real performance can be had from an A-Series for a reasonable sum). Or, should I stick to the small french hatch idea (admittedly, I'd go for the 205 out the one's I've mentioned).

Other considerations are that, certainly in the short term, my children will sit in the car on occassion. Would I feel good about putting them in a mini (or even 205) when the more modern stuff is a safer place for them to be.

So, for those who've owned a mini (and/or been through my thought process many times before):

Is a mini really worth having?

PS - I know it's a long winded, complicated explanation. But this is what happens when you spend 4 years building a se7en then have to sell it because the wife lost her job and sold the Indy within 2 months of SVA as a precaution

As an ex-mini owner, I can tell you that it's loads of fun. Realistically, despite what die-hard fans will tell you, it will be slower than the french opposition that you put forward, even in the bends. However, it won't feel any slower, and you'll have a blast anyway.

Value for money on them is crap, as they've gone up in price, but you'll get far more smiles (both yourself as well as from on-lookers)


I haven't got kids, but wouldn't really want to put them in a mini very often, although it's mainly the driver that's in the executioner's chair, courtesy of an impaler-style steering column.


Also, don't get one that needs a lot of work, get a solid one (even if it's in bits), as bolting the whole thing together takes a weekend, but repairing bodywork can take months. Wouldn't you rather be driving?

if I was you right now, I'd get a decent french hatch, or a micra/starlet (loads of fun in the bends too), and just start driving those. They can all be made more hardcore, as you've described, by stripping the interior out and fettling with the engine. Just don't get a "project" car that will take up the next year to sort out, by which point you'll have forgotten why you're doing it in the first place.

The beauty with these hatches is that you can effectively tinker and modify them without taking them off the road for any period of time as long as you've got a good starting point.

recently bought a mini for the daughter to learn to drive in.
MoT has just expired (I drove it for 6 months first) and it needs some work. Have acquired a good bootlid, bonnet, plus new doorskins, one wing and a variety of repair panels. Along with new front disks/pads and a few replacement suspension components, the total outlay will be about £1500 all in (including a home respray) Car will then be worth about £3k

Mechanically it is good BUT not quick. Lots of fun, VERY bouncy, but if you wish to be competitive it is not cheap. Far better cars for grassroots competition are out there, mainly french it seems, but ANY car can be used. Do look at where the engine size breaks for classes come in, that can be important.
Do not forget to budget for all the MSA requirements either......

I looked at similar cars with a view to it becoming our second car: like you occasionally useful so able to fit the kids in, but good enough fun and chuckable on a track. I live minis. I got scared off by rust and dodgy rEpairs etc. looked at clios motorsports etc and meganes, Saxos and civic type rs. Clio cups were great fun IMHO if one is within budget.

Nice to be retro with an old Mini (a PROPER Mini) but go for more recent stuff and put your dosh in to the running gear as opposed to the rust!!!

Im a bit biased, I love Mini's, if you can forgive them from rotting & needing TLC, they are great fun.

Here's our 1976 Mini 1000 with 43k on the clock, 1 previous owner & a disgusting 70's Sand colour finished off with dog poo brown vinyl interior


MINI

mini interior

Civic Type R is a bit pricey and more doggy for the money. I would love one though.

Clio Sports can be had, but would be a little stretch on the budget (but maybe worth it for the extra power?).

Seat Ibiza Cupra is one I didn't mention before - golf gti by any other name (though sadly not necessarily one of the 'good' golf gti's)

I know where you're coming from as I've been a long term Mini fan since my first Minivan that I learnt to drive in and all the Minis after but IMHO, you'll need to spend a lot of dosh to make it competitive. If you buy a snotter to do up, it will cost more than it's worth. The romance of a Mini outweighs the reality. If you do decide to buy one, get one that someone else has already lost loads of money on. If you want one to go up hills and round circuits, buy one that already does it!
I obviously don't know your Mrs but I think the idea of running an old Mini will soon wear off when she's trying to reach the rear seatbelts to strap the kids in. Forget about the safety issue or you'll never buy a Mini!
Just to chuck another apple at the fridge, Citroen C2 goes well with a V6 and I know a guy who has done loads of conversions and is just about to set up his own company to do more! A factory looking car that will do the school run as well as go uphills fast? I think so!!

2003 Citroen C2 1.1 Petrol Salvage Accident Damaged | eBay

or


2005 CITROEN C2 1.1 LX DAMAGED REPAIRABLE SALVAGE | eBay

£400 for the V6 conversion and another couple of hundred to do the bodywork....?

[Edited on 21/3/12 by owelly]

SWMBO likes mini's - as I said, it was her idea (as well as Jacko's, which automatically starts alarm bells ringing - he'll offer me a 'MG' Metro in a minute...)

Her Dad used to have a mini when she was a teenager - as with most mini's, a beloved member of the family. She was looking forward to passing her test and eventually driving it before her sister denied her the right by writing it off (hence the concern over crash safety, especially with the boys in). Her old man then got a 106 Quicksilver, which was again written off (properly this time and with some good injuries to boot) on Scarborough sea front by the same sibling - she had been loooking forward to driving that as well

Basically, if I stick to getting one of the decent cars her Dad got through when she was young but never got to drive because her sister kept crashing them, I'm home free (shame he never had an impreza or an M3...)

In that case, you need a Mini.........
I doubt you'll get much for £1k but keep a lookout as they do crop-up in the free ads or on Autotrader.

You can get a fair bit of power out of an A-series. A friend of mine many years ago had a Mini with a 1275 bored out to the maximum, a stage 2 head and stonking great Weber carb that ended up millimetres from the back of the dash. It was dynoed at 110BHP at the wheels. On one occassion it was seen overtaking traffic on a dual carriageway while towing a broken down long wheelbase Landrover!

Ok so it's not a mini but what about a metro with a k series conversion done by talon cars? Second hand these crop up cheaply from time to time. Four seats, unrated suspension lightened and 170 ish bhp?

quote:

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Originally posted by owelly
2003 Citroen C2 1.1 Petrol Salvage Accident Damaged | eBay

or


2005 CITROEN C2 1.1 LX DAMAGED REPAIRABLE SALVAGE | eBay

£400 for the V6 conversion and another couple of hundred to do the bodywork....?

[Edited on 21/3/12 by owelly]

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The same guy has two V6 engines in a C2. Just google C2V6 and C2V12.
http://c2club.co.uk/showthread.php?8674-C2v12-the-rebirth

A Mini would be a huge amount of fun to drive - I even learned to drive in one - but they have major limitations... no boot space to speak of, they are appalling to drive for long distances, the technology is around 50 years old, and they have the traditional British Leyland water-soluble bodywork. Oh - and they have just about zero protection in a major impact (I had a long lecture from a fire chief about them, in graphic detail, including the state of people he'd pulled out of Minis after crashes).

But saying all that, if you can find a good one and are prepared to treat it like a kit car - in other words, a toy car that you don't expect to rely on for day-to-day use - then they can be fun.

For what it's worth, NSSCC has opened up class D to Mini Miglia cars using cut slicks.

And although it's not what you're considering, this made me smile!

whoops

[Edited on 22/3/12 by slingshot2000]

quote:

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Originally posted by owelly
The same guy has two V6 engines in a C2. Just google C2V6 and C2V12.
http://c2club.co.uk/showthread.php?8674-C2v12-the-rebirth

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quote:

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Originally posted by Andy D
For what it's worth, NSSCC has opened up class D to Mini Miglia cars using cut slicks.

And although it's not what you're considering, this made me smile!

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quote:

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Originally posted by StevieB

quote:

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Originally posted by Andy D
For what it's worth, NSSCC has opened up class D to Mini Miglia cars using cut slicks.

And although it's not what you're considering, this made me smile!

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That is a very 'unique' car - I could almost argue that it's practical, being an estate an all

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quote:

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Originally posted by Andy D

quote:

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Originally posted by StevieB

quote:

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Originally posted by Andy D
For what it's worth, NSSCC has opened up class D to Mini Miglia cars using cut slicks.

And although it's not what you're considering, this made me smile!

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That is a very 'unique' car - I could almost argue that it's practical, being an estate an all

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Don't think you'd get the kids in, I think it's "mid" engined.

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