Hardly "only"... there have been lots of family cars designed this way: the original FIAT 600 Multipla from 1956 has a much better claim to the title of "first".
Old and new Mini next to each other
- Thread starter Tony Lockhart
- Start date
To say nothing of the Citroen 2CV. 1938, originally, and 3 prototypes built, but a bit of a local altercation delayed the start of actual manufacturing, and the brief was famously that it had to have a roofline that would accommodate M. Boulanger's hat, and it had to transport several boxes of eggs across a rough field without breaking any. It managed that, and the folding roof was for function, not style, meaning that long items could be put in from above and transported hanging out of the back.
The Captain
~~~~~~~~~~
My dear old Dad (still waxes on at 88 about his heyday, as I might) reminds us all how in the mid 60's he "used to race E-Type's off the lights, down Park Lane, & usually beat them". He had a pale blue Mini Cooper, with white roof, & his friend Mike Spence (Lotus F1 driver) went with him to choose & buy it from the London showroom.
We often scorn the look of the new ones, he can barely look at them.
Capt
We often scorn the look of the new ones, he can barely look at them.
Capt
Tony Lockhart
Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
Types
Typo's.
The Captain
~~~~~~~~~~
Haha! That wasn't even intentional (I coulda shoulda pretended it cleverly was!)
You see? Your moaning minnie (now -that's- fkn clever) apostraphe thread goes into the General Moaning new section Tony's doing for me.
Capt
Snufkin
pfm Member
Almost as ugly as a van I had back i the 80's:I have been to our local arts cinema a bit recently, and seen several Japanese films. I now really want one of these!
It had a peculiar backwards and forwards motion when travelling at 60+mph on motorways but otherwise was a hoot to run around in.
gez
pfm Member
Maxi comment was in reference to the Mini's ever increasing size, hence not so Mini any more so Maxi is more accurate now. It was supposed to be humorous.
Never drove the original Mini, but spent quite a bit of time in one as one of my school buddies had one. Even for the day they were small (by the standards of other "normal" sized cars), and cramped to be in. Can't say I was ever all that impressed in all honesty even as a 20 something. Though did get a ride in an unfinished Cooper S project (it only needed a respray really), with webber carbs and that was kinda cool (especially as you could hear the carbs sucking in air from the passenger compartement).
But despite their iconic status I never lusted after one.
Never drove the original Mini, but spent quite a bit of time in one as one of my school buddies had one. Even for the day they were small (by the standards of other "normal" sized cars), and cramped to be in. Can't say I was ever all that impressed in all honesty even as a 20 something. Though did get a ride in an unfinished Cooper S project (it only needed a respray really), with webber carbs and that was kinda cool (especially as you could hear the carbs sucking in air from the passenger compartement).
But despite their iconic status I never lusted after one.
awkwardbydesign
Officially Awesome
Honda N-Van - Wikipedia
IIRC it was impossible to fit Weber carbs into a Mini without modifications to the bulkhead (big hammer usually employed) or, commonly, just cutting a hole in the bulkhead so they sucked air from the passenger compartment. In the latter case nobody bothered doing anything silly such as building an airbox so they would just let the induction roar deafen the passengers. It was a favourite in clubman rally circles, and the codriver was generally employed in putting his coat over the air intakes to get it through noise regs during scrutineering.
gez
pfm Member
In that case probably wasn't webbers, twin SU? All I knew at the time was that the carbs were "special" in some way, and an upgrade to what the Cooper S came with as stock. They sure made a lot of noise anyway.
SteveG
pfm Member
My dad had a Maxi (and 1800 one I think) and I don't recall it being all that bad. That's comparative to some of the other shite that was around at the time though.
I fitted a sidedraught Webber 45DCOE to mine, fabbed an airbox where the original center instruments were and filled a 1275GT instrument pod instead. Not sure the Webber was any better than the twin SU's but it looked way cooler!
gintonic
50 shades of grey pussy cats
i recall him having to call out the AA all the time. His first company car was a mini - which he liked until he got hooked on the back of a delivery lorry and was dragged around Highbury corner in London. The mini was written off and he was given the maxi as a replacement. He changed company shortly and was given a Ford Cortina
Enfield boy
pfm Member
My first car was a Wolseley 18/85 (1800 in a posh frock). It was 7 years old when I bought it and on its 2nd engine at less than 100k. I did about 20k with it and by then it was on its 3rd. I could never have done it without the help of friends, getting that lump out was a helluva job. I became quite proficient at changing driveshafts though. It was no worse than most cars of the era for reliability, most of my pals had old Fords or Hillmans etc and they were the similar albeit more like Lego to work on. Nowadays a 7 yo car is just about run in (unless it's got an Ecobang engine).
Years later I borrowed a Maxi for a while when my then car was in the garage. It was a later one, handled so much better than the 1800 and was generally a joy for the time I drove it. Brilliant cars if put together properly.
Years later I borrowed a Maxi for a while when my then car was in the garage. It was a later one, handled so much better than the 1800 and was generally a joy for the time I drove it. Brilliant cars if put together properly.
awkwardbydesign
Officially Awesome
Dogshit orange Marina auto, anyone? Or was that just me?
But this is a proper first "car". £20 in 1971.
SteveG
pfm Member
Marina, Ital, Allegro plus stuff like the Lada's and Polski Fiat's that were around at the time. *shudder*Dogshit orange Marina auto, anyone? Or was that just me?
The worst car I've ever driven was an Allegro.
Could have been twin SUs, in fact that was a common fitment because things like Midgets came with twin SUs as standard, I did a certain amount of spannering on various cars of that ilk with mates at the time. I think Coopers came with twin SUs, but there were of course upgrades to bigger SUs if you were so minded.
I do remember that Webers were very sought after, but the word on the street was that they buggered fuel consumption in exchange for a modest power gain, so for road use they weren't ideal.
It's all so far in the past and irrelevant now, we might as well be talking about manual advance/retard mechanisms and improving air flow through side valve designs.
SteveG
pfm Member
The looked much cooler though!
Tony Lockhart
Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
Independent Throttle Bodies all day every day now. The seller will probably be able to supply an ECU that’ll get you going, and apart from some fine tuning, that’ll be it. They look cool, and if feeding a high compression engine with wild cam/s, they’ll sound great too.