Old and new Mini next to each other

[vacuum_tubes]

Dogshit orange Marina auto, anyone?

That was my dad's first company car in 1979 and yes it was dogshit orange (manual though) and was replaced by a Maestro in 1983

 

[Accuphaseman]

I don't really see the problem, it's clearly still a Mini, it's just bigger, like everything else. A work colleague had a Vauxhall Corsa courtesy car last week, it's way bigger than the original Astra. I certainly don't think the Pinkfish demographic is the target for Mini anyway.

Cheers BB

Err I’m on my 5th Mini.

 

[gary1064]

My dad went to a Wolesley 6 landcrab

If that's the one with the illuminated badge in the radiator grill my dad had one of those also. Was quite luxurious compared to the previous Austin Cambridge. Then I remember a couple of Granada's (one a 3.0L), a bizarre flirtation with a Montego, and finally an XJ6, but cloth seats as the company budget wouldn't stretch to leather!

 

[awkwardbydesign]

My friends Dad has a manual Mk3 Cortina 2.0 GT in bronze with a vinyl roof (black I think). That was a lovely car - especially as the owner was a mechanic, owned his own garage and loved the car and kept it absolutely pristine.

I had a black Mk3. For 3 weeks, until a drunk truck driver rammed it into our hedge and wrote it off. He ran away and then claimed he had left his lorry at a pub. He lived about 100 yards further down our road, but the police couldn't prove it was him. So with 3rd party insurance I got nothing. Mind you, it did wallow a bit.

 

[Enfield boy]

Guess the plod didn't find it strange the"thief" drove the truck past the owners house. Perhaps they're not that much worse than decades ago after all!

 

[martin clark]

My dad went to a Wolesley 6 landcrab from a 16/60 automatic. I loved the 2.2 six cylinder engine, 110bhp seemed such a lot of power at the time, same as an RS2000! But… oil leaking onto the clutch, and again after repair, proved too much.

Ha! I resemble/remember the same.

Dad still says the 'big wool-wool' (my name, i was 5 at the time) was the best car ever - provided all you wanted to do, was just to sit in, in the garage.

(it got replaced with the 'small wool-wool' - the Austin 1100 in a posh Wolsley frock, with the twin-carb 1275. Now that, was a good car.

Replaced in turn by a Renault 16TS - which Dad, on his 3rd Jag - still thinks his favourite; a clever, comfy practical design, that was just.right - and quick for the time.)

 

[Tony Lockhart]

If that's the one with the illuminated badge in the radiator grill my dad had one of those also. Was quite luxurious compared to the previous Austin Cambridge. Then I remember a couple of Granada's (one a 3.0L), a bizarre flirtation with a Montego, and finally an XJ6, but cloth seats as the company budget wouldn't stretch to leather!

Yes, and my dad used to ‘acquire’ the illuminated badges from scrapyards during our frequent visits.

Scrapyards… now there’s another topic. Loved em. Mud, rust, broken glass, and a big oily dog barking at you.

 

[Snufkin]

Replaced in turn by a Renault 16TS - which Dad, on his 3rd Jag - still thinks his favourite; a clever, comfy practical design, that was just.right - and quick for the time.)

One of those great cars that just looked odd. I had a lift in one once when I was hitching and was astonished at how good it was.

 

[awkwardbydesign]

Guess the plod didn't find it strange the"thief" drove the truck past the owners house. Perhaps they're not that much worse than decades ago after all!

Oh they did. But without witnesses they couldn't prove it. I have no complaints about their actions.

 

[Ptah]

Even the first ones got bigger

 

[KrisW]

There's a story that, during the product meetings for what would become the Countryman, one of the BMW managers innocently offered something like "as this is a bigger car, maybe it could be called a 'Maxi'?"

There was met with a brief but awkward silence, and then one of the ex-Rover people explained why that would not be a good idea...

 

[stevec67]

Even the first ones got bigger

Oh what joy. External structural wooden framing, in the British climate. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Tony Lockhart]

Oh what joy. External structural wooden framing, in the British climate. What could possibly go wrong?

To be fair, not that different to how the metal reacted!

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

Oh what joy. External structural wooden framing, in the British climate. What could possibly go wrong?

Oh I don't know. Thousands, er hundreds, er scores of Morgans can't be wrong

 

[stevec67]

Oh I don't know. Thousands, er hundreds, er scores of Morgans can't be wrong

Let's just say that it's a good thing that most of them are now cossetted in garages and are generally used only on sunny days.

 

[RJohan]

Ah, but a Fiat 124 Special T looked exactly like a Lada (same body, Fiat sold the tooling to Lada, IIRC). And from the lights left many a boy racer in a stunned cloud of exhaust smoke. Until it dropped its valves. But only bent them and was fixed for 3/6d.

Lada actually won a Swedish rally championship, around 1977, I think. Secret: Good driver/codriver and a well run organization behind them. And some luck.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

Lada actually won a Swedish rally championship, around 1977, I think. Secret: Good driver/codriver and a well run organization behind them. And some luck.

And a class with nothing else competitive in it?
Skoda won many class championships and RAC rallies with the old rear engined cars back in the 80s, but for many of those wins they had very little competition.

 

[gintonic]

New Mini Aceman - all EV on its way - ready to buy in June apparently

 

[Snufkin]

And a class with nothing else competitive in it?
Skoda won many class championships and RAC rallies with the old rear engined cars back in the 80s, but for many of those wins they had very little competition.

But they were interesting cars, got to love those quirky rear engine Skoda’s.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

But they were interesting cars, got to love those quirky rear engine Skoda’s.

When did you last see one on the road?
Horrible things. Just a (successful) project to bring in foreign currency through a job creation scheme.