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Old and new Mini next to each other

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

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Reminds me of one of these:
 
RJohan said:
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.
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They were very tough, competent motor cars. A friend of mine was involved in The Lada Challenge in the 80s, which was a clubman rally series. They were dirt cheap to buy, easy to work on, predictable handling with low performance and consequently well suited to the low skill levels of entry level motorsport.
Tony Lockhart said:
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.
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I thought they competed with the rest of the 2WD natasp under 1300cc class? That was all of the standard hatches of the day.
They were another very basic car though, my Mum drove one, an Estelle 120L while I was a student in the late 80s, it was well behind the curve compared to things like Fiestas, which she had also owned. I do remember though, it was cheap. All the 18s. It was 18 months old, 18k miles, £1800, in 1986. Bright orange with a vinyl roof. Kept it 3 years, 40-odd thousand miles, traded it in for £1000 against a Fiesta. That's cheap motoring.
It was spectacularly slow with poor handling in the wet. Or dry, for that matter. It came into its own in snow, I used to play rally drivers in it during winter with the tail out and the rear wheels spinning in snowy corners. I can imagine in wet, muddy, icy stages of things like the RAC it would outperform FWD hatches because of better traction. That's if the head gasket held out.
There are sadly no more, last production or sale in the UK was after all about 1990. They are still around in Slovakia, driven by old people and the poor. There used to be one in Otley, in slush brown, I saw it in Leeds once, recognised the engine note before I saw it and turned around in disbelief. There is also a coupe in Leeds somewhere, I've seen it around. I think that the best thing you can say about them these days is that they are better than the S110R that they replaced. I'd have an S110R coupe over an 80s one for the looks, if I wanted one as a classic. But no thanks. They are slow, noisy and unpleasant to drive.
 
Tony Lockhart said:
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.
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I used to work in my uncles garage in my school and university holidays and they used to run a Skoda rally car - one of the rear engine Estelles. I think it was in the 1300 class and was quite competitive.

I used to run an Estelle myself - bought it at an auction for about £130 with a full year MOT. One owner from new and in great condition with all of the seats except the drivers unused and still with plastic covers on. My mates laughed a bit at first but we tended to use it more than their cars (the usual Mk2 Escorts and Minis mainly) as it had 4 doors, more space and was more comfortable. I got a full year out if it before the wet liners in the engine went and then we used it for spares for the rally car.
 
A friend's dad had a series of Ladas, bought new and replaced every couple of years. Hateful things. I drove one of them once. At the time, my dad had a LWB diesel Transit van. The Lada was heavier and stodgier to drive than the Transit. And slower, which was remarkable as the Transit was built for heavy loads and had a very low final drive. It topped out at 60.
 
My uncles garage had a contract with one of the local 2nd hand dealers and we used to do servicing and pre-delivery inspections for them. One of my jobs was picking up and returning the cars and I recall the 1980's Lada's as being one of my least favourites as they were not good to drive and the steering in particular was terrible (although not as bad as an Allegro).

The dealer did quite a range of cars so one day you could luck out by picking up a hot hatch or a sports car, but on other days (and perhaps more often) it was Lada's and the like.
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
A friend's dad had a series of Ladas, bought new and replaced every couple of years. Hateful things. I drove one of them once. At the time, my dad had a LWB diesel Transit van. The Lada was heavier and stodgier to drive than the Transit. And slower, which was remarkable as the Transit was built for heavy loads and had a very low final drive. It topped out at 60.
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That takes me back - I still struggle with the idea that Tony Lanfranchi (of all people) used to race one. People did laugh but not (as far as I know) to his face.
 
i am not shocked - and i have shared it around in my local, and no one is shocked.......

MINI is not a manufacturing entity it is purely a brand - the manufacturing entity is BMW. As a brand MINI covers a variety of vehicles, which have a design nod to what has gone before. They sit in the mid-luxury sector, but provide a fun, funky, and fresh experience. IMO, they are a counterpoint to the "boring" perception that many have of BMW.

I like the new MINI vehicles, they are refreshing in style, have the space people want in that type of car - i don't want or expect them to be small, that isn't what I am in the market for.

Clearly they wont appeal to people who always look backwards, perhaps those that are old or maybe those who want a tiny car........at this moment in time, the new Countryman is way more "interesting" than my 911S (992).
 
gintonic said:
i am not shocked - and i have shared it around in my local, and no one is shocked.......

MINI is not a manufacturing entity it is purely a brand - the manufacturing entity is BMW. As a brand MINI covers a variety of vehicles, which have a design nod to what has gone before. They sit in the mid-luxury sector, but provide a fun, funky, and fresh experience. IMO, they are a counterpoint to the "boring" perception that many have of BMW.

I like the new MINI vehicles, they are refreshing in style, have the space people want in that type of car - i don't want or expect them to be small, that isn't what I am in the market for.

Clearly they wont appeal to people who always look backwards, perhaps those that are old or maybe those who want a tiny car........at this moment in time, the new Countryman is way more "interesting" than my 911S (992).
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I have a 2022 BMW/Mini and it’s mostly a good car (handling, engine, economy, ride), nothing is perfect (a few rattles, wind noise). One of my reasons for buying it was its made here in the UK. I try not to be xenophobic but supporting UK/European industry is very important to me. Much of the current crop of the latest Mini’s are made/designed in China and I fear the Cowley plant will become subservient to the needs and dictats coming from BMW’s Chinese connections. I hope I am wrong.
 
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