Ordered my Mini Cooper!

[Bob_Skurka]

Gera<font color="red">R</font>d, the Saturn you are thinking about is the Saturn SKY. It was a concept car in 2002. It is a 4 seater, not a 2 seater. And I'm not sure, but I think Junkman was right about assembly by MTD. I'm not sure if it will ever make it to production.

 

[OkeeDon]

<font color="blue"> I'm curious ...what was the original Mini? Any pics? </font>

Picture attached. The original Mini was one of the world's first transverse engine cars, and one of the first to use what is called a "two box" design, one box being the passenger compartment and the other box being the engine compartment. Cars with conventional trunks are termed "three box". The transverse engine, of course, along with front wheel drive, enabled the engine "box" to be much smaller and less intrusive in the passenger compartment. The passenger area was surprisingly large considering the tiny size of the car. Engines ran from 850cc to 1275cc depending on when it was made. The wheels were 10" in diameter. The cars were outstanding sports sedans, corneriing better than almost anything on the market. Even though the engines were small, they were fast because they were light. Fast and nimble, they were the ultimate city cars.

They're still actively raced today. The SCCA has classes for them in H Production and GT Light; the latter are usually converted to tube frame and fiberglass bodies. They're also very popular in vintage sports car racing.

 

[OkeeDon]

Here's a little clip of a Mini in action. I'm not sure where it was filmed, but I suspect somewhere in the Caribbean islands. The type of event is a time trial, where one car at a time runs a pre-determined course against the clock, similar to what we call AutoCross. The clip runs about 54 seconds; not sure how long it takes to download on dial-up.

Mini Video

I gotta admit, I just love watching this one. I have my Windows Media Viewer set to endlessly loop the video clips, and I let this one run for several repeats.

 

[_RaT_]

Pete, I know nothing about the Mini Cooper other then I sure see a lot of them out here. Heck, I did not even know they were English. I guess my next question would be, since their English, do they leak oil? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Looks like a fun car.

 

[johnday]

OkeeDon; Reminds me of how my F250 SuperDude handles. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gifNOT!! Looks like fun. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[GerardC]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Gera<font color="red">R</font>d, the Saturn you are thinking about is the Saturn SKY. It was a concept car in 2002. It is a 4 seater, not a 2 seater. And I'm not sure, but I think Junkman was right about assembly by MTD. I'm not sure if it will ever make it to production.)</font>

They just had it on Regis and Kelly about 1 month ago and it was a 2 seater. There are 2 humps behind the head rests similar to the old Cobras. I think they said it is going to be available summer of 2005.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I wonder if changing it from the 4 seat concept to a less practical but more sporty 2 seater will increase or decrease the potential customer base?

Ford is discontinuing their 2 seat Thunderbird. The 2 seat Capri never sold well. Ditto the excellent but unpopular Honda. It seems like Miata and BMW have locked up the mini-sports 2 seaters. Chrysler has the popular 4 seat convertible, but Ford's Mustang, Volvo's C70 and MB CLK proves there is room for more than just one price point in the 4 seat convertible market as all marques have strong sellers within their market segments.

 

[Moon]

Thanks OkeeDon!
Good pic. I had seen them before, but didn't know anything about them. They remind me of the old Sunbeam car.
Great video. Sure makes it look like fun. Makes me want to start a mini ZTR-cross ... like the auto-cross but for ZTR's. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Moon of Ohio

 

[OkeeDon]

Oh, yes. The engines are the same as the ones used in the MG Midgets and Austin Healy Sprites, except they are mounted left/right instead of fore/aft. They are famous for leaking. They also had lighting and electronics from Lucas, the Prince of Darkness. True fans overlook these minor obstacles, however.

 

[tracdoc]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Heck, I did not even know they were English. I guess my next question would be, since their English, do they leak oil? )</font>
_RaT_,

While the original Mini was indeed British, the redux is German, though "country of origin" is still the U.K., since the cars are put together in Oxford.

BMW bought the marque a number of years ago, and from what I undertsand, just sat on it until they thought John Q. Public was ready for a re-introduction. Good timing, I would guess, as they are still very hot. When we bought our '03 S model, we were told we would have a 5-6 mo wait, until we expressed interest in racing in their 'factory spec series' w/ dealer support. Our race Mini S was delivered less than 4 weeks after we placed the order. Currently, the waits can still be upwards of 8-12 weeks, depending on what part of the country you are in.

Having 'gutted' a lot of our car for racing in venues other than Mini spec, I can confirm most of the parts are of BMW origin and bear the BMW marque. The engine is manufactured in Brazil.

We have not had any leaks yet, even after some 10K miles of racing ---a far cry from my old MG Midget and MG-B.