Ever since I was little my dream has been to own a classic Mini. I'm finally looking around at classic Minis. Any advice on what years and models are better made? Thanks!

 

Hey! In my opinion the newest ones you can find are probably best. I haven't been able to drive any mini's newer than 1988, but I would imagine that improvements slowly made the cars better. My family has a few from the 79-81 range and two 88's. While the ride quality is similar for all of them the newer ones feel slightly better. Our best driving mini so far is a 37k mile 1988, and we feel that's mostly because of such low mileage. The car seems to be undercoated already which is definitely a plus. Also I've noticed that both our '88 minis have disk brakes in front. They are 998's so I don't see why other than the fact that they are 9 years newer (our two '79 998's have drums all round). The 37k mile one also has a new master brake and clutch cylinder which might contribute to its better driving feel so I think certain merit should be given to a car that has been modified/improved depending on the quality of the work. All the 998's run very similarly, and I think our 1275gt and 1293 turbo both have very different styles. I like them but those motors might just be personal preference. Again the low millage 1988 actually runs the best out of the 998's, it feels like a newer car.

Most of the cars we have don't have many over the top modifications so I cant comment on anything like upgraded suspension, Honda, Toyota or Yamaha engine swaps, etc. We have done civic disk brakes in a 1981 Clumban 1380 which was a great idea and we think the next important thing for brakes is a brake booster.

I know this doesn't really answer your question fully but hopefully it gives you some information or insight that is useful.

Best of Luck!

 

Thanks! Any advice helps. I can't buy one until January, but want to do whatever research I can in the mean time.

 

My suggestion is to read this forum back a couple of years

I'll bet most of your questions have been answered . . .