I am looking at buying a classic mini, but would like to ask - What would be more valuable, LHD or RHD? for future resale, collecting.....

 

for me, I say RHD is more desirable as it just says BRIT so much louder

but many potential US buyers seem to be afraid of RHD


I'm regularly asked if it is legal to drive in the US ..... it IS btw.

 

Given the choice between equal cars, I'd go LHD for convenience and familiarity. As far as value, I don't think it makes a big difference to most people who would purchase the car.

I found RHD to be an easy adjustment. Riding in formation on motorcycles sometimes puts you in the right half of a lane of travel, so it didn't feel that weird to me.

 

Thanks, any one else?

 

 

I had a 1967 London taxi, it was my daily driver for about four years, it was right hand drive, I got used to it pretty fast.a cop pulled me over once, when it had a temporary licence on the windshield. He said it wasn't legal to have the driver on the right, I reminded him the postal trucks ar right hand drive, he harrumphed and let me go.

 

You shoulda let him write you up

would have been fun to see the judge's reaction ... I've seen the officer scolded more than once

..

similar story: not long after I acquired my 79 I got pulled over in VA for not displaying a front tag by a 'local' constable. I said "fine ... but you are aware that there is an exception in the Virginia code for a car that displays collector car registration?" I kept a copy of the relevant code section with my registration and offered it to him. He took this back to his car and I waited ... he was flipping thru his copy of the code and eventually came back to me and apologized for stopping me. "They didn't teach us that in cop school."

 

I have three classic Mini and they are all RHD. I was looking for RHD when I bought the first one in 2009, wouldn't have it any other way. Great theft deterrent, since everybody thinks it is hard to drive, that and being a manual..

 

Thanks for the feedback

Truth be told, I am looking into importing 5 of them but want to make sure I am not shooting myself in the foot by bringing in RHD's. But if they have no value in the States, I will reconsider. And yes, I have done my due diligence. They will all be 25 years and older and I am working with a shipping / import company to get them here all legally.

 

When it comes to classics in the States, I don't see the RHD versus LHD as the usual deal breaker. I don't think I've ever seen someone hunting a classic say "LHD only" or "RHD only." Minnie The Moocher being the exception to that now. The deal breakers I've seen (and more knowledgeable people can add to this) are rust, automatic transmissions, hacked together cars, paperwork/importation issues, and rust. There are purists of course but if the car is clean-ish, runs well, and has all the paperwork in order it will sell because there is always a demand.

The market varies by location, but I'm sure you've done that homework for where you live. Are you trying to import them from Japan?

 

I had a RHD Mini and while I had no issues driving it in general, there was one thing about RHD that really annoyed me, because of the wheel well intrusion I had to bend my knee funny to push the accelerator - after a while this becomes very tiresome. I have a LHD Mini now and I'm much more comfortable driving it. As for value, I don't think it matters particularly, but if you want to sell in Texas or Florida a Japanese spec is a good idea as most have A/C, although most of them are 998's and automatics instead of 1275 manuals. That can be a deal breaker to a knowledgeable buyer. The Auto trans is not a huge deal killer, but the market for them is smaller.

 

I couldn't imagine mine as a left hand drive, I know I'm in the U.K. but I'd have thought over there part of the attraction would be right hand drive, just as designed by Issigonis. A guy over there used to regularly mail me asking if he could buy it but as usual, when it comes to money all I heard was what people could get one for elsewhere, that's fine, but it isn't the same, I bought my car new, you don't find one owner Mini's like this generally. He seemed a nice guy, and sought RHD Minis.

 

This was at the 2018 London to Brighton Mini run, and the first time the little car went anywhere significant since driving it to Germany in 2005 to do six laps of the Nurburgring haha. It's so cool, yet so mad ;O)

 

Love my RHD. The only things to really get used to are drifting right to check traffic before passing safely and the turn signal lever on the right . When I switched from my old Mini to my 2003 I was always hitting the headlight stalk once or twice. Like Capt bj said people regularly ask if it's legal- fun conversation starter along with them saying the steering wheel's on the wrong side and I respond by saying, "No, it's on the right side!"

 

The car was designed from the beginning to be sold in both RHD and LHD markets, so to say RHD is the way Issigonis designed it isn't exactly accurate. It was not an exclusive RHD design as evidenced by the fact that to convert it all you have to do is move the steering column and change the steering rack. All the needed holes are already in the car and the instruments were mounted in the center to make it easy to be built in either orientation on the assembly line - point being, I think RHD cars are appropriate in those markets that drive on the Right side of the road and LHD for the rest of the world, exactly as they were built.

 

Well Dave I appreciate your interpretation of history but don't agree with it

I think it is clear that the Mini was designed for the UK market .. everything I've read relates to the need for a small fuel efficient car as a result of the 1959 fuel crisis ala the Suez Canal

that a decision was made along the way to make a more marketable car by simplifying the RH vs LH issues was just another brilliant decision IMO ... but a 'world market' is never mentioned in the 'creation' histories I've found ....

I suppose it comes down to chicken vs egg .......

I know my 79 has the holes on the other side ... and I tell folks how easy it is to change ... but truth is different as you well know. It can be done for sure .... but not THAT easy. BTW, does a 1960 have holes on both sides??? I dunno .....

 

Yes, the additional holes were there from day one. And while it's origins are in fact English, the rest of the world were looking for fuel efficient cars too after the war. On top of that, the unofficial government policy was "Export or die", that's why so many English sports cars found their way here. Far more E-Types were sold in our market than in England for example. My point is simply that it's an English car but it was sold around the world and was designed to be so, LHD and RHD.

 

The car was designed for here with the rest of world market possibly 'catered for' like any other car that had a universal shell, Europe first I expect. Just look at VW/Audi range, we use them here and accept we were 'catered for', we also suffer the LHD design that causes issues like the wiper linkage seizing because the body drain is still for LHD but we need the RHD wiper set up, so water runs onto the RH spindle, affecting all A4 or Galaxy etc. Just because the factory punch a hole in it doesn't make it anything other than a German concept for their market first and foremost, exactly like the Mini. Market share was likely the consideration in developing post war manufacturing, a box ticking exercise, nothing more.

 

While I completely enjoy driving my Mini from the right side, the attention it gets is a plus too. Drive thru stores are out, unless I have a passenger, even then, sometimes those windows are too high up. With that said, if I'm hungry, or I need to make a stop for some quick cash, I have to park and go inside. Other then that, I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

Go through the drivethru backwards. Not joking.

In the Mini I just reach over, the car is small enough.

 

I did that once at a Dunkin Donuts. Got some real funny looks.

 

Seen lots of these at different MINI events over the years but some how have only ever sat in RH Drive cars and the steering wheel is noticeably off center from the seating position.. Are the LH Drive cars the same way? and is there a way to modify that some by moving the seat or different steering column etc....

 

Yeah, it's the same both ways. There are some products you can use to adjust the seats and steering wheel but I haven't seen any that move the wheel left-right.

https://stevestonmotorco.com/collect...n-drop-bracket

 

Some Minis that were manufactured in Australia were not meant for LHD. They did not have the holes for easy conversion.

68' Cooper S undergoing restoration in 2009.

 

and this raises a significant point for the Mini 'new person'

do you know how many countries the Mini was made in?????

and how much of what they assembled was British vs what was made 'locally' ??????

HUGE HUGE point both from history and buying parts ..... not so much for engine and basic suspension, but the body .... potentially HUGE