Hey all,

Been looking hard to find a VTEC swapped Mini. Do any of you know where to find a place that sells them. I have found a few ads online but every time I reach out they either have sold it or there has been no response.

 

https://www.supercoopers.com/

 

Damn you... I would rock this little Clubman hard:
https://www.supercoopers.com/for-sale/1976-vtec-wagon

 

Right? Did you notice the Acura-powered models start at $200,000+? I love Minis but I believe at that butt-clinching price I would prefer a new Z06 Corvette with all the goodies (and still spend less).

 

I would love a VTEC mini!

But I would also LOVE a classic Mini with an M45 supercharger!

I tried so hard to find a good driving video to hear what it sounds like but couldn't find one with good sound quality.

Here's one that was listed on BaT where you can slightly hear the M45 whine in the video...

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974-mini-mk-iii/

...that car ended up being withdrawn because the clutch went out during the auction.

 

All that time, effort and money for a 100hp? No thanks. Lived in London for two years next door to an F1 mechanic who drove a 1275cc classic that handled like a go-cart. He regularly scared me to death going into a roundabout. Attended a British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch and the Minis competed against Mustangs at the time. The Mustang would lose them on the straights but the Minis would catch them on the curves - exciting competition!

 

I must admit that you're right, totally illogical really, I just get romantic about R53's LOL and thought it'd be way cool to have a classic/modern combo!

But really, the classic Minis are getting pretty pricey these days and always hard to find in LHD (I'm still averse to driving a RHD in the USA), so if I really pinched my pennies for a dream car I'd try to find an old rusty Fiat 126p (highly unlikely to find one over here tho) and toss a motorbike engine innit!

Honda swap of another sort,
and no shortage of fun videos here...

 

So difficult to find anything online nowadays thanks to the enshiddification of search engine optimization leading to getting waves of spam and other junk links.

Can be a time-consuming pain sifting through it all.

Here's one that was sold on NAM three years ago...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...mini-vtec.html

...lotsa good pics + video too!

 

130hp+ in that Fiat Honda CBR 900 swap. Quite the engineering exercise for not a ton of power but you have to love that sound! You could really aggravate the neighbors with that one.

 

They look really fun to drive too, even without motorbike mods!

This video has 6.7 million views!

 

Hello BurtonBoarder,

I have one myself. There can be a lot that goes into a conversion. Depends how far one wants to go. I went all the way and stripped the car right down to bare bones and built it back up with all new parts and panels, along with the conversion. Basically spared no expense. Wanted it done right the first time instead of having to go back later and repair and/or replace old parts after everything was done. And that's mostly just the car itself. Then there's the engine choices and mods to go with it. There's more than one VTEC to go with, and options to mod that. So prices can get up there. Not sure how much you've researched the build process.

The Classic Mini section of this site is a little slow. Not much action going on here.

You can try this site. https://www.minimania.com/index.cfm If you hover over the SOCIAL link on the top of the page, it'll bring a drop down menu for FORUM to chat about all things Mini/MINI (old Mini and new MINI) once you register. Or you can scroll down to CARS FOR SALE and keep an eye on that. There is one there now, and they do pop up from time to time. One site to keep going back to for searches.

There two other FB pages that you can check out. These two are business partners,...so to speak. They have been very active in building VTEC-swapped Minis for quite some time. They also fab parts for the conversions and are always bringing out something new. They aren't a car dealer selling cars. They are more in the direction of building customer creations and selling/fabbing parts. BUT, if you reach out to them, and are serious enough about buying one, I'm sure they can lead you to one that is for sale or coming up for sale. They are quite involved and active in the Mini community. And they are on your side of the country. North eastern States. Even if they don't have cars to sell, I'm sure they'd know someone that does or can keep you in mind if one pops up. Or they can help you build the car of your dreams the way that you want it. Here are the link to them both: https://www.facebook.com/McGeesCustomMinis?ref=py_c and also this one: https://www.facebook.com/ulrichvehicledesign/
The SuperCooper cars from Gildred are pricey. In my opinion,...overpriced. Compared to what I had built, (and I know what it takes and took and I never cut corners) they are over in costs in what it takes to build one. But if you have the money to burn to buy what they have available, or can wait on their waitlist, have at 'er. You can build one yourself by the time they'd get to yours though.

If you fancy some cross-border shopping in Canada, you can try these guys: https://stevestonmotorco.com also on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevestonmotorco/ They built mine are are very knowledgeable. They've been doing it for awhile and have been creating their own parts for the conversion as well, to make it more better gooder. Your dollar conversion into CDN funds would work in your favour. So the dollar stretches further for you.

Another one, as already mentioned is: https://bringatrailer.com The Classic Mini's are becoming a hit sensation. Just one their own in original condition, they popular. The VTEC versions still do pop up here also, if you haven't already seen. In the search box on that site, type in Mini VTEC and it'll show you pervious, and any current ones for sale.

Another is Jeremy at JET Motors: https://www.facebook.com/jetmotorsmini/?ref=py_c Sells and builds cars. VTECs aren't really the specialty here. He concentrates on the A-Series (original engine) modifications. Ventured out also into the BMW engine conversion as well. If he did sell a VTEC, it's one that he found somewhere else and flipping, or selling on behalf of a client or friend. But they do some up. Just another place to check.

In all, it's not a converted car that comes up for sale often. But it does come up. Either have to be patient or just build your own or have one built for you. Happy hunting

 

Hmmm, looking at my post that I just posted, the FB page links aren't showing up. At least on my end. So if that's the case on your end as well, just look up McGees Custom Minis in a search engine, as well as Ulrich Vehicle Design. Those are the two business partners that I was referring to.
As well towards the bottom with the other FB page link, there's JET Motors, like mentioned.

 

Might look like a deal, but not quite. There's a bunch of things that are off on this. Would take a bit to get it proper. Not quite put together or a great end result. You can watch parts of the build here: https://www.youtube.com/@MisfitMuttsGarage/videos

 

I agree that it seems overpriced. However, I would totally daily a car like that.

 

Evenflow had a raffle giveaway fundraiser a couple weeks back and the prize was a highly modded Yamaha R1-motored Mini!

Too bad we ain't got something like that over here, I would splash some cash for a chance!

 

Before choosing the VTEC route for an alternate option to the original A-series Mini engine, I BRIEFLY thought about a crotch rocket engine implant. Quickly backed out of that due to two things. Mainly the high revving engine of those things are intense like screaming banshees. I wouldn't want to deal with that every time I went out. Second, they lack torque. I was thinking of a Hayabusa. There are kits for them for this application. But still. There are better choices.