I have a question for you, I'm thinking of selling my 02' Civic and buying either a classic Mini or a newer one. My question is do you think purchasing an old Mini for everyday driving is as insane as my wife thinks? I'm not a mechanic by any means but I can do some maintenance. The cheapest MC I've seen around hear (Ontario, Canada) is about $16,500 with 100,000km's.
Now I can probably get a classic for $7-8000 from Mr.Mini, which is what I'll probably get for my Civic. I'm not communting but that could change by the fall, anyway sorry to ramble, Thanks in advance.

Glenn

 

If you drive it everyday, buy a good used new MINI. I've owned and restored several classic Minis and I can probably rebuild an engine and gearbox blindfolded at this point. But I still wouldn't use one for everyday transportation. Plus the $10,000 difference you save will be eaten up in a hurry! With that being said, NOTHING beats the drive of a classic, and I mean NOTHING.

 

rustysteel,

For safety reasons I would recommend the new MINI over the classic.
If you have a really short commute then either car is OK.

You might also check on insurance rates for each in your area.
You might get a break on rates due to the safety features of the new MINI.

The price of a used MC in that range is reasonable and more used MINIs appear on a regular basis. Resale value is quite good.

I know a Porsche mechanic that used to race classic minis and he told me he would never drive one on today's roads given the number of big SUVs and trucks.

 

After some considersation I'm thinking of keeping my Honda Civic and looking for a classic Mini for AutoX and weekends. I would love to get a new MINI but my concerns about 1. money and 2. reliability have swayed my decision to keep the Honda. What could be more fun having the classic for racing and the Honda for the rest. Maybe one day I can have both (new and classic) in the drive but by then I'll probably be teaching the kids how to drive. (we don't have any yet)
Thanks for all your info on this. This is a great site!

 

can't go wrong with a new or classic

 

I've been thinking about the same thing....I've always wanted a classic Mini since I saw the original Italian Job's chase scene used in an episode of Macgyver back in 1986.....

But yeah, the money I've saved up for the down payment on the new model is about what I've been seeing acceptable classic Coopers going for lately...

I have an Escort as a daily driver currently, and it will either be sold or modified for Rallys, should I get the 2007 Cooper S. And the Miata will continue on as the autocrosser, and the RX-7....don't know if I'll keep it and run time trials, or use the Cooper S for that....

If I get the classic one, then I'll have to keep this autotragic Escort as it is...which isn't as bad as it sounds....But then I'm worried about the classic, collectors car and making me afraid to drive it too much....it will require a cage either way, just as I'd feel unsafe on public roads as others have expressed with the SUV things out there....

Decisions, decisions.....

 

Just please do this, Research vintage minis before jumping in. One major misconception is that every mini in the states is a cooper which is like saying every camaro is a Z28, There are minis and mini coopers and of course mini cooper S minis as well as dozens of other special editions.

I am a dealer and my main task when selling a mini is informing the customer of what they are buying, I could just let them go on and on about the cooper S (when they are looking at a regular mini) they are looking at on our site but we don't trade like that. The is a large price difference between a vintage mini and a vintage mini cooper and even more when talking about a cooper S. Each one has its merits and a standard mini 1275 can be made to drive faster and handle better than a cooper S with some fairly simple mods if required. The more you learn the better car you will end up with.

Best Regards: Peter (westpaminis.com)

 

This forum is for Classic MINI of Ohio, a MINI dealership, not for Classic Minis