On the way to work today, I spotted a very confusing MINI Cooper. The MINI was a 50/50 mix between an S and a Justa. It was an all black MINI with the dual exhaust and spoiler, along with the rear "S" badge.

However, and this is where it gets interesting, the front of the car not only had the Justa chrome grille, but it also had a Justa hood (no air scoop). Furthermore, the front bumper was that of a Justa, and the side scuttles were that of a Justa as well (no "S" badge, solid black). To be honest, it was kinda confusing! Is this common? I've seen switched out grilles, but this is a first!

The guy also couldn't drive, was stopping in the middle of the road randomly to let people come in from drives on the side, and was going 10 below the speed limit, but that's another pet peeve .

 

I've done bumper conversions, and several folks have wanted the no-scoop bonnet for their S. With the location of the intercooler, that poses problems. My guess is that you saw a Justa with S bits, although they would have had to do some work to make a center exhaust rear.

 

If it wasn't for the dual exhaust, I would have thought it was a Justa. However, the rear bumper, badge and exhaust were all of an S model, as was the rear spoiler.

I guess it just makes little sense to me as to make the front half of the car look like a Justa. I sorta can understand the hood and grille, but changing out the front bumper doesn't make much sense at all. Personally, for the first gen MINIs I thought the Justa bumper was quite ugly in comparison to the S's.

When you say it would cause problems with the intercooler, does that mean the Justa hood would hit it? How would someone get around this issue? He obviously did something.

You may be right though. With the spare tire there on a Justa, a dual exhaust would be a hassle to do, but judging by his rate of acceleration it would make sense if it wasn't an S. Then, why would you put an "S" badge on it? That part is what makes it all confusing haha. If it was a Honda I could understand someone putting a badge on it that didn't match the power of the car, but I'd think MINIs would be above this.

 

Xiek in Canada has a Justa with an S rear end

 

I thought I was seeing things myself the other day when I noticed what appeared to be an S without a hood scoop. Interesting.

My car probably makes a few Mini owners look twice as well. At first glance from the side, it sorta looks like a Justa as I'm using the Justa side marker grills, though they and the handles are painted body color. It just looks sorta plain from the side. From the rear, there's no Cooper or Cooper S, which might create more confusion until they notice the JCW logo on the other side. (Dual exhaust, of course.) And the front has been debadged as well. In general, I don't think it would be mistaken for a Justa as it's got the full aero kit with 18" black JCW wheels, but I'm sure it does get a second glance or two. 'Kinda fun keepin' other Mini drivers wonderin'.

 

I put a Justa front bumper on my S for what I think is a less sporty, more classic front end. Granted, I also have an M7 Ram Hood Scoop, but I think it contributes to the classic look by squaring off the front end.

 

I had the S sideskirts and chrome gas door on my 2003 justa.

 

i'm sure it exists with all cars. The BMW guys LOVE putting M parts on their non M cars, including just an M3 badge on their completely stock 3 series. I also have a friend with an AMG badge on his S430 (he bought it that way). I like the visual upgrades of putting higher-model-line body parts on your lower model car, but the badge... come on. the only people you are fooling don't care.

 

I always that that was odd. Much better to debadge and make a car more unassuming. Less of a target and much more fun when the other party gets surprised by the performance. I had a '73 VW bus I did that to. I built a semi race prepped 914 motor for it and it was capable of breaking the rear end loose on dry pavement in second gear. I also put the best Michelins on it as well as a stiff anti-sway bar in the rear and Koni adjustable shocks all around. I used to have great fun chasing Porsches with it up in the Santa Cruz mountains.

 

I would say the guy wrecked it and both the body shop and owner didnt know there was a difference in bumpers and hoods and accidentelly ordered the wrong parts.

I doubt anyone would go through the trouble of putting in an S exhaust and not having a spare anymore.

 

Hmm, that would have to be a really bad repair shop. I mean, I could understand an owner maybe not realizing the bumper if they were really bad with cars, but the air intake scoop would be a huge giveaway that something was up. I bet this was a conscious decision.

I wish there was a way to have checked to see what the car really was from the outside that he most likely wouldn't have upgraded.

Either way, kinda interesting to see. It definitely caught me off guard.

 

heres the thing i dont understand, im all for putting s parts on coopers, ive upgraded my wheels and soon the spoiler, but when youre rebadging your car, the only people who will even notice are car people, who will immediately be able to spot it as a fake

 

i saw a 525i on the road a few months ago with an M5 badge.. who was he trying to fool? anyone who knows what an M5 is would notice the stock rear end, no fender flare and no quad exhausts.. not to mention the sound

 

Exactly. I'm all for modding an R50 (obviously.) and if someone likes the exterior S bits, that's great. Putting on a false badge is really tacky though. Just makes you look ashamed of what your car really is, which is silly.

Besides, everyone knows badgeless is the way to go. Keep the law guessin'

 

Could have been a Rolls Royce MINI Goodwood edition for some promotion or someone trying to emulate it. http://www.motoringfile.com/2011/08/...us/#more-19304

 

I hope if anyone is thinking of doing something like that to their car they are planning on never using it as a trade in on a new car later. You are absolutely tanking your resale value by doing something like this.

 

Honestly, I really like the look of the R56 justa's. So I wouldn't mind having the turbo with without the hood scoop, looks more like the classics.

 

If it weren't for the 'S' badge, I'd wager most non-MINI dealers wouldn't know the difference.

I've thought about replacing my rear bumper to get the dual exhaust, but I wouldn't go putting an 'S' on my car (even if I hadn't removed the 'Cooper' lettering in favor of one of the classic "Clubman Estate" badges). I wanted a Cooper, I bought a Cooper. If I'd have wanted an 'S' I would've got one instead.

I've also thought about replacing my front bumper with an 'S' front just to allow for the JCW grille since they don't make a JCW Cooper grille for '11 like they did for '07-10. Was pretty upset about when I found out the grille off my '10 wouldn't fit. Maybe some day I'll just get the aero kit and call it a day...

 

Stayed with Xiek at MoTD this year and never noticed.

 

when i have to replace my engine i'll be swapping in a S turbo in a justa shell. if you remove the a/c condensor (as well as the rest of the a/c obviously) there's just enough room to wedge an intercooler in there. the piping will be an issue though.

 

Are you sure it didn't have a FMIC? If they had installed one of those you could run the non-scooped hood without any trouble. I am assuming of course that there are FMIC kits for the turbo S.