Simple question. Is the mini your favorite car that you've owned to date?

 

No.

BMW 635 CSI
BMW 325is

 

Why the switch then?

 

635 sold in 1987 to finance a business, which turned out to be a great trade.
325 stolen and stripped clean in NYC.

I would love to find a mint condition 3 series from the 80's, but most are beat up badly. Probably going to get a 3 rd gen 2 door soon, new or used, not sure.

 

Lets see:
1971 Lincoln Continental
1975 Ford Maverick
197? Toyota Pig. I forget what they're called. The one that looks like a pig. Engine runs forever.
1981? Volkswagen Golf I
1976 Volkswagen Scirocco
1994 Volkswagen Golf IV
2003 Mini R50
2015 Honda Fit
1974 Jeep CJ5
2005 Mini R53

So... yes. Mini Cooper S is my favorite. Possibly tied with the Jeep.

Favorite car. I'd put my Honda CBR600RR ahead of the R53, and my Triumph Street Triple ahead of that. Ninja 250 probably tied with the R50, Ducati Sport 1000 tied with the R53.

 

No but it's right up there near the top.

 

Yes but my list has not been extensive:
2006 BMW 325i
2008 MINI Cooper S Hardtop
and a prius but that hardly counts as a car in my mind...more like an appliance

 

For me it's been:

1992 Nissan Sentra
1996 Honda Civic EX (b18c engine swap)
2000 Acura Integra GSR
2005 Pontiac GTO
2004 Mini Cooper S JCW

obviously the 1st 3 cars are not my favorite. But I can't decide between the Gto and the mini. I definitely don't miss the Gto but it was a fine machine. They are so different so I can't decide I guess. But I'm happy with the mini.

 

No, my 1st generation Miata (bought new) was my favorite. It was easier to work on and easier to modify for performance. I kept it 17 yrs.

 

Great question!

I've owned three classic Minis, one of which was a multiple championship race winner that Don Racine at Mini Mania is now restoring.

Also owned:

1957 Lincoln
1966 Mustang 289 2+2
1974 Datsun B210
1977 Datsun 200SX IMSA race car
Some year AMC Hornet
Chevette, Cavalier, Z24 Cavalier
Pontiac Transport
1990 Lincoln MKVII (under 100,000 miles).

Now have:

2004 R53
1998 Dodge Neon ACR (my 4X SCCA championship race car).
1988 V6 Pontiac Fiero Formula (one of only 5,300 made with less than 100,000 miles).

The three I have now are the most fun, along with the Classic Mini race car (2X championship winner) below that I had 6 straight wins during one season, and 9 straight in the next.




Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

'62 TR Spitfire roadster
'63 BRG Jaguar XKE roadster
'71 Ford sumptin or other
'75 AMC Matador - Huge mistake!!!!
'78 Chevy Caprice wagon
'92 Chevy Caprice wagon
'02 Buick LeSabre sedan
'98 Ford F150 and a series of El Caminos

and currently,
'06 R52 S - his
'15 R60 justa - hers
I still get a tight feeling in the gut thinking about the Jag I let get away.

 

73 AMC Gremlin, worse mistake beats your Matador.

 

Old Aston Martin lagonda, because it was different. Never owned one. But I still love all three of my MINIs.

 

Only way to solve this debate is over some fine craft beer. I think I've got a story about ours that could very possibly trump (no political intent) anything your Gremlin did to you.

 

Sadly I've given up drinking beer, after a few years of home brewing. How about the Windshield wiper arm drivers side flying off in a rain storm on the highway? That was pretty awesome.

 

30+ cars half of which were/are bmw but I still have the most fun driving the R53

my E30 325is and my 1976 bmw 2002 are both tied for 2nd place

 

1963 VW 1500 S Variant Type 3
1968 Impala 327
1971 VW Super Bug
1963 TR3B
Volvo 142

1969 Honda 600
1970 VW Van
128 Fiat
1978 Fiat Super Brava
1970 Chevelle
1980 Datsun King Cab 4x4
1985 Jeep Cherokee
1988 Dodge Caravan for wife
1991 Jeep Cherokee
1998 Jeep Cherokee
2001 Jeep Cherokee
2000 Honda Accord
2003 Honda Pilot
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2011 Honda Pilot
2013 Honda Pilot
2005 R52 Mini


Is the Mini fun to drive-yes. But not my favorite car. I enjoy my Jeeps, but probably the car that I liked was my 1971 Super Beetle. Probably because of all the fun times I had with it on the streets and at the beach. Had the exhaust and bigger wheels.

 

We loaded up the boys and all the gear we'd need for a 2 week trip to Colorado. The Matador, we'd had it less than a year if I remember, got us 40 or 50 miles down the road and it just quit. Got it towed back home and loaded up the much smaller company hatch back and off we went. At that point I closed my mind to the entire world of AMC and cannot recall the disposition of that junk.

 

I'll see your Gremlin and raise you a Hornet.

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

And I will check you both with a Triumph TR7...the shape of things to come LOL

 

Yep best car so far.

71 Chevy Nova
Ford Grenada (bought and drove it in Germany)
Buick Skylark (piece of ... I'll never buy a Buick again)
Jeep Cherokee - lasted for ever I think I finally traded it in with over 250k miles on it all original parts.
Dodge Neon (lasted 3 years and fell apart done with dodge)
Honda civic HX (great commuter car 45 mpg non hybrid drove it I to the ground with over 200k)
Toyota Prius c still own it great car great milage at 50+ mpg just not fun or sexy...
Mini Cooper S convertible - is what I'm driving now. Can't get enough.

 

1970s something Fiat 128 - first car, lots of fun but it had all sorts of interesting problems. Finally died and I could never figure out why. Donated it to the high school auto shop.
1980s Toyota Celica 4WD wagon - fun, great car for New England winters, utterly reliable. Traded it in on:
1985 BMW 325e (E30). Loved that car. Simple and fun to drive.
1995 BMW 325is (E36). Bought one after getting invited by BMW to come thrash the new E36s around Laguna Seca. That experience sold me. It saved my life when a guy didn't look and pulled out in front of me. I T-boned him at 50mph and walked away with just a scratch.
1989 Jeep Cherokee - what a classic. Still going strong at 250K miles when I sold it.
1996 Volvo 850 Turbo (put my mechanic's kids through college with that car.)
2002 Acura MDX - still have it with 270K miles, it just keeps going with nothing but standard maintenance.

2012 MCS - definitely my favorite car, will probably keep it forever.

 

No.
2002 VW Golf TDI or our
2013 Nissan LEAF.
Leaf was at end of lease and Nissan wanted crazy amount of money to buy out and new leases were twice as much. Golf was chipped. Was a fun little car. I like the mini, its quirky and unique but some of those quirks are just irritating. The electronics in particular I hate with a passion. Can't wait for CarPlay.

 

how does carplay make a car fun? how on earth could a leaf possibly be fun?

and a tdi? Seriously?

 

Favorite one before was my 85 BMW 325. Lowered with Eibach kit and a Dinan chip installed. Fun car! My 07 R56 is even more fun and just about as fast!