So I've committed to Min, she and I are about to go through our first Alberta winter together. I was just wondering if anyone else is crazy enough to drive their classic in the winter? I've already discovered that she doesn't like cold mornings... Not that it’s even been close to cold yet. I'm hoping that someone has an inspirational story about how well their Mini does in the winter. I don't want to tell Min that she's going to have to share me with a winter beater.

 

Plenty of people in the UK do... It's front-wheel drive so it should be OK, but it's lighter than hell and hey, let's face it, it's not the most protective thing to have on days when everyone's out in their 4WD SUVs. Plus the salt will be brutal - better invest in a good Waxyol coating before the salt flies.

 

My wife drives hers on the "nice" winter days. It usually goes out after the roads are plowed, and fairly nice. Ours if the SPI so the cold mornings are not that big of a problem. It's alot happier in the garage than plowing thru the slush and snow.

Nik

 

Back in the day.....................I owned a '62 Cooper S and drove it every day. Here in KC, the winters can get pretty brutal but I remember it starting easily and handling everything winter threw at it. I later moved to Colorado Springs and drove it there year round as well. Other than the massive increase in large, heavy SUVs, I wouldn't worry...........

 

Miniranda,

I'm not speaking with "hands on experience" with a classic mini per se, but, I would encourage you to have a "winter beater", presuming that roads/streets in Alberta are salted during winters. Salt is evil, especially on rust prone minis. Waaayyy back in in 1987, I bought a 1959 Mercedes, which I drove as my winter beater. It was a fun car, year round, and I did ok in the winter, even though it lacked substantial heat, defrosting and good windshield wiping capablility, etc. Here's the moral of the story... The car grew on me. It became my favorite car, but I "killed it" by driving several winters on salty roads. That was a German car with substantially heavier and better sheet metal. Unlike minis, the replacement panels were (are) utterly unafforable. I donated the car to a charity this year, as I didn't want to spend $30K (or more) attempting to restore a rusty Benz whose market value wouldn't merit the expense. If you think you might want the mini for the long term--get a winter beater.