Hi All,

I currently have a 02' Cooper S which i love but I have been getting more interested in the classic Mini's. How are these cars for daily drivers/road trips?

I assume it depends on the year/model/options. I am currently trying to set up some test drives to see for myself but was curious what other think.

Thanks in advance.

 

In England in the mid 80s I owned a classic Mini from new. Once I started doing regular long (300ml) drives, I got rid of it - it was noisy uncomfortable and tiring for long drives.

 

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

 

You will for sure find plenty of first hand information here:
http://www.minimania.com/msgthreads.cfm

 

I had a 1275S in the late 60s. I drove it from the midwest to Florida on two occasions. I loved the car at home, but by the time I got to Florida, I wanted to sell it -- or just blow it up. You've never lived till you see a logging truck coming up behind your Mini on a downhill 2-lane road in Georgia. I usually always took the backroads. There were few interstates, and the Mini was never a great straight line car.

It was my daily driver for a good long while -- couldn't afford two cars. It had no air-conditioning. You could hear the AM radio's one speaker till you turned on the motor. It had water sealing problems in its motor. I had a bleach bottle that I kept over its distributor to try to keep the water out -- and to try to keep it running. I learned to balance its carbs -- I had to because they seemed to need it every time the weather changed. I still have my little SU wrench with a key-chain hole on it, any my Unisyn is still functional. I burned my fingers more than once lifting up the throttle slide to see if the vacuum drop was right.

You may want to remember that clasic Minis have Lucas electrics. My Mini singlehandedly helped Lucas to win the title "Prince of Darkness". If it was electrical, it broke -- usually on numerous occasions, always at night, or in the rain. Ever file fuel pump "points" to get things running again?

And then there was the rust factor. They didn't rust. It was more like they dissolved in water. I often thought they effervesced like alka-seltzer.

Its peripheral systems were unreliable at best. The door latches would sometimes unlatch, and refuse to re-latch till you squirted them with WD-40. Its heater blower worked in the summer, but never when it was cold outside. Sometimes its wipers worked -- usually not when it was raining though. It had a defroster. The control unit said it did anyway -- but I sometimes had to scrape its windscreen on the outside, and the inside. It had a lever to pull back to make the windshied washers go. I could tell it was working because I could hear it. The washer did everything except spray water. It never did that.

And, speaking of rain, it gave new meaning to the term "car pool". It leaked -- a lot -- from around its "sunroof" around its doors, from under the dash, and if you hit a puddle just right, it would leak from all of those places simultaneously. In the winter, it would freeze up on the bottom of the inside of the windscreen. Then that ice would melt (sometimes) and the water would run down your pant leg and into your shoes.

But, those are the down sides. As I look back -- even knowing its shortcomings, it is still my favorite car, and I've had a few. I loved it.

I sold it because I fell in love with a 69 Z28. I sold it, too. I have never missed the Z28. But 40 years after the fact, I'd give almost anything in the world to get my little Mini Cooper S back. I stood in front of a red one in Orlando that was for sale last weekend and wondered if I could qualify for a second mortgage so I could buy it.

But in reality, when I had it I always wished I could afford two cars so that I could just drive the Mini for fun. I suspect that today, I'd still want a second car.

But I have to conclude that it really does not make much sense to think of one as a daily driver in today's world. Unless you live in Robbinsville and commute daily to Knoxville. Then it would be ideal.

BTW, the second mortgage application is on my desk.

 

Herleman-

That is a wonderful post!
I'd add my own experiences, but you've summed it up marvelously. Are classics good as daily drivers? Not in 2010. They are fun toys, though.

 

Herleman ..

The alka-seltzer line is PRICELESS ... thanks

And too true ...

 

Most of the mini comments could apply to just about any of the "sporting" machines from GB in the late 40's, 50's and 60's. I owned a lot of them(9) and experienced about every known breakdown, dowsing, freezing, and motoring embarassment that you can have. Why I kept buying them I don't know, but amazingly all are remembered with fondness from the '49 TD to the last a '65 MGB. None of them ever completed a road trip over 200 miles, some could not be depended on outside city lmits. Thank God for my '09 MINI.

 

yet another point to consider:

altho these cars are SO simple .. finding a mechanic to work on them today is a wee bit of a problem. When they act up - which is often - you either need to drop everything and DIY or take it to a mech' you know and trust. You AIN'T taking it to "the dealer!" And even then . . .

My 79 is presently in its second week of libo after I tried to install a "simple 2 wire" upgrade that didn't work right. If this was my only car . . . . I'm sending parts pack and forth trying to figure out what component of my ignition tune up is bad. No, AutoZone does NOT have most of these parts . . .

{in the UK I suspect there are a few more Mini savy mech's than we find here in the US}

 

I agree. A friend of mine lives in Bristol (west of London) and he says there just aren't older Minis on the roads any more. I sent him a picture of my '73 and he said he can't remember the last time he saw one that old. Funny ...

Jeff

 

This cannot be overstated, and I'm one of the (rare) people on the forums who owns a classic that's used as a daily driver in the warm moths.

Ask yourself this: Are you ready to depend on a car that you'll walk out some morning, late for work, only to find you have no brakes... or the car won't shift... or steer... or idle... and there's no mechanic and parts will take you 1-2 weeks to order, and YOU will be the person laying on the garage floor installing said parts... If yes, then by all means use it as the daily driver.

Personally, as much as I love my classic, and use it as a daily driver in the warm months, there's no way in HELL I'd even consider it without:

1. AAA (to come get me if/when I get stuck) and
2. A back-up, reliable car (for when it rains, it's snowing, or when a system craps out, disabling the car for 1-4 weeks).

 

Ditto to all that has been said...

A well sorted classic can be fairly reliable for a 20+ year old car. But it will always be just that, a 20+ year old economy car. Great fun as a toy, not great daily transportation (without backup.)