Just curious if anyone knows.

With MINI going to a "new car" to include a "new engine" surely the aftermarket tuner will need to catch up and have new offererings. What will that do for the current generation of MINIs in terms of aftermarket availabity?

Does anyone know where this has happened in the past for any new generation car using an entirely new engine from a different source (for example, a new generation mustang is still a Ford engine and therefore isn't the same thing).

In other words, will aftermarket parts dry up over time?

 

i havent heard of many companies changing drivetrain suppliers like MINI has, so there isnt a real good comparison.

altho, the new mustang is a good example as far as suspension goes. the 05 is a completely new car, therefore no interchangable parts. i dont thin there should ever be a problem with parts for the MINI's i think a company somewhere will always make parts for them, even after a major design change (IE 280z to 300z)

 

IT depends on lots of stuff, mostly total amount of cars shipped, and owner enthusiasm for modifications.

For my 65 Mustang, I can get almost anything that was available in 65, and thensome! For example, there are reproduction Shelby intake manifolds that haven't been made by Shelby American for 30 years.....

For a car that's been in production about 5 years, it will come down to total cars shipped, and the type of customer. Don't worry for 2-5 years after the end of the current model. 10 years out, it will depend on us, more than the vendors. If we keep demand there, they'll keep selling.

Matt

 

Interesting. The first car I ever bought was a 65 mustang! Hows it running? Still fun to drive?

Your parts might be easy to find because the 65 Mustang defined what pony cars were to become. Its pretty historic. But, I think your right in that it depends upon the customers. However, I'm sure they sold way more Mustangs than MINIs so I would worry about the smaller customer base to be economically feasible to keep catering to a smaller and smaller market. Just a thought.

 

One other thing to keep in mind is that smaller shops (like the tuner shops for Minis) can keep smaller volume products alive longer... It all comes doewn to the Mini owners community.

And the stang runs great. Not really a 65 anymore... Just looks like one.

Matt

 

Before the current MINI came out there was of course no market for parts. Once it did, people started coming up with things and as demand increased, more joined. It will be no different with the 2007. The one good thing is that it will pretty much be a no brainer as far as whether a part will fit since just about every single part is likely to be different between cars.

 

I agree. I got my 2002 early and modding was rather simple. There was one intake available, like 2 exhausts, and springs from big companies like H&R and Eibach. That was pretty much it, and it was like that way for around a year. Then things went crazy and companies finally started producing the parts that they had been testing.

I would assume that it will follow this trend as long as people keep demand up.

 

Nope, it won't dry up. Will as many new product ideas continue for the current gen MINI - probably not as much, but the current offerrings and those under development now shoulld be available for some time into the future.

We are number three on the list for an '07 S, and we intend to use that as a mule to offer parts for the car as soon as possible.

Hope that helps!
Randy

 

Cult car status should help MINI parts availablility both NOS and aftermarket for a long time. MINI hit the 500,000 mark in 2004, so it's reasonable to expect there to be from 750,000 to 900,000 by the time 2006 production ends next year. That's a lot of MINIs! I know that I can get almost anything for my MGA of which 100,000 were produced from 1955 - 1962. Parts availability is more limited for my MGC but only 9,000 were made (good thing that lots of parts are interchangable with the MGB - 500,000 produced). I wouldn't worry about there being a dearth of aftermarket go- fast, look-good parts for many, many years.

 

very cool randy

How much pontential do you think there is based on what they have released about the new engine?

 

But only about 140K sold in US and that really is a small market compared to the big boys ... thats why I was concerned.

RANDY ... THANKS! Good answer

 

As soon as the 07 comes out, we will see the aftermarket parts. There might be a 4-5 weeks gap, but we will all be busy with discussing "how much the car sucks, or how superior it is compared to the old one"...etc. I do not see any problems.

 

I've read a lot on the new motor, and on papaer it looks good. We'll of course have to wait and see what really happens when it arrives. There is a great article on Motoring File that I printed out - all 30+ pages!

Being turbo charged, it should be relatively easy to increase boost. It sounds way under-rated too; 170hp from all that trick engineering? We'll see!

Randy