I was reading that the r50's trans is the same out of the R67.

so if the cars are based off the trans, can the 50 really be a 67?

Parson my ignorance, but what is an R67 I even Googled it and nothing came up.

Regardless, the answer is an R50 is an R50 and nothing else.

the midlands trans is a R65 trans directly out of the older MINI, or so i read.

so i was wondering if this is how the minis got their designations: R50, R53, R56, etc...

+1

doesn't answer the question:

so i was wondering if this is how the minis got their designations: R50, R53, R56, etc...

Googled and found this interesting article: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=58642883084

whats going on here?

No, according to MotoringFile: http://www.motoringfile.com/2009/02/...-does-it-mean/

Also, when you ask "is the 50 really a 67", if you're asking whether the R50 was something like a rebranded version of an already existing car, the answer is no. The R50 was designed from scratch.

Chibi - I'm still wondering what an R67 is. Can you enlighten? Anyone else?

its the trans

I guess you read the article from the mini supplier on the r50 midlands tranny....
the r50 is the bmw designaion for the chasis/frame...
the r67 simplys refers to the midlands tranny that was a bit of a caryover...but if the r50 used the same headlight or turn bulb, does that make it the same as the older car?!
Every car is a collection of newly desgined, and existing parts....the r53 auto tranny is common on vw cars, some toyotas too...does that make it a vw?!

PS
The MIDLANDS produced 5 speed tranny used for the first few years of production is tge cars weak link....so weak mini switched to a getreg unit in 2004....
The earlier midlands were pretty failure prone....they got better in later productiin, but a agressivly driven mini still will go through a tranny (r50) every 80k or so....indefinitive if driven nice....for relalibility reasons mini switched suppliers to a non english tranny....