My Mini is the beater/throw-a-way car in my collection -- and with the recent snowy weather, I've grown even more found of my beater Mini.

It sits outside, I rarely wash it.
I change the oil annually (with an oil analysis to make sure the oil is still actually oil).
I don't care about door dings. And recently... I went parking lot snow drifting/ebraking.
It's the car I teach people how to drive a manual. It's the car I show people how to do ebrake turns.
It's the car I take the dog to the park.
I autocross it and will eventually get around to tracking it. And I bought it for $1500, put maybe $500 into it. So, worst case scenario, if it catches on fire and burns to the ground, I'm out $2000.
I only lock it because it's a button on the keyfob... if I had to turn a key in a door lock, no way will it be locked.

And it's one of the most stress-free motoring experiences!!

The car is surprisingly robust.150k miles, no major issues. I replaced a water pump and did a supercharger service. Replaced wheel bearings. Replaced a clutch slave. About it.

Currently, the throw-out bearing is making noise, but when that gives up the ghost, I'll pull the gearbox and install a LSD. If the motor ever pops, I'll just kswap it.

Oh Mini, you're amazing

 

My 206,000 km '05 Cooper S is my summer/track car and it's stored from November to March/Apri in a heated garage, away from snow and road salt. It's pretty damn clean for a 16 years old car in Quebec. I drove it during winter the first year as I bought it in December 2009.

I had a bunch of cheap winter beaters in the past and was doing silly things to them (https://i.imgur.com/OrvpGeb.jpg), but then went with a '14 Corolla and two years later traded it for a '15 Prius. But the Prius winter days are counted as I'm fixing some issues on my new to me '94 Pickup to make it safe so that I can drive it again.

I don't think my MINI would ever go down to beater status, even once my e30 is restored (yes, I have a car addiction problem...), mainly because I'd rather trash something like a Tercel that's cheap and easy to fix.

 

I question would have to be. Which one of my Mini's? I've been blissed with four of them.

 

Yup! Bought it to keep the miles off my truck that I mistakenly turned into a prerunner. No clue how that happened but the wife doesn't like it.

 

Right now the Mini is a garage queen.

My beater is a 1986 Ford Tempo that has earned the nickname Honey Badger. My parents bought it new, then it got handed down through the extended family - usually as a kid’s first car. So you can imagine what it looks like.

It was my lab rat to see if I could rebuild a transaxle, and it got passed off to 2 more kids before it came back to me again.

Heater works great, always starts no matter how cold. It’s the first car out the driveway and into the road after the snowplow has put a berm in front of our driveway, if you get my drift.

 

... why are there not photos of this?

 

2020 Tundra, 5.29 gears, LSD, 2.5 Radflos up front with JBA UCAs, rear Toytec shocks with reservoirs. High clearance front and rear bumpers with some amber and white fogs for the dusty conditions. Next up is a supercharger and headers with some glass fenders.

 

I misunderstood... I thought you turned your mini into a prerunner, by raising it up and doing big wheels and such, much like how some folk turn miatas into offroaders.