As I approached my MCS in a parking lot recently it reminded me of a puppy that wants to play -- hunched down in front with its rear in the air. It really is a silly little car.

Just dropped my MINI off at MINI of Mountian View to have a Lojack installed. They offered an Enterprise rental car. The best choice was a Honda Accord. Man is that a boring car! Had a hard time staying awake. It reminded me of the '62 Buick station wagon my Mom once had. You kind of float along...

 

How about a group hug?

 

Plus, I have always been annoyed by the new guy who walks into a group and announces how things are.

 

LoL, I can't wait for the drama to unfold once again when MINI shelves the R56 in 2012 and the third gen MINI is launched (R63?) So then it will be the R56 folks creating these threads in the R63 forums..

 

You other brothers can't deny...

 

 

I already hate the R63 and curse the engineering students that are attending class right now and will be responsible for ruining the MINI.

 

 

well ....all that crap IS why the cost of the average car is almost 30k.....This need for constant and often unnecesary change is not particularly welcomed by me.....You know the REAL original Mini was produced for 40+ years essentially unchanged, which is exactly why it became an icon.

 

Exactly..............Is this not what occured(s) between the classic Mini and the R50/53 when the new car appeared? There is still a cold shoulder from some of the classic owners to this day. Designs change, rules change, etc. As long as the MINI sells there will be updates and new designs. Might as well embrace them. Or simply keep your current car. I love my R53 no plans to rid of it. But I welcome the enthusiasm of the new owners, just as I did with owners of the classic Mini. ( it helped I had two of them though so I know what they were talking about). Sad however it sometimes does not go the other way.

Anyway, make the new owners welcome!

-C

 

From boot to booty!

 

Yeah, Baby may have back, but she still doesn't have any extra junk in the trunk.

 

Well it sort of did "change". And I bet if it were officially sold in the US after 67' then it would have changed A LOT sooner. So in essence BL, Leyland, JRT, Rover didn't have the cash to properly develop a new design so they badge engineered it, etc for decades. Marketing kept the car alive with quite few bad packages. Just take a look at what came out in the 70's and the 80's. Dear God. The Cooper S is the idol and the "pure" 850's from the early years everyone finds so great. In reality, they had poor ventilation, were slow, had suspect brakes (depending on spec), etc. But they were cool. I had two of them and used to work on more at a restoration shop. Hydraulic suspension? Yeah..nice idea. Wonder why everyone converts to dry.

Changes were many... Two body shells, one (bad) Clubman front end., numerous engine changes, badge changes, internal door hinges vs external hinges, larger rear window over time, sliding windows to roll up, different interiors along the way, carb to fuel injection, 10' wheels to 13. Point is over time things change and those changes were best executed on the Mini with the limited cash flow of the mother company at the time. NOT with out BMW's cash would a new MINI exist today, period. Rules, more populations of people, niche marketing, more brands, way different comminication network, fuel situation, the EPA, all serve to make a different vehicle then yesterday and now that the ecomomy is more global, it stands to reason that rules and regulations will occure much faster. I see it everyday in the auto business. Some new reg is rumored (and a platform's design is anticipated) or actually implimented requiring a change. And a costly one at that. It's very difficult to design a car but it's very easy to nit pick and tear into a design. That is why something like the new MINI (all R cars) are special since it takes a lot just to get them to were they stand.

-C

 

I actually like it that its more "bloated". it actually looks more agressive, more masculine, more powerful. when i see the R53 after looking at the R56 it looks more whimsical, more cute, more feminine. i LOVE the new look of the R56 (and yes i owned two R53s). and the best part is the car actually drives even better than it looks.

 

What are you talking about? Ditch the tool kit and voila! More space!

 

I certainly hope we answered the OP's question!!

 

So, you want a flathead cast iron engine with a carburetor in your MINI? How about leaf springs? The reason cars cost $30,000 these days is mostly inflation. After that, you have changes like dual overhead cams, five valves per cylinder, direct injection, computer systems, etc. Government mandates are a very small part of the cost.

 

That is the BEST vanity plate I've ever seen on a MINI



You do realize that Lojack will come to your house and install it in your driveway?

You don't care for the safety features?

 

What ARE you going to do with all that junk... all that junk inside that trunk?

 

How are you doing? Terribly.

I don't even own a MINI nor do I ever plan to. Although the car handles great (thanks BMW), FWD just isn't for me. So I really could care less whether it "sucks" or not. What I do care about, however, is car designs from countries around the world looking more and more like *** as engineers are forced to redesign otherwise perfect cars because somewhere some politician didn't want people to find out that he was worthless.

Torque?

Obviously haven't browsed this thread either.

New guy? No... just a passerby.

 

I guess you going to be very frustrated with cars in general because it aint going to change because you don't like it

And I assume you know if you go into any car forum and diss the car, the reactions are not going to be kind and some might call it trolling.

 

You're right, I am pretty frustrated with new cars in general. It's not just the designs, it's many other things. So I plan to keep my car as long as possible, and keep it as new as possible, until it eventually explodes one day. Then, depending on what's out on the market (maybe another TVR will come along, maybe Porsche will stay true, who knows) I may buy an older car or something new.

I'm not dissing your cars. Like I said, I could care less about the MINI. I'm just saying that I like the previous MINI's looks better than the new one. I'm sure it handles great and whatnot, just like the new 3 series handle better than the E46, but which one do I think has more character and style? You can guess.

Whether you all get butt-hurt because of that isn't really my problem.

 

The pedestrian safety issue isn't so important in the U.S. as it is in much of Europe where the ratio of pedestrians to cars is MUCH higher than here.

By the way, I and most of the people I know like the way the new MINI Cooper looks. Sorry you are so unsettled by the changes.

Here's a link that describes even more of what you would call idiotic safety stuff that was so much a factor in the MINI Cooper structural changes:

http://miniology.com/?p=60

 

You don't like them newfangled automobile designs? Ok, get yourself a Duesenberg or a nice little 250TR with the pontoon fenders. Believe you me, I would if I could too. Or, if you're a real go-getter type, write someone at MINI or BMW or Congress a letter or two? Even better, why not go into politics and prove how worthwhile YOU are by amending laws to allow automotive designers free reign over their creative projects, thereby eliminating that "***-like" appearance that you object to so vehemently. It’ll be like the good ol’ Enzo Ferrari days again, active safety and aerodynamics be damned! Heck, maybe even get rid of those IRS’s for some leaf springs and go back to drum brakes…much more surface area on them than on the superfluous discs everyone seems to be gravitating toward nowadays. Front end lift? What’s that?

Or, since you have no interest in Minis anyway, how about keeping your wonderfully irreverent and even more myopic automotive design opinions to yourself and just passing on by, as intended.

 

Wasn't TVR just sold?

No ... Porsche follows all EU regulations ... you can take that to the bank including things like sound regulations and new emission standards. In fact they are proud of that in their annoucements quoting how they are ahead of the regulations.