I have a WC50 coming and have a dilemma and would like some input.

Daily driver or garage queen.

Garage queen will be driven rarely and remain bone stock except clear bra and tint. A collectors car and treated as such.

Daily driver is what I am leaning towards. However I would put on Bilsten PSS10 coilovers, camber plates, NM rear sway and end links, NM CF intake, hot, and cold side tubes, clear bra, tint, black gauge backs, and black out the exterior chrome (maybe the interior also).

Let me know if you think I should change mod list or keep it shrink wrapped.

 

Mod the hell out of it, but save all the stock parts. These cars are meant to be driven. If MINI wanted them in a museum, they'd only make one and put it there themselves.

 

Your question is, in essence, should you buy this car as an investment, (garage queen), or as a car you really want to drive, (daily driver).

My vote is to drive it, mod it, and actually enjoy it.

Making it an investment/garage queen would be dissatisfying. You'd always be concerned about putting too many miles on it, and you'd feel guilty about flogging it too hard, etc. Plus, this car yearns to be driven, and driven hard.

If you DO end up going the garage queen route, I'd think twice about doing ANY mods, (tint and clear bra). Is the clear bra and tint completely reversable/removeable? I don't know enough about it, but if you're keeping it as an investment, (that ultimately you'd sell one day), wouldn't a clear bra for instance, be a negative to a potential buyer? Me personally? I'd hate to have a clear bra on the front of my car.

Not criticizing; I just don't like the clear bra.

 

Someone should argue this point, but my take on collecting is that an enthusiast would buy two iterations. One to drive and one to mothball.

 

We already have a JCW Clubman for the wife with intake, intercooler, and exterior mods.

As a DD for me I want it to handle quite a bit better than off the showroom floor. Are my mods list reasonable? Or should I be doing more.

 

+1
I would rather see a well maintained/driven car then one that has sat collecting dust for 10 years. It shows its been taken car of and loved.

 

How about clear mask only and drive it 4-5k miles per year. I do that with my RS4 cab and enjoy both driving it and keeping it low miles.

 

Cars are not generally good "investments." The R53 GP was limited, its resale value is better than a non-GP from the same era, but they're dropping in value like all used cars do. Just drive it.

 

I would treat it like a queen that likes to have some fun once in a while. Take it to the track a couple times a year and keep it stock. I would not use it as a daily driver, instead just a couple hundred miles a month. If it was a regular JCW then whatever, but it's a WC50 man!! for me it would totally be a collectors car.

 

Bone Stock and driven with enthusiasm! This is a car that is built to enjoy!!

 

I say it's just another jcw in a special hand sprayed color so drive it and have fun. Treating it like a collectible will not make it one.

 

I have a 1977 Porsche 930 that I got with only 18K miles on it. Yes 18,000 miles in 30 years of use! The car had never been in the rain, and was completely bone stock. I decided that the car needed to be enjoyed and not kept in the garage for another 30+ years. I've since had the engine totally upgraded w/ racing cam, head studs, intakes ported, aggressive exhaust, upgraded disc brakes and shocks, etc... the body is bone stock yet performance components are totally upgraded. The car is a beast ...a total rocket! My point is that it's way more fun to drive a beautiful and unique car than it is to look at it in the garage.
the WC50 is a very nice car and one to seriously take care of, yet I would drive it. Maybe not every day to work and wouldn't park it at the Costco parking lot to get dings ...yet I would enjoy it as much as possible. I'd probably keep the looks of the car stock though ..it's already unique, why alter it.

congrats on the WC50!

 

I would say daily drive it, but imo keep the essense of the car intact. Performance wise I think upgrades would be fine but as fas as appearance I would leave it alone minus the ride height. To me theres nothing that should be messed with, and we all know moddiing one thing leads to modifing another...

If you do buy it as a collector's piece, dont expect to see any financial gain out of it. You probably werent even thinking that but if you were dont count on it.

 

Drive it, it's still going to devalue. The GP's with very low miles are worth less than new from what I've seen.

I wouldn't do too many exterior mods either, though chrome blackout seems fitting.

 

both are reversible (clearbra & tint).

drive it, but keep it low! *envious*

 

I have 1992 XJ6 Sovereign with 28000 km. My family has had it from new and it is rarely driven (once or twice a year). The amount of problems that I get from it not moving are immense (of course I realize that BMW is not Jaguar but still...) If you want, drive it on the weekends and on good days but don't leave it in the garage.

 

Final decision has been made.
Bilstein PSS10 coilovers, Hotchkis Competition rear sway bar, NM Engineering front strut bar, torque arm mount insert, and titanium heat shield, 3M Clear bra and tint, WMW stainless brake lines and high temp brake fluid, glossy black out all chrome and plastic arches and trim.

Car has been released to carrier so ordering all parts today and hopefully everything will be installed and ready to go for the holiday weekend.

 

This is going to be a collectors item. Are you going to see the value go up? Yes but, its not going to be for 30 years. Going with that drive it, enjoy it and make sure you keep it properly maintained. Oh and one last thing you will be driving a super rare car that means if you get any kind of damage to it you better fix it. My biggest pet peev is when someone has a really nice car and they drive around with lights burnt out, huge scratches, dents, and I have seen $100k Mercedes driving around with a completely busted out tail light that before I moved was like that for 3 years.

 

Congrats with the WC50. That is an awesome car!

 

Drive it, enjoy it.

As much as we enjoy our Minis, as far as "collectors items" go, I seriously doubt the WC50 will turn out to be anything like a '66 Shelby Mustang GT350H.

 

no offense--its a mini -its no garage queen
I have a 2004 911 40th anniversary 1 of 1964 made (not RARE) and its a garage queen to some degree since i rarely find time to drive it--
Guess what -its more or less the same price as a 04 911 coupe anyway
DRIVE it and enjoy it. I fully believe that-
Mike

 

Wow I think some people are forgetting that there is only 50 in the US 50 1 for every state basically. It will maintain its value ok and will drop and yes in 20 or 30 years might be worth something. I am not saying garage it but don't thrash it either.

 

Nope. I'm not forgetting that.

I'm just saying that it's not going to matter.

It needs something more than it having a limited edition badging on it to turn it into a truly collectible car.

For instance, the '66 Shelby GT350H was a limited production Mustang for Hertz Car Rental. Only 200 made. It has a real racing heritage. People rented them, taped numbers on them, then raced them on local tracks. Racers rented them, pulled the engines, put them in their cars, raced them, put the engine back and turned it back in to Hertz. Heck, Hertz still has a few you can rent. One in absolutely cherry condition would probably fetch about US$30,000 to US40,000 at auction.

The WC50s going to start around US$40,000.00 Give it a couple of years and you'll be lucky if you can get half that for it. 30 years? WC50 what? It'll just be another Mini Cooper.

 

Don't forget rear control arms.

 

Drive it!