I recently traded in my 2013 Mini Coupe, Chili Red with silver top, 6 speed trans. with 76K miles. It had some issues - needed struts, front end alignment, small oil leak in engine, hatch would pop when passenger door unlocked. Has new tires and brakes. I bought a 3rd generation Mini Cooper S, 6 speed, black. This is my 3rd Mini and loved them.

It is still at the dealership and price reduced 3 times, am I crazy to think of buying it back in hopes it will be a classic, collectable car in the future?

What are your thoughts?

 

All cars can become classics in 25 - 35 years or so.

 

Yeah, you're crazy

 

Classic maybe, investment to make money - not likely.

 

An old Mini will definitely collect your spare $

 

There's a reason they didn't sell well and got discontinued after 4 years. I love mine but I'm sure I'm not gonna get much back from the $40k I paid for it lol. We'll be 6 feet under by the time the car's a classic.

 

My comment which I edited 3 or 4 times then deleted addressed that very fact. My suggestion was to strip it down, put it back into concours condition, bury it under a mountain of hay and will it to the grandchildren.

 

The definition of "Classic Car" varies by state, but it originally meant a pre- World War two car of historical interest and worth preserving or restoring rather than scrapping.

Vintage cars are pre- WW 1 cars.

Pre-war Duesenbergs, Cadillacs, Bentleys, Rolls Royces, etc. are classic cars, anything newer than WWII is not.

Maybe they should come up with another name for cars built after WWII.

 

There is plenty of post WWII Classics and some are Milestone as the 1949 Buick Riviera, 1953 Corvette and original Mini but there is also a name for the others ........ they are called Special Interest Autos.

In my opinion, the only significance is the original Coupe Concept Car was a good design exercise on paper that became a disaster on the market because not adapted to the expectations of the buyers. The same prevails for the Roadster.

They will be remembered as the odd Mini with parts very hard to find.

 

The JCW Coupe is probably the fastest stock Mini on a racetrack ever built. Why? Because it shares the same stiffened chassis and lowered COG as a the convertible Roadster with stiffened body as well, and it has a top. It's the same size as the HB but reportedly handles better on a track. And it's fast. I've never had mine on a track though.

 

 

Well I don't count those as "stock" Minis. They were special limited edition racing editions with modded suspensions and engines. You take a JCW Coupe with a Stage 1 tune (like mine), mod/lower the suspension with some racing wheels/tires and it would compare favorably on a track with a GP I bet. I bought my Coupe off the lot at Scottsdale Mini. I doubt dealers sold GP's off the lots.

 

Well, OK - but they are in fact stock Mini's

 

Yes, GP's were allocated to dealers and sold off the lot. Actually many of them sat on dealer lots for many months (even the limited production GP1 took a year to sell out).

 

The GP was a little before my time here I think. Was the suspension modded/lowered? What more did they do to the engine, I assume it was a stock JCW turbocharger/tuned engine like I have. Not sure what else was done to a GP other than paint and spoiler cosmetics. My car has the "stock" sport suspension (mainly ASBs not lowered), and a spoiler, and the aftermarket tune adds probably another 40 hp so it's maybe 240hp.

 

They didn't sell because they were overpriced with delete standard features that made them not a good deal.

Who buys a daily driver just because it has 6 piston front brake calipers and a missing rear seat?

 

On the GP forum there were some links to the specs of the 2013. Same JCW engine (218 HP), a tad bigger brake unit, upgraded suspension (manually adjustable), Recaro seats (I have them), I think a fixed rear spoiler (Coupe's goes up/down). But it didn't say how much more they cost than the JCW (about $30k).

 

Thank you so much for all the replies.

 

Try out some twisties on the Appalachians and then decide for yourself.

My money is on classic over cute.

 

Most of the parts interchange with other 2nd gens.

 

I mean body parts, as panels, glass, spoilers, cabin trim ..... otherwise this is the econobox Mini parts bin that can be find anywhere.

 

I could be crazy but... every time I get behind the wheel of my '13 coupe I wonder, "Why doesn't everyone want to drive a coupe?" Of course, nobody ever answers me so I guess I'm not crazy after all. Still, I wonder. (About the car, not about being crazy.) I've owned quite a few automobiles and this is, by far, my favorite. Here's to a car that I will always consider to be a classic.

 

Yeah, all of us Coupe owners are a bit nuts. I've got mine paid off now so I'm going to maintain it at least for as long as it takes me to pay off my student loans. Classic? ehh, probably not. An oddity, certainly - but that's why I bought mine.
I don't see the weird coupe-only parts being much of a problem, really. Most of the stuff that's going to break is common with the other cars of its generation.

 

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicl...operworks#!tax

Just over 100 in the uk, jcw roadster n14

Oddly I cannot find a coupe listing

 

I think they only sold around 1000 Coupes/yr total in the US the last couple of years. Maybe 10% were JCWs?