We had our one and only fire in one. Going past REound Oak Steelworks outside Brum (closed and now a shopping arcade) , road was very bumpy, rear mounted SU sprung aleak onto exhaust and flames everywhere.
Passing motorist helped with fire extinguisher and after a new brake flexi hose , new rear wheel cyclinder and some paint plus new pump and petrol hoses, was Ok for another 3 years..
The joys:-)
madf
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It was a good car between 1958 and 1968, it became increasingly irrelevent when the MK1 Escort came out and progressed thru it's various guises. It's gone, it's history. I can't understand why it became the "most sucessful cars sales wise that there has been" it simply wasn't, that probably was some Toyota or other that were actually sold in industrial numbers rather than in almost "hand made" numbers. The Mini was never developed, if it had evolved logically over it's lifetime it would probably look like the current MINI only more shabbily built.
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>>Yes, I saw about 40+ at the weekend. But that was because last w/e @ Cornbury Park (nr Charlbury, Oxfordshire) hosted the "Mini in the Park" event
Was there myself, but I think it tells the story that we left our Mini at home and took the Fabia. The thought of driving from Yorkshire to Oxford late on a Friday night in the Mini didn't appeal at all.
It's a shame that the world has changed to such an extent that the Mini isn't really a sensible proposition anymore. I just won't let SWMBO take it into work, too many pfd s in 4x4s and SUVs. Was talking to colleagues about it on Monday and they remarked that it was hard to imagine me (I'm a fairly high and wide bloke) in the Mini; but I fit well. Made me ponder that it was no more silly than a 5'2" person driving a Shogun.
Sad, but cars like the Mini couldn't exist to be sold today. The MINI is about as good a replacement as you could hope for. Park them next to one another and you can see the design cues and I don't think BMW have done such a bad job of it tbh.
-- You know, it\'s not like changing toothpaste
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I agree. TVM dislikes the MINI on the basis that it´s a pale imitation.... in some respects, yes. The Audi A2 and Merc A-class were undoubtedly more in the spirit of the original mini, in the sense that they offered big interior space with minimal exterior dimensions. Obviously driving dynamics weren´t the step forward that the mini had been, relativive to class competitors, but I always got the impression that this was a happy accident rather than something inherent in the mini design to begin with.
But how well did they actually sell? Certainly not as well as BMW´s MINI, which, despite huge teething troubles has gone on to be a massive success in Europe and the US. The Oxford plant is working flat out, employing loads of British workers. BMW recognized that a big part - accidental or not - of the original mini´s appeal was its looks and driving dynamics. Hence, we have an impractical 2+2 that is a hoot to drive (apparently - I´ve not yet had the pleasure) and has sold like hot cakes throughout its production life, taking many design cues from the original, IMHO to its benefit.
Compare with the mess VAG made with new Beetle.
Compare with the innovative A2 that is about to go out of production, without an immediate replacement - the market wasn´t interested.
Compare with the Elk-test failing, under developed and ultimately pointless A-class.
BMW didn´t do such a bad job.
Rehards all,
Barchettaman
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If you want a tiny car that handles like a go kart with a wheel at each corner and a pushrod engine, that's one of the cheapest and smallest new cars you can buy, that can seat four six footers but not five people of any description, with door bins but no glovebox and a cute girly appeal, that has masses of dealers and can be fixed by any mechanic anywhere, get a Ford Ka.
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Tee hee DHM, point taken really, pity I don't like the KaKa...
But the real thing about the Mini was that it was then not now, revolutionary in several ways that made it friendly and chuckable. People called it 'classless' too because it was a convenient urban runabout, but that didn't stop rock stars and so on from paying premium prices for heavyweight ones with extra silencing, walnut dashboards and proper internal door handles. Those and its sporting willingness were the reasons why people loved it, perhaps more than it deserved, perhaps beyond its time... but that's love for you.
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>>BMW didn´t do such a bad job.
Not considering they 'inherited' it when they parted with Rover. The MINI was already under design when BMW bought Rover and like the 75 was designed in-house by Rover employees. The new MINI was always destined to fill the gap of the city car that the Metro left then it was took out of production.
Like the 75 it had BMW influence however it was only influence. BMW knew it was a jewel in their crown hence keeping it when they sold Rover and marketed it as a niche product.
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The mini was never a successful car. It may have sold in numbers, but not at a profit. When Ford got hold of an early model and costed it they reckon each car was being sold at a loss of £10. Typical of what the British call a success, as with Concorde. Comercial disasters.
The car would have been fun to drive if it wasn't for those ghastly sliding windows. Everytime you altered direction by more than 3 degrees you had to spend another five minutes fiddling with the things to get a bit of ventilation without an accompanying tornado.
--
Robin Reliant, formerly known as Tom Shaw
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Stu, you seem fixated on proving that the mini is a great car.
>If you have a soft backside, weak arms and a general inability to pilot a motor vehicle, then its true, older car designs will be too much for someone with those disabilities because the lack of driver aides and lounge comfort would be too much to cope with.
Sure, assume we are all diminished in some way because we like power steering and comfortable seats. Are you weak because you insist on a roof on your car? Your logic would extend to that - Veteran cars often didn't have roofs. Are you soft, or what?
>Quite frankly, Ive heard so many horror stories about new cars being so unreliable that I dont think the 'mustard' is being cut any better today than it has been in the last 25 years. Even my brand new van had rust on it two weeks in, so wherein lies the point of a new car and claims that they are somehow an upgrade?
You are joking. Remember when EVERY morning in winter there would be people pushing their cars down streets to get them going? When every mile of motorway hard shoulder would have a broken down vehicle or two? I do, and you must be looking through rose-tinted spectacles at the past to believe anything else. As for putting the mini's distributor cap immediately behind the radiator grille to make sure it caught every single molecule of roadspray and rain...
>I drove Minis as part of my living and if looked after, they were no trouble. Never had one break down on me and if your intelligent enough to be aware of the state of your cars structure ( although anyone who knows Minis would tell you to rust-proof the thing ), then bits falling off and rust eating away at load bearing areas is easily avoided.
You seem to be suggesting that it's OK to supply cars in such a state that the owner should have to rust-proof them rather than the factory.
> Todays car buyers are just too soft and want no responsibility for the state of their own cars, but are quite happy to complain when what can obviously be avoided, happens anyway......
There is probably something in this - reliability is so good that people take it for granted.
You quite clearly love the mini. I loved mine - in its day it was super, but it quite simply (to go back to the OPs question) would not hack it today. Face up to it; the world has moved on.
V
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It would be impossible to re-introduce in a format that people would want. How could you engineer all the safety bits and pieces such as airbags and curtains, ABS etc. that every wants in such a small design. Also people want air con etc.
And why was that fan located sideways under the bonnet?
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So that it could be driven from a belt off the crank. Saved spending money on an electric fan, switch and wiring.
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It would be impossible to re-introduce in a format that people would want. How could you engineer all the safety bits and pieces such as airbags and curtains, ABS etc. that every wants in such a small design. Also people want air con etc. And why was that fan located sideways under the bonnet?
The later mini had airbags, ABS would be easy to engineer, curtains would be tricky, but not beyond the realms of possibility. Export minis for Japan all had aircon, and the fan was at the front of the engine in the latter few years of it's run. Granted the engine could barely be seen under all those ancillaries!
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"You quite clearly love the mini. I loved mine - in its day it was super, but it quite simply (to go back to the OPs question) would not hack it today. Face up to it; the world has moved on."
It may well have, but on another thread people are still asking whether the 21st century MIni is a good car for long journeys. Well, if after 50 years of car development, the new Mini is not a superior car, then heaven help us.
I've not driven the new Mini but I would imagine most of us would rather tackle a long journey in the new Mini rather than its predecessor but there again again there's nowt so queer as folk, it seems.
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I suggested that the car was a sales success which any car that sells in the millions can surely be considered as such. Also any car that manages to stay on sale and find buyers for 40 odd years is also a success.
Whether it made any money is irrelevant in terms of whether it was what people wanted. It wouldnt have sold if people didnt want it would it?
I stand corrected on the last Minis made, but one has to question whether the last ones sold were from stock as the last one I cleaned before they went off the price lists sat in the showroom for the best part of a year.
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those last minis were a disgrace stunorthants absolutely no protection on the undersides at all in fact the only car that gets near them is the k11 micra for saving 10 bob in underseal...........
good riddance to tat........... :-(
no animals were hurt in this posting
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No it will not. The Mini changed tthe design of small cars and was great in its day. Since the car has a loyal following and presumably a thriving spares industry, it's always possible someone will be able to produce a few new 'old' Minis but how many people would buy one?
As for the new mini, I've always thought of it as a bit of a pastiche but it does have a precedent in that Issigonis's original Mini cribbed its styling from a larger one-off prototype, the XC9001.
see: www.austin-rover.co.uk/images/ado17dev_03.jpg
Morgans have survived by some miracle but in general even long-lived models are laid to rest in the end. Even the dear old Land Rover Defender, based on the 1983 90 and 110 models, is now looking like something from WW2.
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those last minis were a disgrace stunorthants absolutely no protection on the undersides at all in fact the only car that gets near them is the k11 micra for saving 10 bob in underseal........... good riddance to tat........... :-( no animals were hurt in this posting
So then by your logic, a Ford Ka with rusting inner wings is also a disgrace, therefore, nobody should buy one?
Or how about a three year old Jaguar XJ with corrosion in the doorshuts?
Or my Suzuki which didnt even arrive from the factory properly painted, therefore started to rust as soon as it got here, if not before.
Or how about a two year old BMW 530 with rusting door pillars and bootlid?
I also have a customer with a Merc SLK which has a serious rust problem developing around the bootlock on her car.
I dont see that anything has changed from the Mini at all. Poor manufacture is still alive and well.
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I suggested that the car was a sales success which any car that sells in the millions can surely be considered as such. Also any car that manages to stay on sale and find buyers for 40 odd years is also a success. Whether it made any money is irrelevant in terms of whether it was what people wanted. It wouldnt have sold if people didnt want it would it?
I wouldn't call a car that helped to bankrupt it's manufacturers a success. I wonder how many they would have sold had they priced it at a level where it made a profit? Most of it's appeal was that it enabled motoring on the cheap.
--
Robin Reliant, formerly known as Tom Shaw
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Toyota Corolla (1966?present) ? over 30,000,000 in nine generations up to 2005.[1]
Ford F-Series (1948?present) ? over 29,000,000 in eleven generations.[2]
Volkswagen Golf (1974?present) ? 24,000,000 in five generations up to 2005.[3]
Volkswagen Beetle (1938?2003) ? 21,529,464; the bestselling single design in history, and the first car to reach twenty million sales.[4]
Ford Model T (1908?27) ? 16,500,000; the second bestselling single design, and the first to sell five, ten and fifteen million cars.[2]
Honda Civic (1972?present) ? over 16,500,000 in eight generations.[5]
Nissan Sunny / Sentra / Pulsar (1966?present) ? over 15,900,000 in ten generations.[6]
Volkswagen Passat (1973?present) ? over 14,000,000 in five generations.[7]
Lada Riva (1980?present) ? 13,500,000 until exports to Europe were discontinued in 1997; production continues in both Russia and Egypt.[6]
Chevrolet Impala (1958?present) ? over 13,000,000 between its introduction and 1996; the bestselling full-size car in history, and the bestselling car in a single year (more than one million in 1965).[8]
Oldsmobile Cutlass (1961?99) ? 11,900,000 across several platforms and generations.[9]
Chrysler minivans (1984?present) ? over 11,000,000 across three marques up to 2005; Chrysler (Town and Country, Voyager), Dodge (Caravan) and Plymouth (Voyager).[10]
Toyota Camry (1983?present) ? over 10,000,000 in five generations.[11]
Ford Fiesta (1976?present) ? over 10,000,000 in six generations.[12]
BMW 3 series (1977?present) ? over 9,500,000 in the first four generations to 2005.[13]
Fiat Uno (1983?present) ? approximately 8,800,000 worldwide to 2004; before being replaced in Europe in 1995 sold over six million.[14][15]
Renault Clio (1991?present) ? the bestselling French car; 8,535,280 in the first two generations up to 2005.[16]
Renault 4 (1961?92) ? over 8,000,000 of a single design.[17]
Ford Mustang (1964?present) ? over 8,000,000 in five generations.[2]
Ford Taurus (1986?2007) ? approximately 6,700,000 in four generations.[18]
Fiat Punto (1993?present) ? over 6,000,000 up to 2005.[19]
Buick LeSabre (1959?2005) ? over 6,000,000.[20]
Chevrolet Cavalier (1982?2005) ? estimated to be over 6,000,000 in three generations; 5,210,123 were sold up to 1999.[21]
Ford Explorer (1991?present) ? over 5,500,000 in four generations.[22]
Mini (1959?2000) ? the bestselling British-made car; 5,505,874 in a single design.[23]
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Wow. That's some list.... I am impressed.
Biggest surprise is the Riva!!
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ford f ...........29 million and i only want one :-( at a sensible price.
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