Regular Car Reviews: 1966 Morris Mini Cooper

Показать описание

I drove a classic Mini. I know everything about Great British-England now! I know all the U.K. Things. Here are all the facts about Britianengland:
1) UK has one main highway. It is called the A4.
2) If you don't pay your Government TV bill, thugs come to your flat and beat you up.
3) Everyone lives in flats.
4) The BBC can't afford desks for news presenters.
5) Brighton Beach only existed in Quadrophenia.
6) Their paper money has Wi-Fi
7) They like Steve McQueen way more than we do.

Рекомендации по теме

Комментарии

"The whole country is the size of Delaware, that's why cars are so small" Pure gold right there

FranciscoFJM

"They call a liquid gas." Jeremy Clarkson

totallywinningprogamer

As a Classic Mini owner in England, I can tell you that the British public do have a sincere fondness for these cars. Everyone seems to have a memory of them, it might be that they owned one in the past, or their parents took them to school/on holiday in one, their best friend had one etc. I've often seen people stop and stare at mine and even occasionally take a photo of it, and mine isn't even a great example although it is a genuine Cooper with the white roof and bonnet stripes which makes it stand out more. So I'd say the public other here so treat it in the same regard as a classic Mustang in America.

Thumbs

"Who needs to see the forest, when the trees are this pretty."

-Mr. Regular 2016

sqlevolicious

"How is this car faster in a corner than a Fiesta ST?"

It might have something to do with the fact that it weighs 1400 pounds. That's 500 pounds *less* than a Lotus Elise.

douglasberry

damn. a 50 year old compact car cornering completely flat. defintely impressive.

Chillquil

My first car was a '79 Mini back in 1996 when I was 16 (Mini's were sold in Canada for alot longer than the US and they were still kind of common for a classic car back then). I payed $600 CAD. It was a rust bucket and my uncle welded a couple old road signs to replace the rotten floor pan. If I ever forgot the speed limit I just had to look down at my feet and see "80 km/h" looking back at me. I often exceeded that- though not by much- but still enough to get my first speeding ticket.

5.0 Fox Body Mustangs were THE f*"king car to have for rich kids at the time... And the guys who had them HATED me. Every girl in school wanted to go for a ride in my "cute little car". It was awesome...

Also, on the narrow winding back roads of Vancouver Island, my 40hp, 998cc car could f*"king smoke a 5.0 through the corners. It would just get farther and farther away after every corner. The brakes sucked, but it didn't matter- you didn't need them. Just a well timed down shift and the ungodly grip and invisible railroad track that holds these cars on the road.

Many good memories.

bhanson

Best. Review. Ever. Mr. Regular, that was 9 minutes of pure poetry. You are a master wordsmith.

MylesHSG

Very interesting to hear an American perspective. I think you've understood our love of the Mini very well. My mother had one of the very first 850 Minis (badged Austin) and a few years later bought a 998 version. Over the years I've owned one myself and driven many. Growing up in the 1950s and 60s, I can tell you the car felt modern; not in the sense that it was cutting edge tech (it wasn't) but because it broke with the old class system. The Mini was as loved by the wealthy elite as much as by blue-collar workers; it had no pretensions to either grandeur or overt poverty.

The triumph of function gave it a form that worked superbly - clever packaging combined with very light weight - and what little weight there was, was right over the driven wheels. That meant understeer was banished by more power and lift-off oversteer didn't really occur (unless at racing speeds) because the car is so light at the back and so short. At around 600kg and not much more than 30 bhp, even the 850 had 50bhp/tonne - in the 1950s! I had friends who easily managed 100 bhp from their 1275s and, with a little lightening managed 150bhp/tonne on very tight budgets. Many bigger cars from the USA and elsewhere had better power to weight ratios but few were so light and had no chance keeping up with a sorted Mini on the twisty bits. But even a standard car could outrun almost anything on the narrow Devon lanes of my childhood, so nimble was it where it really counts.

NickNakorn

Makes my Geo Metro look like a Ford Excursion

AnytimeMinutes

"This is a daily driver for the owner..."
...You know this car is THAT good when a 50-year-old European car is literally daily driven.

keybyss

Even we in Europe think this is a small car. And then you know the car is REALLY small.

Roberto-qs

NO! I do not want to be reminded of Fry's dog.

lemer

"Who needs to see the forest when the tree is this pretty"
Manly tears were shed.

Lancaster

You get MAJOR POINTS for getting an original Cooper and not one of those 90's flared things with stripes. Thank you. I have driven a 1000, most fun I've ever had behind the wheel. The best part was when I drove past an unloading school bus. The children cheered at me. You will not get that in any other car.

thimble