Simons Mini Page
Background
Obviously the great British Mini is a motoring classic, from its
launch in 1958 it has been heralded as a superb piece of machinery. How many
other cars can you think of that are still being built nearly forty years
after their original launch.
Those of you out there (and there may be a few:) who have never owned or
driven a Mini are really missing out. They are easily the most fun motoring
you can have for only a few hundred pounds, but for a few dollars more ...
My Old Mini
This is the little monster which I used to own until recently.
It was originally an 81 City which received a few minor modifications under my
ownership,
alright a lot of modifications.
All the mechanicals came
from a scrap 1275GT which I bought for one hundred pounds.
I fitted the disk brakes immediately - and what a difference
that makes, it can stop in straight lines now (owners of all
drum braked mini's will appreciate the problem 
).
I then rebuilt the engine with all new performance parts, including a Piper Cam
and twin 1 1/2" Carbs, and fitted this
three months later. Yokohama tyres on the front followed
slightly later. The Dunlops wore out completely after a few
months of wet weather use, the old SP4's were a bit narrow to
cope with all of the power in the wet - especially on roundabouts
where the Mini is king. Finally a decent drivers seat,
4 point harness and the GT interior finished the conversion off.
The dashboard however was swapped for an original centre
console, purely out of preference.
Stats:Around 95bhp at the flywheel, and only weighing in at 600Kg, you can
work it out for yourself - but its more than some Ferrari's ! It could easily
fly from a standing start to 60mph in under 8 seconds, though this did
need some frantic gear shifting. The only problem I would say was left
with this car was the fact that the gears were too close, if you red-lined it
(a rather screaming 8000 rpm) then changing up would already be doing over
5000 rpm in the next gear. It was all rather noisy too, but that was part of the fun.
If the gears or final drive were suitably modified in a Mini gearbox to allow 60mph
in second gear then I have no doubt that this car would hit 60 in under 7 seconds.
Mine, my wifes and a friends mini re-enacting the Italian Job line up on my dads lawn. Click for larger picture.
Paddy Hopkirks 1996/7 (?) Monte Carlo Mini Cooper. Photo taken at Heritage Motor Museum, Gaydon. Click for
larger picture.
Here are a few nice Mini pictures I have come across on the Net.
Back to my home page
