Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Morning all,

The Mini Cooper is perhaps the best known example of a cooking family car, breathed upon by a company involved in motorsport.

Have you ever owned a Cooper-ised Mini (not the BMW MINI!!!), or indeed one of the other performance editions of normal cars???

RJ
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Rick - Admin
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[Riley Blue]

A Golf GTI, in fact nine of them over the years starting with the 1588cc Mk1 and ending with the 16V Mk2 - after that they became a bit bloated for my taste. Every one of the nine was modified in one way or another: suspension, brakes, engine, ICE, seats, wheels/tyres. I'd love to have my last one back, it was the best car of its size I've owned.
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David

1963 Riley 1.5
1965 Riley 1.5

[lowdrag]

Mk 1 Cooper S, breathed on further by Alexander, a Mk 1 Jetta GLi, the Q car of its day being the GTi in saloon form (but what a huge boot!); does a ZA Magnette count? My Dad's that but I loved driving it. There's one car I borrowed during warranty work on my company car that I've always wanted to own and it's the Dolly Sprint. Oh, a Mk 2 GTi 16 valve at the end of the 80s. Direct gearing, giving 80 mph at 4,000 rpm in 5th, meant that didn't last long. Too ruddy noisy as an everyday car. I've had others such as an M6 and my adorable 325 sport E30. Such a jewel of an engine that.

[Ashley]

My dad had a Mini Cooper for a time and I really liked it, power everywhere and not so laboured as the standard mini. He had a Riley 1.5 too, but its handling wasn't comparable and it rusted out.

[Ellis]

I owned a 1988 Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 which I bought when it was six months old.
That had a Skip Brown "Fast Road" conversion which consisted of a performance camshaft, high pressure fuel pump, Janspeed exhaust, uprated anti roll bars and suspension and internal engine tweaks. The result was a lumpy tickover, a ticking fuel pump and around an extra 30 bhp.
It went like a rocket.

Skip Brown Roadspeed were at the time (late 1980's) Peugeot approved and they were involved in Peugeot's touring cars and rally team.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Rick]

Has no-one here owned a Brabham Viva?

RJ
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Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
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[Ashley]

I had a BX19GTI that was vastly better and faster than the Golf. It flew and it was very comfortable.

[ukdave2002]

I had an XR3i and Astra GTE in the 80's allways fancied a Lotus Sunbeam, but the time when they could be picked up cheaply has long gone

[kevin2306]

[Ray White]

My Dad had a Ford Corsair 1500 GT which was the first car I drove. I had the slow but comfortable Austin A55 Mk1 so my brother took over the Corsair but he allowed it to deteriorate - which was a shame because they are practically extinct now. In fact the nice looking 2 door saloon was only ever made to order in the U.K. and rare RHD survivors are fetching high prices now.

A much better engine than the V4 Essex which replaced it, the 1500 Kent engine suited the car beautifully and was amenable to tuning.

[ka]

Mk1 Mexico, and Mk11 RS2000 for me. The Mk 11 was modified, slippy diff, carbs, cam, exhaust, suspension. Didn't we all!!!
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KA

Better three than four.

[bob2]

Had a mini cooper for around 4 and a half years!!
Wish I still had it! However my green mini has been breathed upon significantly and I can say without any hesitation that its much faster than the cooper I had which was a standard 1275!