Not sure exactly HOW i got interested in minis... cos in high school all i wanted was a HQ Monaro or a HQ Sandman - i spent class after class dreaming of the final modification list for the Monaro... then for some reason i started cutting out pictures of minis from the library books.... i cant remember why though....oh well..
The first mini i bought was a red CLUBBY

(believe it or not), but it was for a friend who was looking for a car... bought it off a dodgey backyard mechanic who was also dodging up.... i mean "fixing" a Lotus Elise... this guy was dodgey as hell..
Took the mini for a test drive, and using my "library book knowledge", tested for anything i could think of... and it seemed quite good so i gave him the cash...
We ended up painting white GT stripes over the car with masking tape and spray cans, then went cruising an hour later (mozzies love wet paint at 60kmh

) A few weeks later the exhaust snapped
clean off while we passed a police car at Gleneg, they defected us, and then we managed to get pulled over every weekend after that. Most memorable moment was when we were racing DOWN a big windy road (the old freeway), only to run out of brakes at the final hairpin turn (doing 80kmh)... This car got us into
so much trouble, but it was so much fun. The addiction started here.
MY own first mini was in a friends garage. I just quit my job, and predicted alot of spare time coming up, so i bought the spotless '63 850 for a grand. Just like everyone else, i eventually sold it, then realised i should have kept it....