I've done a bit of searching through the forum, but there's one question I haven't found an answer to. I'm hoping a few of you could chime in and give me your opinions.

I've been wanting a roundie for years, but for one reason or another, it just hasn't happened. Finally though, it looks like a Mini could happen fairly soon, so I plan to do something about it whilst the planets seem to be in alignment.

I have a little experience with older cars and I know what it's like to battle peak hour traffic without air conditioning & all the mod cons a lot of us have gotten used to having these days. I know about rust. And I know what it's like to hunt down obscure parts from far away places.

With Minis, it seems there are a couple of viable alternatives. We can buy a new BMW Mini off the shelf or we can buy a Rover Mini thats put in some time in Japan or the UK.

The BMW Minis don't do anything for me, but I think the Rover Mini could do it. It looks the part, but it's basically a modern car underneath it all.

My questions:
What is the general attitude to Rover Minis?
Is it still a Mini in the eyes of a Mini fan?
Would you have one yourself?
Is a Rover Mini a reasonable substitute for an original Mini?

For those with Rover Minis, does a Rover Mini cover all the bases for you?
Or deep down, do you still feel a hankering for a genuine Morris/Austin Mini?

Thanks in advance!

We all have our own opinions on what is a "true Mini". But i nthe end everyone else's opinion means nothing.

It's all about what you see a Rover Mini as. Do you like it? Do you want it? Etc, Etc, Etc....

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

Is it the white one on Ebay in Sydney?

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Your silliness has been noted.

These are my own opinions:

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"In two years time your car will be like a lady's clothes, out of date, my car will still be in fashion when I am dead" - Sir Alec speaking to Pininfarina

We all have different taste...If its one you like and can see yourself in it with a grin from EAR to EAR then its the right one for you...
A rover is as good as any mini it does have some nice creature comforts....Air con, Efi, Disc Brakes basicallly if its what your after...then go for it...

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DVS K
Toad the Moke
Brutus the Ute
Mean Monster
Purple People Eater

I don't see any problem with the rovers, with a bit of money they can be made to look a lot like a retro mini http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=38730 . I have a rover engine in me 1963 850 and I love it, however with the rovers they are a bi@ch to work on in the engine bay IMO and they do weigh a fair bit more that the early minis (close to 700-800kg I've been told) so power to weight ratio will suffer but on the hole I have no problem with the rovers

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Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

same body pressings (mk3 which we didn't get here but...)
same engine and gearbox
definately a true mini in my book, as to the word classic that can't apply to any car less than 20 years old in my personal opinion.

At the end of the day if you want one, buy one - why would you care what someone else thinks?

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Noli Illegitimi Carborundum

Buy a Rover Mini if you want one. Get on with a/c etc.

I did.

Then you will want an earlier mini too, so you will have to buy one of them as well.

Like I did.

Then two minis will not be enough, so buy another Rover mini also.

Like I did.

Then you'll want something with a 1275 Cooper S motor in it, so buy one of them, too.

Like I did.

Oh, then you won't want to take any of these minis out in the rain, You'll want a bit of luxury, and a supercharger, so pick up a second hand MINI Cooper S.

Like I did.

Then you'll decide the MINI is too nice to park in the shopping centre carpark, so get yourself a cheap second hand jap car.

Like the Swift Gti that I bought.


But seriously, if you want a classic Mini as opposed to a MINI, then a Rover Mini is a good choice.
The rustproofing and factory paint quality is a bit lacking, but this can be remedied. (Fortunately both my Rover Minis recieved top notch respray paint jobs in Japan).
And since the Rover Minis are basically the same shell that the rest of the world has had since 1976, almost all the stuff (parts and accessories, including all the bling bits) you can buy on the internet from the US and UK will fit the Rover minis.

If you fancy the look of the early cars, there are many parts you can buy that can be used to make a Rover Mini look like an earlier model.

One of my Rover minis has the 998 A+ motor, a/c, disc brakes with booster, and large fuel tank. It doesn't drive like a modern car, but it does drive like a modern classic Mini.
It is painted Old English White with a Burgundy roof, the flares have been removed, it has bumper overiders, Clubman style taillights, MkII bootlid, Mk I / II boothandle and Austin mk II Cooper S badges - i.e. a Austin Cooper S MkII replica.

Check out this link to see some of the things that are done in Japan to make the Rover Minis look like Mk I and Mk II cars

http://www.garage-morris.co.jp/top1/top.htm


Cheers,
Ray.

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68 Morris Minimatic - Blue/White


29 Chev tourer
31 A Coupe
63 Anglia
63 VW Beetle
69 VW Beetle convertible
89 Daihatsu Charade
03 Mitsubishi Mirage
07 Nissan Micra

Thanks for the replies guys.

I can understand why a few of you might wonder why I'd bother wondering what the general concensus is. I belong to other car clubs for other makes and I do a fair bit of websurfing, and you always seem to hear, "well the new model's not a bad effort, but nothing beats the old blah blah blah...".

Normally, I'd go for the original whatever it is, but in this instance, I reckon the Rover would cut it.

Scotta - I haven't actually trotted round to have a look at anything yet. The white one on ebay looks pretty good, so does the green one on the club website. There seem to be quite a few available at the moment.

M1n1 - I think you'd scare me if I was totally new to old cars and OCD.

Boyracer....most will agree on here with you that the Bini's just don't cut with us..but the Rovers have the classic shape with a few advantage that most would enjoy from time to time (Aircon).

The EFi is not the best for power if thats what you want, but you can change it over to a Carb with a little work

I'd do it and Welcome to this made house and Enjoy

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

I got my Rover put together by Steve at www.Brickwork.com.au
in Adelaide, this bloke really knows his work, and I cannot recommend him highly enough, have a look at his site and shop around, I will never regret buying a Rover,

Worth every cent, just for the smile it puts on my face.

Check mine out.... Its cool............

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Sorry that should have been

www.brickworx.com.au

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My advice is, go drive or at least be a passenger in all 3 (Mini, Rini and Bini) and judge for yourself.

Whichever one brings a smile to your dial, wins.

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

A few things to note:

Air Con is only common among ex-Japan Rovers, not those from the UK (although the majority of 80s & 90s minis in Australia seem to have come via Japan)

80s minis pre '87/'88 would actually be Austins, and Rovers after then.

All minis from around 1983 had front disc brakes

Parts are easy to get - although there is some differences in UK & Aus built ones so some parts are easier to get here in Aus than others. However - all parts are easily found online from the UK or US - it's just the shipping that'll kill ya!

Fuel injected minis only started around 1992 (someone will no doubt correct me if i'm worng but it was around this time) with Single Point Injection, MPI came later.

by 1997 the Rover's had a major update including dashboards (although it was an option on earlier ones) side impact bars, MPI engine and other safety & emissions stuff.

So a lot of the benefits you hear about for owning a 'Rover' may only apply to the most recent ones 1997-2000, or from Japanese ones (air con).

My 1990 Rover Cooper has a heck of a lot more stuff in the engine bay than a classic 60s mini - even though it's not really that different - still carb, 1275 etc.... - which makes it more difficult to work with.

There are a finite number of 'Rovers' in Australia, up until 2 years ago, cars could be imported using the '15 year rule' which meant that cars over 15 yo could be brought in. This scheme finished and was replaced by a date rule - so now the only 'new' imports are pre-1989.

This means that many 90s Rovers that are here will have been brought in as personal imports and that any new imports are pre-1989 cars.

There are other more complex and expensive ways of bringing newer cars in but post 1990 Rovers are pretty rare.

As Davo said Brickworx and other places like http://www.ozcooper.com.au will import these pre89 cars and then you can take them as they come or you can then spec them to be more up to date with components from later models.

Note that a used mini from Japan will most likely be in better condition than one that came from the UK. The UK has harsh winters and they use salt on the roads to melt the ice - this makes UK cars more prone to rust than others.

The Rover is still the 'Classic' mini - of course it's not technically a 'Classic Car' as they can be quite new but it is absolutely the Classic mini without a doubt

DITTO

Weevel, you said it all, spot on mate.

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