By Michael Kotowski Mind if I take a few measurements on this twelve footer?” I ask the guy at the trailer rental lot as I pull out my tape measure. “Go ahead,” he says, eyeing my classic Mini with a hint of suspicion. I measure the rear door and call out to my buddy Jeff,…
Despite the fact that the MGB and Midget soldiered on through the 70s with few changes (except for those mandated by increasingly more stringent safety regulations) it doesn’t mean that the crew at Abingdon wasn’t hard at work on developing new models for sale alongside – or in place of – those stalwarts. Due to…
I’ve collected vintage American cars of every make, Jeeps and more old Volkswagens than any sane man should ever own. Loved them all. But Minis….classic Minis that is…transcend any other car culture I have ever been involved with. Even within the British car crowd, there’s something about a classic Mini. It’s hard to describe yet…
We really enjoyed the motoring challenge this year, after getting started last year and then never really continuing due to life and all that happens with that. Our goal was to go for our usual fun drives, plan a route, and hopefully get a few points each time. This meant sticking to back roads as…
The Mini didn’t make nearly the impression in the United States that it did in Europe, mainly because the idea of tiny cars competing with Detroit iron on the freeways didn’t sound like too safe a proposition. However, on the narrower main roads and tiny lanes of European towns and cities, the Mini quickly won…
“How could a car this small hold so much dirt, grease and oil,” I thought as I alternated between applications of degreaser and a paint scraper to the firewall of the little car. It was obvious after pulling the head off of the 998cc A-Series engine that the tappet chest cover gaskets were leaking and…
Without Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, there’d be no Mini. The car’s chief engineer and designer—raised a subject of the Ottoman Empire by his Greek father and Bavarian mother—was widely known for penciling freehand engineering sketches. The stubborn eccentric designed the original Mini by eye and despised mathematics. “You must not mix function with fashion in…
It takes a certain amount of stubbornness to drive a tiny Classic Mini Cooper in a rural area populated with cowboys driving enormous pick-up trucks. The Cooper could fit in a flatbed with plenty of room left over for some hay bales and a few farm animals. But Ken Hyndman, the Classic Mini pro on…
At the end of August 1961, John Whitmore had been racing in Denmark at the Roskilde Ring, doing battle with the work’s Saabs. He and Eoin Young then hurried down motorways to arrive in Germany at Adenau, performing a handbrake turn in the car park to celebrate a non-stop marathon. John and I were to…
Car owners have always loved vehicles that seem to smile. That’s one reason why the Mini was one of the most successful automobiles of all time, but there are plenty more reasons too. It’s easy to upgrade performance and customize appearance, it has cachet and it’s a blast to drive. No wonder 5.3 million Minis…
