Introducing Myself

We do not have a mini yet however I have a major love for them.. but we are on the way to buy a new Cooper D for the Mrs so just doing a heap of research at present hence my earlier question around engines..
We/I tend to buy cars carefully and hold on to them for many years, when choosing a car I always look at what looks good today will it still be appealing in 10 years time, I think mini's always will look great so even though the new ford has better fuel eco I can't see it in the driveway in 10 years time...

In 2000 I bought a 1991 HDJ80 landcruiser these are a 4.2 litre DI Turbo Diesel (1HD-T) which I have added an intercooler and 3" exhaust so buying a Cooper D is something that matches up with my 80... sort of :) My Wife has had her a 93 Celica since 2001 and this will be her first new car...

We are a little green as not only does my house have a solar pv system, evacuated hot water heater system but I have also been making and running Biodiesel for the 80 for 5-6 years the 80 has done over 100,000km's on B100 and loves it without any issues, don't worry I won't be bothering with running the Cooper on Bio as the new Common rails don't tend to like it much and besides I think that fuel economy of the new Cooper D hardly warrants bothering....

Anyway I will be watching this forum daily and will update you when we finally take that plunge....