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Please pardon me while I get all nostalgic. It was 30 years ago today, 13 August 1974, that I bought my first car, a 1962 Mini. So it is sort of like my anniversary today. I had been completely fascinated by Minis ever since first I spotted one when I was 12 or 13 (they were very, very rare in the US back then, the last ones having been sold in 1967). By the time I was 17 I'd saved up enough money and began the search for one of my own. I finally found one and the deal was stuck. There used to be an advertising campaign in the UK with the theme "You never forget your first Mini". Very true. It was not the most reliable car in the world, having been through a series of previous owners. When I bought it, I had no mechanical skills at all. But after several years of ownership on a teenager's part-time job salary I had become a Mini mechanic of the highest order (or so I thought) by necessity. All of my mechanical skills were learned by studying a tatty old Haynes repair manual for the "BMC Austin/Morris Mini" cover to cover. I even accomplished a complete Mini engine rebuild by just following step-by-step instructions!
That Mini carried me through high school and college, and yes it did occasionally let me down. But I drove it like a madman believing I had the driving skills of Paddy Hopkirk winning the Monte Carlo rally. I loved it when it ran well, and I hated it when it broke down. When I graduated from college I got a "real" job and a "real" car and the Mini was stored in a friend's garage for 7 years. Now that I was no longer student-poor, I kept hoping that someday British Leyland (as the maker of Minis was known then) would see fit to begin reimporting brand new Minis to the US. I'd sure buy one if that happened! But being able to buy a new Mini in the US was just an empty dream.... (until 2002!)
Later, after I got married and had kids, I rekindled my Mini passion and pulled my old Mini out of my friend's garage. Time had not been kind to what was a fairly rusty car to begin with (I never really minded the rust when I was younger). Now, my tastes had changed, and I wanted to have a "nice" Mini, not a rust bucket. So I sold my '62 and purchased a newer Canadian-spec 1979 Mini 1000 from, you guessed it, a Canadian who a personally imported it to the US. After removing the huge ugly Canadian-spec bumpers, I dropped in a 1275 engine and enjoyed my first Mini with roll-up (rather than sliding) windows throughout most of the 1980's.
In the early 90's I stumbled on to a Aladdin's cave of 12 old Minis in a barn near Kansas City. They'd been put there in the 60's and were mostly untouched, very original, and not (too) rusty! Most of these time-capsule Minis were too expensive for me, but I settled on a nice Mini Traveller estate car (station wagon). Even though the Traveller was original, it had suffered from more than 20 years in the barn (home to lots of mice) and it needed a full restoration. It took me 6 years to restore it, and I still keep it as a weekend toy. In the mid-90s I sold my 1979 Mini and purchased a very original 1966 Austin Mini Moke 850. I loved the open cockpit and fun nature of the Moke, but I needed funds to finished the restoration of the Traveller, so I sold it after a couple of years.
In September 1997, I saw the first pictures of the "new" MINI concept car from the Frankfurt auto show. I was immediately in love! There was a little snippet in the press release that this new MINI was going to be sold in the US. Wow! My old dream of owning a brand new MINI might actually come true. I could not wait for the chance to own my own. Each month I'd scan the latest issues of car magazines or search the web (that's how I found MINI2) for more news on the new MINI, supposedly to be on sale in 1999 or 2000. Little did I know it would eventually take 54 months of waiting before I could buy a new MINI Cooper S of my own.
By 2000, it was clear that BMW's sale of MG and Rover and the switch of planned MINI production from the Longbride factory to the Oxford facility was only helping to delay the launch of the new MINI. I badly needed some sort of a Mini fix, and since I couldn't buy a new one, I decided to buy a used classic Mini Cooper as my daily driver. So I sold my daily driver Miata MX5 and imported a 1992 Rover Mini Cooper from the UK. Before it left the UK I had a full roll-cage installed as a rational reaction to planning on driving a 10-foot long car in the SUV-crazy US. This newer classic Mini Cooper was a blast to drive and dead-on reliable. But after less than a year of ownership, I began to wonder if its value (about $11K) would soon drop like a stone once brand new MINIs with warranties and all the modern goodies came on the US market for just $5K more. I decided to sell it before finding out if I was right.
In June 2002, I finally (!) got the opportunity to buy a brand new MINI Cooper S. In the 26 months and 29K miles since then, I have never been happier with a car. I may just keep it forever. Here's to the next 30 years!
.
+ 2002 MINI Cooper S - Dark Silver / White roof, Sport, Premium, Lapis blue leather
+ 1965 Mini Traveller - Tartan Red / White roof, 1275, Cooper S discs, fully restored/renewed
Very cool Bruce.
My story is a lot shorter.
Got to drive a Mini as a 14 year old kid while living in England. Friend of my older brother was nice enough to let me putt around in it.
RHD was a bit odd but ti was the first time I'd really driven a car around alone.
We were living on base at the time so traffic was minimal and slow.
Used to watch them run in what we called, parking lot rallies.
Loved them ever since.
Around 2000 I was looking to buy a nice Classic. I have a 4 mile commute so it would have been a fun car for that.
As I searched around the web I found more info about the new MINI. Very interested but got distracted by real life and forgot about it for almost 2 years.
Talked it over with the wife and it looked good to buy a new car.
Looked into the MINI again. Wanted one badly.
Years of abuse have given me sh*t knees so I was very concerned that getting in and out would be a problem.
July '02 I finally got to test drive one. Swallowed hook, line and sinker and was truly happy that the car was much easier to get in/out of than my current, at the time, car a LeBaron.
Bought one off the lot 2 days later. Sacrificed the MFSW but got the car 5 months sooner.
Just clicked over 2 years on ownership and I still enjoy driving the car.
That is a great story and yes it is a great car. We had a classic just a few years back and prior to that my father had a few in Africa that he went through
We are in two minds at present because want something different now and the Mrs would like a change of car but as soon as I get some spare cash we’ll have an other MINI
So until its time to say ciao to CoopRaNite, I enjoy every moment and you'd think I’ve stolen it every day
Happy motoring and roll on another 30 years
Does my @rse look big in this broom broom www.totalMINI.com will be right back
Our stories track. I bought my first Mini in 1972. A brand new Spanish Authi 1275GT that cost $2065. I was stationed in Spain while in the Navy. It broke my heart that I could not bring it home and I've missed it ever since. And I also got exicted about the new Mini, and suffered through the delays. Finally got my new MCS this last Ferburay at Long Beach Mini after being on their MSRP list for a year.
Here's a picture of me and my first mini, a 77 model, in 1979. I bought that car after moving here from the US where I spent my teens. My car over there was a 69 T-bird, so a little size reduction to get used to, as well as mastering the art of driving on the left with a manual transmission. I had that Mini for two years, followed by a 1275 GT version (no photos available - it was Kermit green!), for another year before it blew up on me. It's taken me over 20 years to become a Mini owner again, having bought a Cooper last December, and following my tendancy to upgrade to a faster model, a Cooper S coming in October. Both Red again. I have always wondered how many BMW Mini owners had an original one in their younger days.
When I had my first little Mini it was just me and my cat. Now it's me, him indoors, two teenage sons, two teenage stepkids, a golden retriever and a border terrier. Just glad they make 'em bigger now.
My first Mini was also a 62 model which I bought in 1980 when I was 20 years old. This was actually my first car as I was into bikes at the time, I only bought the Mini as I had a bad bike accident so couldn't ride a bike for a while. I kept it for about 2 1/2 years.It was pretty standard when I bought it but ended up with loads of bolt on goodies although nothing that made it actually go any faster!
Here's a couple of pictures:-
I have lots of fond memories of it and I'm sure that this was one of the reasons I went for my new Cooper.
Well a Mini was not my first car but I have had 3 (all Mayfairs with loads of extras on them - Opporto Red, Denim Blue and Nightfire Red) and am now waiting for the delivery of my MINI One Convertible in Hot Orange with Aero Body Kit (this is going to be the best!)
MINI One Convertible Hot Orange, Full Aero Kit, Heated Sports Seats, X-Lites, etc
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I had been completely fascinated by Minis ever since first I spotted one when I was 12 or 13 (they were very, very rare in the US back then, the last ones having been sold in 1967). By the time I was 17 I'd saved up enough money and began the search for one of my own. I finally found one and the deal was stuck. There used to be an advertising campaign in the UK with the theme "You never forget your first Mini". Very true. It was not the most reliable car in the world, having been through a series of previous owners. When I bought it, I had no mechanical skills at all. But after several years of ownership on a teenager's part-time job salary I had become a Mini mechanic of the highest order (or so I thought) by necessity. All of my mechanical skills were learned by studying a tatty old Haynes repair manual for the "BMC Austin/Morris Mini" cover to cover. I even accomplished a complete Mini engine rebuild by just following step-by-step instructions! 
Wow! My old dream of owning a brand new MINI might actually come true. I could not wait for the chance to own my own. Each month I'd scan the latest issues of car magazines or search the web (that's how I found MINI2) for more news on the new MINI, supposedly to be on sale in 1999 or 2000. Little did I know it would eventually take 54 months of waiting before I could buy a new MINI Cooper S of my own.
That brought tears to my eyes!! 
I now know that I made the right decision. I can't wait till my new MCS gets here! 
