Not at all.
There were a few of us! My mate had a series of them as well, we loved them and pretty much had rebuilt most of them from the chassis up with a 10mm spanner. Those and proper minis - not those 'orrible new BMW thingies.
(uk_viper stopped lurking on, Fri 13 Feb 2009, 11:59, 2 replies)

Worringly,
I have this picture on my mantelpiece. Framed. Beside photos of my family and loved ones:


( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Fri 13 Feb 2009, 12:07, closed)

That's the one! :-)
I loved mine as well, mine was blue though! They were absolutely bombproof. We once got one through an MOT after a mate had put it through a hedge backwards and bent the chassis by chaining one end to a tractor and the other end to a mates motor and driving in different directions. After that, just a little bit of filler in the kink in the subframe and she sailed through! :-)
(uk_viper stopped lurking on, Fri 13 Feb 2009, 12:19, closed)

Yay for proper minis!
They're just like bloody Mechano! Something goes wrong - reconditioned part is about £10 and you can just bolt it on and go!

I've been dreaming of getting a 2.0L 16v Calibra engined Clubman for a while now - had my 25th birthday last week so insurance is not bad, still kept a clean licence 'til now and don't need a big car anymore so can sell it and begin the project. Those Vauxhall red-top engines are good for around 180bhp BEFORE tuning so I'll post the inevitable Darwin story back here when it's done!
(Colonel Santiago Introduced surprised kitty to the world., Fri 13 Feb 2009, 15:23, closed)

Indeed.
We had loads of fun with a joint owned project between a couple of my mates in the form of a completely stripped out, tuned to the hilt, bored out cooper 1.3 with a stage 3 road / rally head and cams, koni shocks, minilites, road slicks and competition brakes & pads. It was an absolute terror on the track days, as nothing could sit with it through the corners and you could play with the 'big boys' rightly. Good times & as you said - cheap racing!

I've seen a a turbo'ed 2.0L mini with the 16V engine make a mockery of much bigger and much more expensive cars. By all accounts unless the suspension and brakes are well sorted the under-steer can be a bit of a problem though. :-)
(uk_viper stopped lurking on, Mon 16 Feb 2009, 16:17, closed)