15k: Cosworth Tuned: 1963 Austin Mini Cooper
The original Austin Mini Mk I is one of those iconic cars that makes the driver cool no matter how much a of a douche bag he may be. There are some cars…cough cough newish BMW…gak…something in my throat…any 911…cough…yeah, better now…that turn any nice-guy driver into an immediate target for ridicule (porcupine jokes…etc), but the original Mini brings with it an instant aura of awesome like an invisible Chuck Norris is giving you a pat on the back for some unknown success. Great job man, and you can rub my beard for good luck. Find this 1963 Austin Mini Cooper for sale in SF Bay Area, CA for $17,500 via craigslist and hardtuned.com. As posted by CKEFFER on oppositelock.
I know what you’re thinking…an Austin Mini, with huge fender flares and a Union Jack on the roof for almost seventeen large? In all fairness the asking price on this one is really optimistic, but this maniac Mini just exudes cool even when sitting still.
Pop the steel foward hinged hood (so cool) and underneath a structural reinforcing tubular space frame is a Ford Cosworth 1.7 liter BDA engine that would have made 120 horsepower when new in a 1971ish Ford Escort RS. This BDA (Belt Driven A-Type) engine is a dual-overhead-cam screamer from back in the day but now could put out something between 150 and 200 horsepower depending on cam/compression ratio/exhaust/intake/tuning..etc.
The inside of this Mini is a mixture of racecar and F14 fighter jet. The form follows function gauge setup and F14 joystick (with functioning buttons that control lights!) combine to distract you from the Union Jack headliner.
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I wonder why it's posted on Houston CList.
The same reason it's listed on NYC CList –
newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/cto/4267627469.html
Any 911? What about this smokin' hot wing, this very practical sedan, this "The Man" version, this chromy bulbous monster, or this Chuck Norris special?
Who doesn't love a 911? They drive nice, have robust engine/gearboxes and look great…but…show up in even a beater SC and random people give you the stink eye like you are some kind of millionaire who sells kids on the black market.
Sweet handling, and not to say I wouldn't drive one because who cares what other people think, but the Lumbergh stink is hard to get off those things…
"Lumbergh stink". Genius.
I had a love/hate relationship with vintage racing mini a dozen or so years ago and this thing triggers a bunch of my vintage-racecar nerdgasms.
Mini? Check.
Union Jack on roof? Check.
Big-ass fender flares making it almost as wide as it is long? Check.
No rubber cones? Check.
Enough cage I wouldn't be worried about getting squished by and SUV but the bars are far enough away I don't need a helmet all the time? Check and check.
No more transmission sharing oil with the engine? Check.
No split port silliness? CHECK! B! D! -FING-A! CHECK! B! D! A! B! D! A!
That is a brilliant alteration to a Mini and one of the most fantastic engines ever in my book.
God what a glorious sound a BDA makes! God bless you Misters Cos and Worth.
I love this. I want to put a partial interior in it and drive it on weekends with my girl's squealing in delight in the passenger seat (ok, one at a time, sorry girls) while that engine sings it's glorious sound as daddy cackles like a 4 year old and I run it to redline between every shift just for the joy of it.
God this is lovely. Too bad I don't have 17k laying around…
Sigh. A man's gotta dream…
Blimey, got so distracted by the 911 comment and the porcupine joke (easily Googled, hehe) I didn't even scroll down to look at the car, doh. That stick, those gauges, the riveted-on flares, all brilliant! I wonder if I could get 6 of my pals to go in for $2500 each?
Car coolness must be a regional thing, because in the areas I've lived, driving an original mini is only a couple steps better than stepping out of a new beetle convertible.
It has a Union Jack headliner. Not just a roof, but a headliner too. A Union Jack headliner. In a race car.
What happens to the Union Jack after Scotland goes independent? They're the blue part of the flag.
They can taaik our lyves, but they can nevar taaaik our frrreeedom!
I'm not sure this one makes you look cool, so much as reveals that you are actually slightly insane.
I still totally would.