Little Red is not really a watch

[Tom McIntyre]

I first owned an Austin Mini Van in 1965 when living in St. Catharines, ON. I have never had a vehicle that was more fun.

When Cooper/BMW decided to revive the Cooper/Austin mini design I began to lobby with my son who works for BMW to get them to reinterpret the mini-van. Last year they modified the Mini Cooper Clubman to close the back panels and redo the interior as a van.

Unfortunately they only managed to import 50 of them before the U.S. sales were halted due to a silly import duty on commercial vans.

Not to be deterred, I bought a Cooper Mini Clubman in solid red like my old Austin Mini Van and ordered vinyl window covers to convert it to the appearance of a van. I learned a lot wrapping the windows and may make another pass at it later, but I will leave these wraps on for a while.

 

[richiec]

Very nice job, Tom. Wish you luck with it. My stepson has an older Mini which he loves, me,I am a Ford man and Mustangs in particular. Not a cheap buy for those Clubman's, I could buy 2 Mustangs for one Clubman.

 

[Daniel W.]

Cool Tom. I like it.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

Very nice job, Tom. Wish you luck with it. My stepson has an older Mini which he loves, me,I am a Ford man and Mustangs in particular. Not a cheap buy for those Clubman's, I could buy 2 Mustangs for one Clubman.

If you have a child working for BMW (not a dealership) you get to buy their vehicles at below the dealer wholesale price by a substantial amount. BMW then pays the dealer a fee to handle the order processing and delivery.

My original Minivan was $650 one year old and I sold it 10 years later in the U.S. for $550 with the rear end rusted out. I doubt if the new one will be able to drive on top of new fallen snow.

 

[Les harland]

The original Mini estate car (station wagon) was derived from the Mini Van
You have gone the other way

 

[doug sinclair]

"Little Red" is almost 50 years newer than your '65 Mini. You should see a quantum of improvement over the earlier one. Comfort, performance, reliability, etc. And it should be as much fun! But you'll never forget the '65 Mini! Enjoy!

 

[Tom McIntyre]

I took Little Red out in the snow today and I was very impressed. It does drive on top of the snow.

It is clearly much heavier than the ~500 lbs my old one weighed (I think - two big guys or four ordinary guys could pick it up out of a ditch and set it on the road.) I guess increasing the tire size from the original 12" wheels gives about the same compressive force on the snow as the original.

 

[richiec]

Pair that up with improvements in tire technology, traction control, weight distribution and you get a much better handling vehicle. I think that you will find it will do surprisingly well in any type of weather.

 

[doug sinclair]

~500 lbs? The specs I have read say 567 kilograms, or 1,250 lbs! Four of my huskiest friends couldn't handle a Mini! But I do remember a time in grade 8 (1954) when the school janitor had one of the new​ (then) Volkswagen Beetles. A bunch of rubes from the school carried it up 12 steps to the school walkway, along the sidewalk about 100 feet or so, up 12 more steps, and placed it sideways in the portico at the front door of the school! Nobody could get in or out! The principal knew exactly who to delegate to return the car back to the curb where it belonged! Oops! No discussion allowed on this MB! Sorry!

 

[Tom McIntyre]

The mini van was much lighter than the mini or the estate wagon because the inside was completely stripped and there was effectively no under body. It was two wheels attached to a very small engine pulling an empty light gauge steel box.

Of course, I never actually weighed it. Maybe I was a lot stronger 50 years ago.

 

[Greg Frauenhoff]

Neat! And your wife let you buy a chick magnet at your age!?