Who are you & where do you come from?

[Coalhod]

Ok, I'll bite.

Andrew from Pennsylvania aka Coalhod as I have worked in the coal mine for 30+ years hope to retire soon in one piece.

Hooked on these cars since 1967 when my brother purchased a new S. I was 12 at the time and after riding along a few times found out where the term "giant killer" came from.

Have had my current Mini Cooper for 40 years or so and do my own work on it because very few shops recognize the car and the shops have bodged various things on the car over the years. I have been stopped and asked "What is it?" and they look puzzled on my reply as they think of the BMW car and do not know the history of the Mini. I always say "see the resemblance?" but it stops there.

Glad to be a part of this forum for the knowledge here.

[66 1275S]

Hi, James Horner from Pontefract West Yorks. 46yrs young! Been working in the classic restoration world since 1990, mainly 1950s MGs. first Mini at the age of 17 and never without one. Just finished a 1275s build and starting on a 62 van next.

[rogerotto66s]

Roger Williams, 68, Collegeville, PA, USA

Loved minis since I was a teen during the Monte Carlo years. I raced to the newsstand to purchase AutoCar magazine.

Bought my 1966 Austin Cooper S in 1993 from the original owner who was a Brit.
He bought as a Personal Export, drove it some in England and then shipped to the US.
It is the real deal re: numbers match.

I worked on it from 93-99 (totally disassembled, body work, paint, engine rebuild) and then it sat until retirement in 2018. Having a blast putting it back together.

Also had a 2002 BMW mini for ten years before selling.

[TECH396]

Hello to everyone. I'm new to this site, but not new to Minis.
Born in 1961 in Fleetwood UK, where my Dad had his first Cooper in 1963
We Immigrated to Canada in 1964 and call the west coast of Canada home.
I served my apprenticeship working on British Cars, then owned and operated a British car service facility for 7years before moving into estate property management, and in charge of maintenance of all equipment and site infrastructure.

My car (A 1968 1275 S )was built in April 1968. Has only 12000 original miles as a result of being in storage since 1974 !
I've owned 15 minis in total.

Paul.

[Bitsilly]

Gudday all,
I am Ed, or bitsilly, a name I got ages ago from putting a tuned V8 in a Westfield and driving it through a hedge.
I used to buy the only minis I could afford for less than £100, weld them up from the inside and drive them for as long as possible, I guess I had 6 or seven like that.
Once the budget allowed, I had two RSP's and a like new MPi none of which I enjoyed as much as the old ones.
I now spend most of my time restoring old british cars as keepers, quickly getting bored of them and selling them for a hideous loss.
But I love it!

Ed

[hanlminiman]

Hello my name is Cliff.
I had my first Mini experience outside the school gates when an older kid (17) arrived in a 850 Mini around 1964/65. My Dad wouldn't let me have a Mini as my first car as he had experienced French front wheel drive cars in 1944 & 1945 in Normandy and northern France; he would never explain why but he was serving in the "Bomb disposal section." I am a fan of A series engines though as my first car was an A35. Around 1968/69 a friend had a Mk2 Mini and I directed him around the local lanes. We were doing quite well but in 1972 my career changed and my rallying days ended. Marriage & family got in the way for many years but I did get to spectate on a few Lombard rallies in the 1980s & 1990s.
In 1999 I attended Mini 40 at Silverstone but not in a Mini. The family did have one as my 16 year old son was not impressed with a Metro but we did manage to source and acquire an x reg, 10" wheel Mini City which he drove to destruction from 1996 to 1999.
At Silverstone I saw the Ex Works display and also the Italian Job Charity Run stand. In 1969 I went to the local cinema to see the Italian Job film with a my friend, soon to become my brother in law in 1971. 3000 miles in my son's Mini with him - YES. Sadly an AA report recommended no further than 3000mm!
Dejected or what?
In the year 2000 there was a supermarket handout "Autotrader?" I picked one up and noticed and advert for a 1997 mpi close by. My father in law suggested I went and had a look. We did. I have had that car since March 2000. I am the 2nd private owner. The first name registered was "John Cpper Garages."
Italian Job - Millemium Run. Most Sponsorship award.
Italian Job 2001 - Participant.
2004 Lombard Rally Revival Rally - Finisher award.
2005 & 2006. Mk3 s HRCR Road Rally Championship competitor.
2005 & 2006 Mpib Endurance Rally Champioship events.
2005 - became custodian of 1965 Austin Mini Cooper S Radford de Ville GT - Countryman Hatchback conversion
Restored the Mk3 s after a little incident. Luckliy not a couple of weeks before in Northmberland on Niall's MCR event. Currently refurbishing the Radford since February 2019 and during lockdown this year after multi panel replacement with other repairs plus full bare metal respray.
It's a Mini adventure and I'm loving every minute.


I

[Pete]

Many years later, in the early nineties I bought a white, black roof one owner '63 Austin 1071S, 4420 PF, with under 30,000 miles on the clock. Mini Machine freshened up the body. It was perfect, Why did I sell it, especially to Sussex Sportscars, who bought it unseen. I think it went to Japan.

As you know Bryan 4420 PF did go to Japan to ‘British Garage Weslake’ but as you know it wasn’t Sussex who shipped it, it was Heritage Garage who sold it to the Japanese buyer. He’s still got it after thirty years and it’s barely done a few thousand miles in all that time. Probably one of the most original 1071 Ss I’ve ever seen, never been welded, original chassis, engine, body and FE plates all still in situ and there can’t be another 1071 on the planet with lower mileage than that can there? 2nd owner bought it from the Cooper Car Co 2nd hand, in fact the invoice for that purchase was separated from the car and sold on EBay in 2006. (Obviously paperwork like that has its own value) but the 2nd owner barely drove it and you bought it from his family when he passed. Knowing how few 1071s survive completely intact nowadays I’d say that’s a pretty special car! You may remember that John Parnell himself inspected the car to get an up to date logbook for it back in 1992.

[Joel Welsh 4769VU]

Hmmm. Never saw this thread!

Well, I'm joel welsh. Hence the screen name.
Now, 51 years old.
I'm American, living in Ohio, originally from michigan.

I grew up around cars, working on them at a young age with my father- who went to college for an automotive degree, and became a certified master mechanic.

I have some skills in metal fabrication, welding, woodworking, i own a vinyl film plotter for stickers, do amateur gun refinishing/cerakoting, and to top it off... built myself a forge to learn knife making.

I joined the US Army in 1995, and got out in 2007.
Have been stationed in germany, hawaii, and finally texas. Deployed to the Bosnian conflict, and twice to Iraq. Got out at the rank of SGT.
Injured in iraq, I'm ok- but i have vertabrea damage to my spine and have nerve damage which caused me to give up riding motorcycles, due to numbness in my hands and loss of some motor control in the same... (Which was my daily stress relief... riding) That- and a PTSD diagnosis have me disabilty rated.

So i gave up my bike- and found my mini that I'd searched for- for years.

"Dianna " as i call her is a '64 Austin that came to the US through Canada from the UK.
A soldier had bought her, and tried to drive her home... but was not allowed to cross the border due to the fact that the car was not in his name.
He had the vehicle shipped to texas, where he found he could not register it.

Neither could i when i found her.

Fast forward ten years or so after i brought her to ohio- and i got that sorted. So now, I'm working on getting her roadworthy enough to drive safely.
A slow, deliberate process for me.

It's been a tough year or two working on her, and many here have generously helped me along my way. Which I'm very thankful for.

Hopefully i can pay the favors forward someday.

Joel

[Peter Laidler]

Hello all, Born at a young age and like Joel, ex Army engineer, now living in Abingdon, the ancestral home of MG cars. Started off as a 15 year old 3 year engineering apprentice at Carlisle from 1963 to 65, went and served in various places in the Far East including Malaya, Australia, South Vietnam and New Zealand. Always had a love of mini Coopers as did many of my friends at the time. Had a basic 850 and my brother in law had a new tweed grey '65 Cooper S. I told mysef that I was going to get one - but went abroad!

Came back and to Uni, studied mech engineering and got a late Mk2 S in Jan'70, glacier white. This taught me several things. First that engines are nothing more than heat machines, 2nd that where there's a will, there's ALWAYS an easy or simple way. By this time B-in-law had a series of Lotus Cortinas. I had several more Coopers and moved on to MGB GT's and then on to a monster MGB GT V8 that I bought from a famous family. It was like a rocket sledge on rails after my MBGGT's and Mini Cooper S! Married by now I was a policeman and being a technical sort was a V5 vehicle examiner for many years. Then came my love for Golf GTi's - which I still have. But I always hankered for my first love. I couldn't have Susan but I could have a Cooper S!

I was offered my current car as a clapped out project. Took me 3 years to do it all - except the shell which I farmed out. If I'd known that it was a thrashed to within an inch of its life ex cop car, I wouldn't have touched it with a barge pole.

Left the back-biting and went back into the Army as a full time Territorial, including to some of the other trouble spots in Europe and 'warmer climes...'. Commissioned by now, until I finally retired but stayed on a a project engineer for another 5 years. Had a few more minis in the meantime, a white City, a 998 Cooper TRX177G and as a present to myself, a new, bright tarty red end-of-the-line Rover Cooper Sport in 2001. Done very few miles in it and it's like new, tucked away now together with my other love, a Norton Commando and a restored Raleigh Chopper!

Totally uninteresting. Have written several totally uninteresting and boring technical books and enjoy writing for the Forum...... especially with getting to grips with the arch enemy of all mini owners, Hydrolastic! Peter

[Stewartp]

Hi I'm Stewart,
Living in the beautiful Adelaide Hills south Australia, retired for eighteen years.
Born in Staffordshire, father was in RAF so moved every couple of years, lived on the IOM as a teenage.
Did an electronics apprenticeship before moving to South Australia,
Always wanted a mini but couldn't afford one and ended up with a A35, bought a Morris 1100 in Adelaide.
Still restoring an Aussie mk1 Cooper S, since 1990, can't rush theses things. But built and modified an Aussie Clubman with my son as his first car, he now regrets selling it.
Restored a 1972 mgbgt which my son now has.
I still have my 1993 MX5 I bought new, no rust, less than 100,000 km on clock.
Love my shed, would go stir crazy if we had to move to a house on the current postage stamp blocks with no room for garden let alone a shed.

[Codyyy]

I’m Cody. Originally from California but have moved around the US. My father always wanted a Mini Cooper. We got close with a VW Beetle. Flash forward decades and I found a Mini project for a good price. I’ve always defaulted towards classic American cars, specifically Pontiacs. The prices of those rose considerably here.
I’m glad I got into this project. I cannot believe how helpful everyone has been in the limited time I’ve owned this project, both on this forum (and other forums) and in person.

[ORB58]

I'm Oliver. 15 years old and from West Yorkshire.
I've been working on classic cars for as long as I can remember (mostly on Andy B's cars). I've always liked minis and the early Cox GTM's. I also repair watches and have been doing so for around 8 years now. The first classic car that I ever experienced was a 1959 Mk1 Austin Healey 'Frogeye' Sprite and the first mini I ever experienced was a Mk1 Innocenti Mini Minor. I've also now started tinkering with old Smiths speedometers as they are much bigger than watches so aren't as difficult to work on.

[olddave]

I'm Oliver. 15 years old and from West Yorkshire.
I've been working on classic cars for as long as I can remember (mostly on Andy B's cars). I've always liked minis and the early Cox GTM's. I also repair watches and have been doing so for around 8 years now. The first classic car that I ever experienced was a 1959 Mk1 Austin Healey 'Frogeye' Sprite and the first mini I ever experienced was a Mk1 Innocenti Mini Minor. I've also now started tinkering with old Smiths speedometers as they are much bigger than watches so aren't as difficult to work on.

Good for you

[mk1mad]

Hi I’m Doug although I’ve been on here a good few years and do know quite a few members i have not formally said hello ,I live in the north west and have had most varieties of mins ,coopers ,Ss vans pickups ect and currently have 3 mk2 S , 1 mk1 cooper,1 mk2 cooper , and a mk1 S in bits , I buy and sell a lot parts and love auto jumbles , recently I’ve started having a go at reproducing bits and bobs that are obsolete with the gt badges being one of them ,I’m going to try to get to the mk1 performance track day this year so hopefully meet some more members
Cheers Doug