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My Mrs Runs a Normal Fiat 500C & it has been pretty reliable so far.

mk1 wrote:My Mrs Runs a Normal Fiat 500C & it has been pretty reliable so far.

..Tis a fact tho that 9 out of 10 members posting on this and to a degree the MCR forum don't give a jot about BMW,S MINI.. its patently obvious how most people feel though we all love the Mini in its various historical guises...I feel sorry for Mab as 95% of all MINI posts are by him and only 1 or 2 others ever bother or express an interest to post ?!!. every time he writes something about the Latest MINI it gets a derisory reply in the main....the Beemer range of MINIS are fine well built cars a tad overhyped and very expensive in my opinion....Me ??? I love the original mini always did always will... foxy52

Pete wrote:

pad4 wrote: of course its a fiat (fix it again tomorrow) pad

Is that still the case? I must admit I did have a Fiat in the 80's , never seen a car rust so fast! I'm sure someone told me that the 595 Abarth was based on a Ford Ka? Sort of thing that you don't want to know if you're buying one, but yes I can see the appeal of 160bhp from a 1.4!

The modern Fiat 500 is based on the Fiat Panda platform which is also shared with the current Mk2 Ford KA and all are built in the same factory in Poland. The Fiat 500 has been a great success for Fiat, hence all the larger spin-offs now appearing to rival the more successful MINI variants like the Countryman. The Mk2 Ford KA has not seen the sales success of the earlier rust prone Mk1 'teapot' KA and is a much rarer sight on the roads.
A replacement for the Ford KA and Fiat 500 are both iminient, sadly like all new models I believe the Mk2 Fiat 500 has grown in size and like the original R50 New MINI many will think the Mk1 looks the best. The difficulty for Fiat (as with MINI, VW Beetle & Porsche 911 design) is keeping the 'classic shape' and features that buyers expect but coming up with a reasonably cutting edge new car that meets all latest regs.

It will also be interesting to see what the aftermarket MINI tuners can get out of the new 1.5 litre 3-cylinder F56 Cooper engine. Road tests say that maximum torque is from just 1,250rpm which makes the new car amusingly rapid from getaway. It sprints from 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds – a noticeable 1.2 seconds faster than the old 1.6 Mk2 MINI Cooper. Most seem to prefer it to the 4-cylinder Cooper S versions for value, engine sound and driving fun factor.

foxy52 wrote:

mk1 wrote:My Mrs Runs a Normal Fiat 500C & it has been pretty reliable so far.

..Tis a fact tho that 9 out of 10 members posting on this and to a degree the MCR forum don't give a jot about BMW,S MINI.. its patently obvious how most people feel though we all love the Mini in its various historical guises...I feel sorry for Mab.. every time he writes something about the Latest MINI it gets a derisory reply in the main....the Beemer range of MINIS are fine well built cars a tad overhyped and very expensive in my opinion....Me ??? I love the original mini always did always will... foxy52

Does not bother me in the slightest, foxy.....only when people get the facts wrong or have never even driven one to find out what the fuss is about. Like with all cars, including classic Mini's, not everyone gets it but thats ok. Variety is the spice of life so they say. My choice of a 'classic' Mini was constantly questioned when I was a youngster in the 1970's....they are noisy, rusty, uncomfortable and outdated I was often reminded by shiny new Datsun Cherry owners!

they are noisy, rusty, uncomfortable and outdated I was often reminded by shiny new Datsun Cherry owners!

Some of us were lucky enough to have the best of both worlds, at least my Datsun Cherry made my Mini look rust free

mab01uk wrote:

foxy52 wrote:

mk1 wrote:My Mrs Runs a Normal Fiat 500C & it has been pretty reliable so far.

..Tis a fact tho that 9 out of 10 members posting on this and to a degree the MCR forum don't give a jot about BMW,S MINI.. its patently obvious how most people feel though we all love the Mini in its various historical guises...I feel sorry for Mab.. every time he writes something about the Latest MINI it gets a derisory reply in the main....the Beemer range of MINIS are fine well built cars a tad overhyped and very expensive in my opinion....Me ??? I love the original mini always did always will... foxy52

Does not bother me in the slightest, foxy.....only when people get the facts wrong or have never even driven one to find out what the fuss is about. Like with all cars, including classic Mini's, not everyone gets it but thats ok. Variety is the spice of life so they say. My choice of a 'classic' Mini was constantly questioned when I was a youngster in the 1970's....they are noisy, rusty, uncomfortable and outdated I was often reminded by shiny new Datsun Cherry owners!

,.. funny that mab...I first took my test in my own mini !!! bad mistake I reckon.. instructor deemed it as being cocky lol !!!! then took it in the first of the 120 y,s if I remember..drove better 1st time around in my op.. anyhows 6 months later LRO 951H Morris cooper was sitting on my drive lol ....foxy52

mab01uk wrote:

foxy52 wrote:

mk1 wrote: Does not bother me in the slightest, foxy.....only when people get the facts wrong or have never even driven one to find out what the fuss is about. :

To be fair, I don't think people have to drive one Martin to have an opinion on the sheer size of BMW's latest offering or have a little titter about how Paddy looks more like Ronnie Corbett stood in the shade of one. It is not compulsory to like what you see just because the cars have a MINI badge on the boot no matter how good and successful a car they are (which is indisputable) so long as it's done in the best possible taste!

Anyhoo, back to the subject, I don't think that range of bits will do anything for John Cooper's name really will it, like the Downton, Broadspeed, Speedwell rebrands of the recent past that have all been relicensed for a quick buck. That 'Cooper Car Company' stuff just looks like rebranded Minisport fair to me. I know those John Cooper garages steering wheels (is it the same Mick?) were/are quite collectable for Rover Cooper owners but you'd get a proper original Les Leston for that money with change over for a Cooper Car Company drinks bottle, key fob, dipstick, slippers and tie/badge combination pack!

you'd get a proper original Les Leston for that money with change over for a Cooper Car Company drinks bottle, key fob, dipstick, slippers and tie/badge combination pack!

The original Cooper stuff from the 80's and 90's in my opinion was nice gear , there was nothing quite like it at the time until Cooper came back into production . The production cars consisted of City and Mayfair and one had to buy a special edition to get some excitement , mine was a new Jet Black when I was 17 . I remember seeing the Dunlop 165/60/12 tyre on Cooper demo and thought wow a decent 12 inch tyre .
I have noticed the Cooper steering wheel is not on Motolita's website anymore , unless I have missed it . It is based on a mk4 and the differance in price is surprising .

I cannot help but think Keith Dodd and co could have done it differently and possibly better .

For me there was a air of excitement when I had a email titled Cooper Car Co is back . Shame it was followed by a sigh when I opened it .

Pete wrote:Anyhoo, back to the subject, I don't think that range of bits will do anything for John Cooper's name really will it, like the Downton, Broadspeed, Speedwell rebrands of the recent past that have all been relicensed for a quick buck. That 'Cooper Car Company' stuff just looks like rebranded Minisport fair to me. I know those John Cooper garages steering wheels (is it the same Mick?) were/are quite collectable for Rover Cooper owners but you'd get a proper original Les Leston for that money with change over for a Cooper Car Company drinks bottle, key fob, dipstick, slippers and tie/badge combination pack!

No Pete most of the parts are unique to the range ,Mini Sport did/do manufacture lots of things like roller tipped rockers for lots of people,The steering wheels are again made by Moto-Lita ,and the entire new range does have differences/updates to the 90's range all of which have been agreed by Mike Cooper he has had complete final say in what is or is not produced....the actual production standards are higher than they were on most of the 90's items,some of the original component manufacturers are no longer trading ie:- the enamel badge makers in Birmingham and alternatives have been found (the key rings for example are made by the same people that do Porsche ,Merc and Ferrari's key rings etc ...also tooling costs for some unique components were too high for very small batch production.....unless someone still has the (useless to them now) die sets knocking around ?...and this new range of products will be an alternative to the fakes that are available,and will hopefully help to stamp out the fakes which really don't help the cooper name or the buyers pockets.....funnily enough the two most wide spread fakers,have been long term M.C.R members...one of which runs a regular autojumble stall at most events...the other has loads of ebay I.D.'s and sells parts by P.M.'s on various forums

If you get on too the complex licencing & copyright mine field over who owns what..just to show its not a fresh problem,John Cooper Garages had "issues" in using the S on the cars because this is a Specialised bikes logo (mountain bike maker) luckily this was sorted.