Values.....

Sad to see the prices for classic Minis going through the roof. And most are purported to be Coopers, when it is quite obvious to the educated eye that they are not....kind of a shame, puts one out of my reach

One little car that gets fairly overlooked (and is a better value than the Mini, cost-wise), is the Swift GTi. I owned a regular Swift and it was much better than a Mini (which I also have owned). The turbo models are are a hoot and it's an excellent "snow car" too!
Yes, yes, I *know* it's not British, but they're dirt cheap, durable and great fun (and they're so economical and reliable that you could probably save enough to buy a real Mini).



[ 10-16-2003: Message edited by: aeronca65t ]</p>

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Steve:
Sad to see the prices for classic Minis going through the roof. And most are purported to be Coopers, when it is quite obvious to the educated eye that they are not....kind of a shame, puts one out of my reach

<hr></blockquote>

I wondered what effect, if any, the new Mini would have on prices for the originals. You're right - prices have shot up over the last two years or so. This seems to be mainly a US issue since prices in the UK haven't risen all that much. I noticed that an original 1962 Cooper (not an 'S') sold for $17,820 at the Russo and Steele auction in August. It was a low mileage car but rated at condition 3- (3=Avg. daily driver).

I've looked at a few and all seem overpriced, but they sell. If you can handle RHD while driving on the right, it appears you can save a couple thousand.

My suggestion is to wait a year or so. I expect average Minis will level off or drop a bit, although the best will still command a high price.

Hmmmm, good advice there John, you may have a point. Maybe a wait-and-see attitude will see things return to normal. Doesn't have to be a show car, just a bit of fun.

Nial, good suggestion of the Suzuki Swift.....rather have my eye on an early Golf (Rabbit here) GTi..........of course, a nice Rover P6 might do nicely too.....

AUTOWEEK Mag has a 1275 1973 Mini for $6700, in case anybody is interested.

Larry

Hmmmmm, at that price I may be interested....I might still search for one I can ship back when I go back to the UK in the new year....they are still low enough in price to make that worth my while...not to mention the fact that they are still in relatively good supply.

you could also import one from Canada - they seem to be a bit cheaper and more plentiful here.

Steve,

If you are seriously considering the purchase of a classic Mini, there are plenty in Canada but they sell fast! You could probably get a nice one for $6,000 to $8,000 in Canadian dollars.

The only thing to keep in mind is that the car would have to be 25 years old or older to be legal in the States, so for next year (1994)... that would be the 1979 model year, now I don't know if that means it includes the 1979 model year or if it means 1978 or older... Anyway you get the idea and can check into it down there, Mini 1000's were sold in Canada right up to the 1980 model year (and throughout the 1970's), some of the Canadian Mini's now have the 1275 BMC engine installed, it's quite a popular conversion up here.

Check this website out for a great listing of Mini's for sale in Canada:

https://www.craigsauto.com/forsale/ads.html

https://www.miniportal.ca

As well this website is also good and has a classfieds listing:

https://www.minimania.com

I'm afraid that even $6K to $8K Canadian might be too much...I still haven't sold the 'B' as yet, and I have things to do with the proceeds before I get as far as buying another LBC. More of a "thinking aloud" stage in proceedings right now.