AUSTIN MINI 1000 City E 2dr (1985)

Cult

You will ALWAYS get a big wave and a smile from a fellow Austin Mini driver, it's like a secret club of very discerning and clever people -- but at the same time people who have shared a number of trials and tribulations!

Rust is a really big problem, needless to say. Austin Mini drivers are so rare nowadays, if you run into one in a car park you're bound to get chatting about how you've kept yours going so long. There are different rust prevention solutions out there, and investing in one of them is essential really. It's not cheap, but it's an investment. The other thing is welding. If you can find a decent mechanic who can do some welding from time to time, that'll see you through the MoT for years.

The engine in the Austin Mini is a real gem in the. It's on its second engine now, changed when it was about 20 years old! It's had other things doing, like the distributer and the rear diff a few years back. More recently some electrics round the front started to get really troublesome and the windscreen wiper motors both needed doing within a short space of each other. It comes with an old car, and you just can't beat the feeling of getting into one of these little legends.

Careful if you have any sort of back problem mind. The Austin Mini is really not designed for comfort, you really can feel every last stone on the ground. If you see a Austin Mini driver swerving about, they're not drunk and the steering hasn't gone haywire, they're just avoiding every teeny tiny little crack in the road.

It accelerates really well given the power to weight ratio, but the power itself is by no means limited and you'll find yourself constantly overtaken on the A roads (don't even bother with motorways).

I couldn't recommend it highly enough, but I admit I might be a bit odd...