Most liked posts in thread: Mini Testing...

  1. vetsvette

    vetsvette MINI Alliance Ambassador

    Nov 9, 2013
    2,181
    1,782
    113
    South Central Virginia
    Ratings:
    +1,937 / 0 / -0
    #2 vetsvette, May 17, 2016
    Very cool video MM. The only car I've ever owned that might handle that was my old FJ55 Land Cruiser, and it couldn't have touched that little Mini for speed. Damned impressive little car. I like that full belly pan/skid plate.
     
  2. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Sep 29, 2009
    12,731
    7,688
    113
    Ex-Owner (Retired) of a custom metal fab company.
    Columbus, Ohio
    Ratings:
    +7,960 / 1 / -0
    #3 Metalman, May 17, 2016
    I had a new 1973 FJ40 Land Cruiser many moons ago.... Drove that vehicle all over the place... Florida Keys twice, Maine, Prince Edward Island Nova Scotia and Yellowstone, Glacier National Park and Durango Colorado....

    Great vehicle.... Lousy gas mileage, government regulations forced a cat on the vehicle... Ran lean... Burnt valves...

    Wish I still had it....Built like a tank.... Old one in good shape goes for big bucks...

    I had this blue color....:D

    [​IMG]
     
  3. vetsvette

    vetsvette MINI Alliance Ambassador

    Nov 9, 2013
    2,181
    1,782
    113
    South Central Virginia
    Ratings:
    +1,937 / 0 / -0
    #4 vetsvette, May 17, 2016
    This is what mine looked like, except I had the extended front bumper with the PTO winch. Great vehicle, but like you said, lousy mileage. But, with 4:11 axles and that Chevy "stove bolt six" clone it was to be expected. Drove mine all over Okinawa for a couple of years and sold it when I rotated back to the states.
     

    Attached Files:

  4. Firebro17

    Firebro17 Dazed, but not Confused
    Lifetime Supporter

    Sep 18, 2010
    7,820
    3,327
    113
    Retired CAL FIRE Battalion Chief
    The Great Irrigated Desert of Central CA
    Ratings:
    +3,328 / 0 / -0
    #5 Firebro17, May 25, 2016
    ^^^ I had one of those! My wife hated it and it didn't stay in the fleet too long.
     
  5. vetsvette

    vetsvette MINI Alliance Ambassador

    Nov 9, 2013
    2,181
    1,782
    113
    South Central Virginia
    Ratings:
    +1,937 / 0 / -0
    #6 vetsvette, May 25, 2016
    I can understand that. It was not a comfortable ride, but the thing was bulletproof. The "performance" parts I ordered for it had paperwork in the box for a '57 Chevy. Definitely not a freeway cruiser.
     
  6. mrntd

    mrntd Well-Known Member
    Supporting Member

    Sep 30, 2011
    5,083
    1,762
    113
    Male
    Sales and Marketing manager
    Hilliard, Ohio
    Ratings:
    +1,763 / 0 / -0
    #7 mrntd, May 26, 2016
    I think all the air bags in our newer cars would have gone off in that first bounce around.
     
  7. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

    May 13, 2015
    984
    769
    93
    Madison, WI
    Ratings:
    +895 / 0 / -0
    #8 fishmonger, May 26, 2016
    ha, I had a red one (mostly rust) with a Chevy small block conversion. No power steering and big tires, it was a workout, but a beast off road. It now lives somewhere in South Dakota with a new body on the frame. I certainly didn't get big bucks when I sold mine in the late 90s

    [​IMG]

    Just after tugging a Bronco out of a deep mud hole.
     
  8. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Sep 29, 2009
    12,731
    7,688
    113
    Ex-Owner (Retired) of a custom metal fab company.
    Columbus, Ohio
    Ratings:
    +7,960 / 1 / -0
    #9 Metalman, May 26, 2016
  9. vetsvette

    vetsvette MINI Alliance Ambassador

    Nov 9, 2013
    2,181
    1,782
    113
    South Central Virginia
    Ratings:
    +1,937 / 0 / -0
    #10 vetsvette, May 26, 2016
    When you flipped my second row bench forward there was a bunch of factory tools and a hand crank for the motor clamped to the bottom. Mine only had three speeds on the column.
     
  10. BruceK

    BruceK Active Member

    Feb 24, 2015
    401
    215
    43
    Texas
    Ratings:
    +215 / 0 / -0
    #11 BruceK, May 27, 2016
    Those BMC works-prepared rally Minis were tough little boxes. Of course the factory competition team had the resources to swap out a battered bodyshell with a completely new one whenever they needed to do so - and they kept the same VIN and number plate.

    Contrary to the quote above, these videos of the extreme testing were in no way secret or withheld from the public. BMC very much wanted the public to see how tough the Minis were and about half of this B/W footage of Mini destruction testing appeared in a BMC slickly-produced news reel of Mini rally successes circa 1965 (which of course I can't find right now on YouTube, but I have it on old VHS). It was great to see additional footage of the testing - amazing how well it the cars did with the deep water.