My fascination with Minis started at the young age of 14. My dad owned a foreign car parts business and being the youngest of five boys, I was always around foreign cars. Lancias, Citrroens, VW's, Datsuns, Toyotas just to name a few, but never any Minis. Then one day, my brother Chris got his first Mini. Chris and I would go to SCCA autocross events and I had such a great time being there. Watching my brother tear up the track in his Mk1 was infectious! I didn't know that much about cars at that age, but I remember thinking....one day I am going to have my own Mini. Well that thought took many years to materialize.
I started my search sometime in 1997, then my job transferred me to Atlanta. Let's see, a new house, a new job, a new life in a new place.....yep, the Mini had to wait a bit longer. I started the search again sometime in 2001. There were a few MUSTS in my quest for the perfect (or maybe I should say "acceptable")Mini. First and foremost, it HAD to be a Mk 1. Second, minimal rust - I know, a 30+ year old British car with minimal rust? Who am I kidding? Third minimal, if any mods - I wanted as original as possible. Notice engine size was not in my top three requirements. You may ask why not? Well, I was more interested in originality than engine size. To me, whether it had an 850cc or a 1275cc was not as important as how original the rest of the car was. In addition, a genuine Mk1 Cooper S was not in my budget.
Well, my search led me to a gentleman in Wales that had just what I was looking for. It was a Mk1, it had about 35K on the clock (never left Wales so probably original miles), very little rust, original interior except the carpets and it had an 850! OK, so I wasn't ecstatic about the motor, but it was the original motor that came with the car and it was in running condition. So, after many e-mails, pictures and one long phone call to Wales, we agreed on a price and the seller arranged the shipping. A few short weeks later and I was off to Charleston to pick up MY Mini!
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