We heard it before we saw it :) Sounded like a motorbike! Sergio dropped in to Zen today with our Mini (we’re going halvies on this one). Love at first sight? Pretty much! She’s gorgeous! Interior needs a fair bit of work, but nothing major. The car came with new carpet (yet to be installed), we’ll need to replace some tyres too.
Of-course I took her for a spin. First thing I noticed was that I couldn’t see jack shit. Seriously. Blind spots are hardcore due to not having windows on the sides, there’s no drivers side rear view mirror and the silly decorative mirror on the passenger side os useless! Despite the car being so damn small, even backing out of the driveway was a nervous affair!
The gearbox is as vague as they come. The gear shifter returns to centre after every shift (very strange!). Grabbing first and second is fine, but 3rd is strange as it’s closer to first than you think and grabbing 4th is even more strange as you’ve got to come back towards 2nd! Crunch crunch crunch! The drum brakes are SO WEAK it’s damn dangerous. Stopping suddenly is just not a possibility so I’d like to look into whether or not that’s normal (ie: can be bettered as is), if not I’d like to entertain the idea of a disk brake set-up.
I only drove her around the block but I was giggling and smiling the entire trip :) SO much character, so much attention. She sounds fantastic and handles great too (go kart for sure!).
All in all, once we sort out some mirrors for better vision, and the brakes she’ll make for a much better ride! :)
Our newly acquired 1973 Leyland Mini Panel Van. Rad, right?!
John in the drivers seat.
HEAPS of space!
She’s so gorgeous.
Deep dish, 10inch, ADVAN’s too.
Whilst the paint is tip top on the outside, the interior needs a lot of work.
Check the hand brake lever, those little rings have numbers engraved into them, they act like a combination security lock, very nice huh?!