>>>>Ah yes I forgot you told me before you had a Mini Cooper. Curious - did you test drive the Fiat 500 before you got the Mini Cooper? I've driven both and liked the Mini a lot better - but I haven't tried one of the turbo Fiats.
>>>>
>>>>I have driven nothing but Mini Coopers for the last 14 years :)
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>>>Pure curiosity: Was the first one already one of Beamer production or did you get the bug by an english original ? (not implying Andy, but the earlier Rover/Austin cars...)
>>
>>IMO one of the absurd things about the BMW mini is how big they have got. I used to regard my Volvo as a big car and it looks small next to some of the new minis.
>
>The 4 door mini is certainly bigger than the old ones. It's like they forgot word "mini" or something. The two door ones are probably somewhat bigger than the original ones - but considering all the new safety standards and regulations they have these days you'd expect that.


Looks to me like someone plugged an original mini into a compressed air line and blew (a lot).

A friend who worked for British Leyland years ago had an original mini that he enhanced it till it was a fearsome little beast of a car. I had a drive in it and it was a visceral experience. Maybe something you don't get in modern cars with all the safety and driving features.