Find or Sell Used Cars, Trucks, and SUVs in USA

1979 Morris Mini Cooper. Safety Upgrades, Ss Exhaust, Needs Nothing. Wow! on 2040-cars

US $16,000.00
Year:1979 Mileage:57420
Location:

Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States

Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States
Advertising:

57,420 miles. Factory left hand drive. VIN #XLU1569909
No rust anywhere. No nicks, dings or scratches on the paint.
Sumitomo 175/50 R13 tires on Minilite wheels.
Super tight 1275cc engine - oil stays honey-colored all the time.
Transmission very smooth.
Stainless steel LCB exhaust system - high performance, with super-nice tone.
Hella driving lights. Strong battery, always float charged.
New custom-made seat covers and carpet.
Kenwood AM/FM/CD.
Nardi gold-plated steering wheel. (couldn't resist.)
Comes with original title.

History: This car was sold to the German market, then imported to the US. It was dismantled and refurbished at Mini Obsession in PA. My wife and I bought it with a white roof and racing stripes. We wanted a convertible for three-season use, but the rare ones out there change the lines of the car radically, so we went with a stripped-down cabrio look. After removing the roof, we fabricated everything for a convertible top in the style of early MG Midgets. The quality of the paint is hard to capture in photos. It appears to iridesce as the angle of the light changes, from a warm leaf green in overhead sun to a cool metallic racing green in the shade. Many people have commented on it. If you like classic road rally trim, new white and black racing stripe decals come with the car. 

Safety upgrades: Classic Minis can fold up if they are hit, and we have a young daughter. We took the weight savings from removing the roof and welded a steel cage around the passenger compartment, including the doors. A box-beam frame is bolted under the floor and coupled to the engine mounts. This improves handling, front impact protection, and stiffens the body as it's loaded. The front pillars are reinforced with tubular steel inserts. The roll bar, which came from a Chevy Nova dragster, completes the cage. It bolts to and reinforces the seat belt towers and rear impact frame. If you prefer the lines of the body without a roll bar, a custom crossbar with shoulder belt anchors is ready to go. (See last picture.) Remove four bolts and swap in the low bar for the roll bar. Your side impact protection remains intact, the look of the car changes significantly, and it takes only minutes to do. 

What about rain? A set of lightweight tubular steel and aluminum components lock together to form a frame. The frame can support either a black bikini top (included) for strong sunlight, similar to those on Jeeps, or a super-heavy duty transparent vinyl rain top that will engage the crank-up windows. All the materials for the rain top come with the car, including snaps, vinyl etc., and it all fits into the boot. The frame connects to the roll bar (or the low crossbar,) and anchors into 1/2-13 threaded inserts at each end of the windshield. The inserts are normally plugged with chrome bumper bolts from a '55 Bel-Air (pictured). 

If you want to install either top, I can go over the design with you when you pick it up. One of the pics shows the low crossbar and the lightweight frame for the cover. All the frame parts attach to the car in a couple of minutes. To be very clear: The support structure is ready to go. The covers themselves need to be stretched over the frame, edges trimmed, and snaps installed. This can be done by hand, with scissors and a little hand sewing, or quickly if you have access to a sewing machine. And if you know someone who makes boat or pickup truck covers, it's a walk in the park. Removable stainless steel tracks for the window gaskets are already attached to the front pillars. 

We have never installed the sun or rain tops for two reasons: First, we love the smooth look of the car with no extra metal snap anchors, and second, the umbrella (pictured) works really well! If we're caught in the rain, it's a one-minute operation to clamp the umbrella to the roll bar. For a passing rain shower, place the umbrella high and have a snack. If it's a downpour or very windy, drop it lower. It keeps the interior bone dry, and yes, you can drive with it if you want to - slowly. We drove it once through the middle of a huge classic car show with the umbrella up - to spontaneous applause and laughter everywhere.

This car is one of a kind, and needs nothing. It always starts and runs great. Take it anywhere, and you make friends immediately. Put up the umbrella and watch the smiles come out. All the hard work has been done. Have some fun! (You deserve it. :-)

Winning bidder must make phone contact and send $500 non-refundable deposit by Paypal within 48 hours of auction close. Balance in cash or cashier's check within seven days of auction close, or the car will be relisted. Any check must clear before the car is released for transport. USA and Canada bidders only. I've sold three cars and a lot of high end electronics on eBay. Check my feedback. You won't be disappointed. Please email if you have questions. I don't mind phoning you to discuss technical details, if you're serious. I never accept lowball offers - please don't ask. The amount of time and money invested is a lot more than the asking price. Finally, (whew!) I reserve the right to cancel the sale to bidders with negative feedback or a history of eBay or Paypal disputes. 

This car is also listed in local classifieds, and "cruise season" in New England is starting. A purchase by a local buyer will end this eBay listing. If you want the car, please don't delay. Good luck bidding!

Update: I found a fine crack in the paint near the left rear convertible top socket, behind the back seat. The entire rear deck is aluminum, and I bet that it expanded and contracted over the last couple of years, stressing the paint there. The crack mostly parallels the bottom of the filler used to radius the 90 degree corner. There are a couple of other cracks, smaller and harder to find, at other spots along the deck, on the same radius. Am I being fussy? Yes, but I like full disclosure, since I've also bought cars on eBay. Please check the pic to see if it's an issue for you. I positioned the flash to highlight the edge, with a penny to provide scale. My take? This is worth repairing if you plan to compete in shows, where the smallest defect counts against the score, but otherwise nobody will notice a thing unless you point it out.

Auto Services in New Hampshire

Turbo Lube ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Auto Oil & Lube
Address: 21 Fitchburg Rd, Hollis
Phone: (978) 772-4454

Swat Automotive Service Inc ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service
Address: 10 Riverside St, Hollis
Phone: (978) 454-1963

Northeast Performance Diesel ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Engine Rebuilding & Exchange, Auto Engine Rebuilding
Address: 61 N River Rd, Goffstown
Phone: (603) 673-9888

Monro Muffler Brake & Service ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Parts & Supplies, Mufflers & Exhaust Systems
Address: 77 Chelmsford St, Hudson
Phone: (978) 458-8499

Lancaster Auto Sales ★★★★★

New Car Dealers, Used Car Dealers
Address: 475 Main St, Lancaster
Phone: (603) 788-2886

Kustra`s Auto Body ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Body Repairing & Painting, Tire Dealers
Address: 128 Wadleigh Falls Rd, Nottingham
Phone: (603) 659-2442

Auto blog

Mini pokes fun at Anthony Weiner using fake Twitter account

Sun, 28 Jul 2013

Mini, never one to pass on a marketing opportunity, has pounced on the plight of embattled New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, who seems to have an issue with sending pictures of his genitals to young women. Observers will notice that this is the second time the unfortunately named Mr. Weiner has been in the spotlight for his picture messages.
Capitalizing on Weiner's alias, Carlos Danger, Mini has created an account on Twitter - @CarlosDMotor. With a note on the profile page listing "Danger" as the account's middle name, it's sent out just one tweet, containing the message, "Wanna get your hands on my stick?" Attached to the Tweet is a scantily clad Mini Cooper S, with a towel around its "waist" snapping a picture. Too soon? To borrow the brilliant pun from AdWeek, the "auto erotica" was the idea of Mini's marketing agency Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. Click below for the full tweet.

NHTSA slaps BMW with $40M fine for slow Mini recall

Thu, Dec 24 2015

BMW is on the hook for a $40-million fine after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration slapped the automaker over not recalling Minis that failed to meet minimum side-impact crash standards. The civil penalty from NHTSA concerns 2014 and 2015 Mini Cooper hatchback models that "failed a crash test designed to determine whether the vehicle met crash-protection minimums," the government agency said in a press release issued this week. An October 2014 test revealed the first problem, and the Mini was subsequently retested in July, only to fail again and finally prompt a recall of more than 30,000 cars. But according to NHTSA's investigation that was opened in October, BMW waited too long to issue a recall after it knew the cars did not meet standards and bring them into compliance with more energy-absorbing materials installed by Mini dealers. This is the second time NHTSA slapped BMW with a major penalty, following a $3-million fine back in 2012 failing to report recalls of its cars and motorcycles. "For the second time in three years, BMW has been penalized for failing to meet that obligation," NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said in the release. "The company must take this opportunity to reform its procedures and its culture to put safety where it belongs: at the top of its priority list." In a separate release issued this week, BMW Group said it, "is committed to further improving its recall processes to better serve its customers," and that the company, "respects the role of NHTSA and looks forward to working with them to develop solutions for the future." National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fines BMW $40 million for failing to meet safety requirements Fine is auto company's second since 2012 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has imposed a $40 million civil penalty and a series of performance requirements to automaker BMW North America for a series of violations of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act and NHTSA regulations. Under terms of a Consent Order issued to BMW, the company acknowledges that it violated requirements to issue a timely recall of vehicles that did not comply with minimum crash protection standards, to notify owners of recalls in a timely fashion, and to provide accurate information about its recalls to NHTSA. NHTSA imposed a $3 million civil penalty to BMW in 2012 for similar violations.

This Mini just set a very long Nurburgring lap record

Fri, Nov 4 2016

The video above is 45 minutes long. You probably won't watch the whole thing. It documents what is possibly the least visually exciting and most impressive Nurburgring record ever, with a Chinese driver keeping a Mini Cooper on two wheels for the entirety of a Nordschleife lap. That's 12.9 miles at a blistering average speed of 17 mph. The number of support vehicles seen on track, some of which pass the Mini at various points, highlights just how nonstandard this lap is. A Mercedes van trailing behind stops at one point and then catches back up shortly after. This is an endurance run more than anything. Credit of course goes to the skilled driver, who had to balance the car on its left wheels while enduring the pain of leaning at a steep angle. For 45 minutes. The car was specially prepped, with things like a welded diff and an airless left front tire (it looks like something off a fork lift) helping it steer, propel, and support the car. Bridge to Gantry's Dale Lomas was there to witness the leisurely event, and he has all of the details, including what was done to the car and what it was like to travel from viewing location to viewing location to witness the same lap. The driver, Han Yue, is an expert at manhandling Minis. He's the guy with the Guinness record for the tightest parallel-parking job (not to be confused with the tightest reverse parallel park) and also set with a driver in an M4 doing donuts around his up-on-two-wheels Cooper. We find it extremely fitting that the car for this latest record was plastered with Red Bull decals. You know, the wings? News Source: Bridge to GantryImage Credit: Nurburgring / Facebook Motorsports MINI Hatchback Racing Vehicles Performance nurburgring record