Me remembers me former bar manager sniggering when he saw a bunch of souped-up Minis racing around a track on Astro some years back. To him, it was a dinky little toy car & it amused him no end that these "old" machines were capable of speed of any sort. Me however set the record straight when me pointed out the Mighty Mini's proud racing heritage, in particular its famous Monte Carlo rally victories from 1964-67. (In 1966, Minis were suspiciously disqualified after claiming the first FOUR places on the podium.) Now, the Mini wasn't racing within a specified class, it fooking beat the living daylights out of many more exotic marques in those rallies - Jaguar, Aston Martin & . . . yes, Ferrari!!!
Anyways, me has long been in love with these lil machines. Maybe it was to do with the Tiger comic strip - Mike's Marvellous Mini. Or the fact that one of me primary shool friend's dad had one. Whatever it was, me was besotted from an early age. Me just couldn't understand why me dad didn't have one instead of all those boring Jap cars he kept buying.
Now between me brother & me, we have a Mk3 as well as a Clubman which has had a stub-nose facelift. But me pride & fooking joy has got to be the MkI which ye see here (which was an engagement pressie of sorts fer me wifey). After quite some time in the workshops, me brother & meself proudly displayed THE RED MACHINE at the 50th Anniversary of the Mini @ Dataran Shah Alam today. Only two owners since rolling off the assembly line in 1965 & almost 100% original, this car elicits plenty of smiles, waves & friendly honks wherever it goes.Although there were plenty of pristine specimens at the Mini Carnival, me was proud as fook as me Red Machine drew plenty of envious looks & enquiries from fellow enthusiasts. As with any vintage model, there'll be plenty of tears & heartache along the way but ye know what, its fooking worth it.
ps: If any of ye want to get on the Mini bandwagon, do give me a buzz. Me welcomes some company whilst waiting fer that lazy bastard Bernard to sort his wheels out.pps: What do The Beatles, Peter Sellers, David Bowie & Paul Weller have in common? They all owned Minis!
14 comments:
Don plan to soup it up any further?
Nope. Plan fer this is to maintain its originality which is far harder than modifying & tricking it out.
Ye canna imagine the hours spent looking fer ori spares.
Bila join LLT?
Sweet!!!!!!!!! Nice one. When are we gonna go cruising in this sweet chili padi???
dude, me old man drove one of those when he was in a pop yeh yeh band called The Zeds. obviously this was many years (or rather many hairs) ago, back in the early 70s.
during my secondary days my chum's old man had one too. one night we decided to take the Mini for a drive with his dad's permission and that was when we made our maiden trip down the infamous (hj Taib) Lane...
it may be Mini but definitely capable of cramping in 4 teenage kids...an addition of an ahkua later on...
hehehehehhhe....
Balaji..me buddy has two currently..one is a Mark 11 1969 the other an austin7 countryman 1961 that he wants to sell for rm3k... any parties interested i can give his contact.. the car is in Elephant Rock..Peyrock...
kopite78: Give us a buzz. Be cool of we could get a small convoy going. Bernard?
Kerp: Ah ha ha! Trust ye to come up with a story like that, you dirty aquaman . . .
Anba: Hmmmm . . . an austin7 ye say?
Great stuff AD. Makes me recall when me brother had one in the early 90s. Dunno if you've seen it. A super zippy drive man. I can remember how surprised I was at the space this lil baby had the first time I sat in one. Now, me young neighbour has one similar to it. Same dunhill red with the white top and spiffy sport rims. Yup its souped up alright and the interior are super fab beige and red leather! Can't help but admire it. Not much of a car enthusiast like you but happy trails with it eh. Maybe you could call yer new found congregation The Miniac Club.
miniac or Maniac club...hehehehe
Kevo: Miniac Club name taken. maybe ye'd like to go check out Anba's friend's car fer sale & ye too can join the gang.
Anba: Called yer friend, waiting fer him to email pix.
Bala : I'll give you the honour of towing my car!!
P.S. I AM a lazy bastard...so sue me!
PPS - Kerp...so finally coming out of the closet then, you bent baaas@$&!
Bernard: Fer fook's sake la . . .
ps: In case ye have short memory, me HAVE towed yer Mini before . . . to the mechanics!
muahahahahaa...bernard, it was a case of mistaken identity. a certain track by Aerosmith comes to mind.
for now lets focus on the mini la dei...
Yeah rite kerp. Mistaken identity @ Lorong Hj Taib . . .
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