Why I've just bought another Mini

ONE of The Champion's directors couldn't have put it more perfectly when I told him that, for the second time, I'd bought a Mini.

“You are a glutton for punishment, aren't you?”

Look at the logo which usually accompanies this column and you'll see Yours Truly with an outstretched finger in the direction of my Mini, but for the sake of being honest I was literally pointing out one of the many, many things that went wrong with it. My 1983 Mayfair, as regular readers will already know, was a car constructed largely from filler and gaffer tape, and it was comically unreliable right up until the day I sold it.

So why on Earth have I just bought another?

It's not as if I'm not already familiar with the Mini's many, many shortfalls. It might be a packaging masterpiece but it doesn't come with a hatchback, so you can forget folding down the rear seats if you're carrying the likes of a large suitcase or a bit of garden furniture, things I could easily chuck into the back of the similarly-sized Renault 5 I ran around in last year. It might be a rally-winning giant killer but the price you pay for nippy handling is an unbelievably bouncy ride. Certainly, it might be a coveted classic, but one designed in the Fifties and built by British Leyland, so reliability isn't its trump card. And don't get me started on safety.

Yet I'd forgive my old Mini absolutely everything and it's the same with this one, because they're never anything less than a giggle to get through corners, they're a doddle to park, and when you do pull up people come over to you when and tell you about the one they used to run 30 years ago. What's more, I'm convinced this one will be much better than the last one because it actually works properly.

It's also got, to keep the speed freak in me happy, the extra oomph of the bigger 1275cc engine and a manual gearbox, which means it'll be a lot quicker than the 1.0 litre Automatic people still ask me about to this day. So I've promised the lady who sold it to me, a Champion reader in Crosby, to let her know how I get on with it.

Will it be rekindle my love of all things Mini? Will it prove I'm a sucker for seconds in the punishment stakes? There is, naturally, only one way to find out.

Watch this space...