Do it

Driving one on the road feels so naughty compared to new cars, I was always amazed as to how much you could cram into one too.

As mentioned above look for a clean rust free shell, don’t worry about which version too much, they all are good fun to drive.

Good examples go for very good money now

that’s it sobriety, think it was more pronounce in the 1275 engined cars, they have quite a long stroke for their capacity, though it gave them loads of torque, it meant quite harsh engine braking which made them awful twitchy at high speed. I’m always amazed when driving familiar roads of where I used to overtake quite safely in the cooper which I wouldn’t even think of attempting in more powerful cars. The mid range power delivery @40-70 was just so immediate.

Great cars, had six over the course of my late teens to mid-twenties.
Highlight was a bucket seated 1293 that we (cough) reshelled(cough) into a 1972 body. Another highlight was going downhill, the front end suddenly dropping and a front wheel undertaking me!
Have promised myself another one as my midlife crisis car in the next coupla years.
Wouldn’t say I’m a mechanic but learned a lot about cars and engines from having them, a) cos they broke down a lot, and b) cos most of the time I couldn’t afford to pay someone to fix them! Hence-

And-