Forum menu
You think you know your wife and that she's on the same page as you and then this!
So she is obviously having a mid life crisis and has set her heart on a Mini convertible. Being a sane male individual who has spent a lifetime hauling bikes, windsurfers, surfboards and ladders around I've obviously never given any car which can't take a roofrack a second glance so know nothing about them.
She won't be dissuaded by logic and so I need to know a couple of things. I've found out that even more usefully than not having a roof, the latest model can't even take a towbar......FFS!! how crap is this car? But I have seen a propitiatory bike rack that appears to screw in to the back somehow. Does anyone have experience of this? There seems to be very little info out there on how it works and which models it fits. Though this will be her car (like I'm ever going to drive it) there will be times when it would be useful to hang my bike off the back and I can't see any other way of doing it.
Secondly, if anyone is unfortunate enough to have one of these abominations, has it been reliable and does anyone have naything useful to say about which engines or specs are best - she is more interested in luxury (leather heated seats etc) than performance and deffo not racing stripes and turbo nonsense....
Help me!
EDIT: Forgot to say it will be a secondhand purchase
Help me!
Driving small fun cars with the roof down is much like MTB in some ways. Open your mind, you might enjoy it.
Love my base model 1st gen, it's great fun. But... It's def a 2nd car, I've never bothered trying to take a bike anywhere in/on it.
It's 18 years old and has 100k on the clock but seems to be going strong (clutch might be due in the not too distant future).
It’s def a 2nd car, I’ve never bothered trying to take a bike anywhere in/on it.
Having said that, it manages the occasional tip run 🙂
Anything can carry bikes if you try hard enough.
I used to take my MTB all over the place in an MG Midget! Wheels went behind the seats and the frame over the passenger seats with the bars spun 180. Could even get the roof up with the XC bike (otherwise the forks made it too tall). The Mini has token back seats so there's no excuse (although IIRC there's zero legroom so you may as well just remove them to make some actual luggage space back there.
2 out of the three cars I've owned have had no-roof of some description, And one of those was a Berlingo!
Get an MX5.... At least then you can enjoy driving it, too.
Whats a vanity sport? But anyway yes, I have a 10 year old toyota estate car - can you tell I'm not a car person?
Anyway 18 years old and 100k appeals mainly on price but I'm afraid she will want something a bit newer. Nice colour though.
As for 'opening my mind' - I used to have a Triumph Vitesse when I was 18 and chasing girls. It never worked (the car or chasing girls in the car) and even when it did the top down open road dream usually morphed into sitting behind a lorry in the rain and that was 35 years ago when there was less traffic and less potholes!
@alpin - needs 4 seats or yes the MX5 would have been my choice too
needs 4 seats or yes the MX5 would have been my choice too
Not sure how practical the rear seats are in a Mini...!
One way trip?
Ooof, harsh! 😀
Not sure how practical the rear seats are in a Mini…!
Ours mostly has the dog on the back seat, but occasionally ferries teenagers to college/friends etc. They're fine for short journeys but you wouldn't want to be back there for proper road trips.
We got a mini clubman (at least is has a roof) and I was prepared to hate it (all mini, brand/style over functionality etc etc) but I've grown to actually quite like it. It drives well, even with the base 1.5, it's well put together - just don't go to bmw for servicing unless you like throwing money away.
We have had 2... Both Cooper S models the second being JCW.
I love - speeeeed, sound, wind in my hair. I hate suspension - not helped by rubber band tyres on huge rims.
Replaced now by Electric Mini (non convertible as they were silly money). Loving the electric mini, range is rubbish but as a town car and sub 100mile trips car it is fab.
The reason cars have a roof is that they add considerable safety features. Ask her if she's also going to cut out the seatbelts.
A guy in my year at sixth form rolled a convertible and got scalped (skin grafts from his thigh) and a mate of my dad's is now disabled due to head injuries from a crash in one on the M4. That was a fancy Mercedes with a pop up roll bar.
Both would likely have been merely badly rattled in a car with a roof.
As for fitting ladders in, roof down, one end in the passenger footwell and tie a rope round something. Carried a 10 foot Christmas tree like that in my sister's 2CV when we were students. Surely a bike similarly just gets shoved behind the front seats. It's a sort of sub standard pickup without driver comforts.
People also trip down stairs.
Just keep rehearsing the line "are you going anywhere nice on your holidays?"
Driving small fun cars with the roof down is much like MTB in some ways.
the wind in your hair, the sun in your eyes, the flies in your teeth
Open your mind,
but try to keep your mouth shut.
a friend of mine quickly fell out of love with open top motoring as the novelty of arriving anywhere looking like she’d been dragged through a hedge wore pretty thin pretty quickly.. she’d set off on a journey looking Audrey Hepburn and arrive looking like Robert Smith. They’re more practical for bald old men than pretty young ladies.
As an MX5 Mk3 owner, something for the weekend, sir?
Enjoy it, it'll be fun. I test drove a few before opting for the Mazda, if she/you aren't set on mad go-kart speed of the Cooper S and JCW, go for a One or a special edition based on it with the smallest wheels on the tallest tyres you can find. Comfort is night and day compared to the low profiles
she’d set off on a journey looking Audrey Hepburn and arrive looking like Robert Smith.
I giggled.
I'd check the size of the rear seats first, they're really tight in a open mini.
For carrying a bike, I'd suggest wheels off in wheel bags and frame in a frame bag on the back seat. Bit of a faff but if it's only very rarely it doesn't really matter. Saris bones can go on a lot of cars too
Maybe look at a Beetle convertible look much better more space and I suspect more reliable we have a previous gen new Beetle convertible with the 1.8T engine it’s a great jalopy 20 years old now even the aircon works! (Needed for winter condensation)
Though this will be her car (like I’m ever going to drive it) there will be times when it would be useful to hang my bike off the back and I can’t see any other way of doing it.
The "R52 Owners Club" on Facebook shows plenty of people using bike racks - seems a few specific models that don't rest on the screen/hood are best.
Had one, apart from the rear view mirror wobbling all over the place, was a nice car to drive. Wouldn't own one myself, but it did the job without any complaints.
Fiat 500 ?
Oh if your Mrs isn't used to a stiff ride cough drive ...
Have errrrr test drive one to gauge. 😉
Not sure how practical the rear seats are in a Mini…!
But you can get 4 elephants in one so it'll be fine
Hired a mini cooper convertible in Tenerife. Was fun for a week. Super impractical though - finding space for the 2 modest bags was a challenge. You'd need to be small or very flexible to spend more than a round the block trip in the back.
My dad had a VW Eos. Called it his cancer car - a last hoorah for a last few months. Was no looker but 4 proper seats and clever hard top. Drove well with the bigger engine. Maybe too much of an oldies car - had whiff of Honda Jazz about it.
a friend of mine quickly fell out of love with open top motoring as the novelty of arriving anywhere looking like she’d been dragged through a hedge wore pretty thin pretty quickly
Not all convertibles are the same.
I always find the new minis an oxymoron. They are huge, built on a 1 series platform I believe. Definitely style over substance. I had one as a hire car and it was great along as you didn't want to fit anything in it, want performance, or have to look at the interior
My dad had a VW Eos. Called it his cancer car – a last hoorah for a last few months. Was no looker but 4 proper seats and clever hard top. Drove well with the bigger engine. Maybe too much of an oldies car
I had one for two kids and a dog in the boot. Best thing about it was the large glass roof. Four seat convertibles are very windy in the front seats and really rather miserable in the back two. Kids didn't complain though.The folding roof would stop traffic, everyone loved the transformer look.
My next sports car will be two seats and a glass roof rather than a convertible. If you only need two seats, an MX5 is the default convertible. Had a 54 Cooper S, was fast in a line, but fragile. I'd not own another mini.
I enjoyed my R52 Cooper, managed to get adults or a bike in the back, not a great drivers car tho. Roof worked great.
Maybe she wants you to be the Ken to her Barbie....
a mate of my dad’s is now disabled due to head injuries from a crash in one on the M4. That was a fancy Mercedes with a pop up roll bar
People in cars with metal roofs also get head injuries, soooo....
Spend 5k on a pristine mk1 Audi TT, you can even get a bolt on luggage rack.
Your wife’s hair will arrive only slightly tousled.
Got my road bike in the back of the wife's Gen 1 Mini Convertible, it was easier than my Cooper S
Overall they are a bit of a toy car, lots of rattles, roof often leaked around the doors, harsh ride, convertibles have a smaller boot than other models.
If that is what she wants, best just find a nice one and embrace it.
(As long as you're not the mini convertible owner who refused to reverse yesterday in Argyll when we could see the passing place about three car lengths behind. After much rude gesticulating from him I reversed the camper about 500m to our last passing place. He was so embarrassed he didn't even thank us...*rs*h*l*)
I recon the non turbo might be a bit slow- test drive them both. The rear seats are fine unless your children are out of nappies. I had a cooper s and jcw with roofs.
Fab to drive, terrible ride, terrible seats.
None of you are selling them to me quite frankly. I think I'll persuade her she wants a campervan.
Just tell her this is basically a Mini (same company) and buy this
Job jobbed
I hate suspension – not helped by rubber band tyres on huge rims.
Oh, so very much this! Very much a BMW trait, large diameter wheels, low profile tires which are also run-flats, so stiff side-walls, add to that the addition of the sports suspension pack. I’ve driven enough to have developed an utter hatred of them; noisy, harsh and a thoroughly miserable driving experience. 😖🤬
The most uncomfortable and ugly car I ever had the misfortune to sit in, and this includes a 2CV we used to own, was my wife's old company car , a BMW 1 series coupe. I am assuming the Mini is based on that......joy.
Stupid thing is my parents had an immaculate A5 convertible which they offered to us a couple of years ago for well under market price and she was basically 'why would we need a cabriolet?' FFS! women!
TBF, a 2CV is a very comfortable car.
I think I’ll persuade her she wants a campervan.
This week we pulled up at a campsite to find we were the only residents, and that we had the best views of Jura and 5m from the waters edge...
That small red skip up there has someone sitting in it! (To adjust the old Skoda joke).