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Car Forum / MINI / December 2005Identification needed. Real Cooper or Copy?
Ive just been given a '98 R Mini Cooper. Or so I think. But a fellow mini owner says that he does not think its a Cooper. He says that it should have the 13'' wheels and wide arches, whereas mine has the smaller 12'' wheels and narrow black arches. I thought you could still get a Cooper without the wide arches in '98 but they also did the Rover Sports Pack edition with the wheels and also the Cooper S which you could only get from John Cooper Garages. Please help with some ID pointers,Ive got the V5 now and that says Mini Cooper, but my mate is winding me up all the time..Git. Ben. Your car could still well be a cooper, rover still produced coopers with 12" wheels and smaller black plastic arches, the sportspack was just an option at this time. I don't know many id pointers comparing coopers and non, but a friend has a mini 7 1998. his is obviously missing the bonnet stripes and white mirrors, although i know yours could have had these added. His hasnt got a 2 tone leather steering wheel, yours should be white leather (or silver if silver roof) where you hold it, and black top and bottom. 98' coopers have 2 extra clocks in the dash above the radio (volts and oil temp) but again these could be retro fitted. The winged bonnet and boot badges mostly say cooper if it is, or just "mini" if not. I would go with the V5 and say you have a cooper. Ignore your friend, Ben Hope that helped, im sure someone else will have more ideas where to look, RS > Ive just been given a '98 R Mini Cooper. Or so I think. But a fellow mini > owner says that he does not think its a Cooper. He says that it should [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Ben. As far as i know the rover mini seven wasn't available in 98! only the std 1.3i. Granted they are virtually identical, but you couldn't call them the 'same'. The seven did get a proper 'SEVEN' boot badge and it also got a different accellerator pedal from the 1.3i - a silver steel jobbie with no rubber that was larger than the std square item. Mine also had half leather interior plus a two tone red and black steering wheel. If it doesn't say seven on the logbook then officially it isn't one. Had fun taking mine around mallory though! I have seen a cooper on a 51 plate with 12" wheels - only the 1 mind :o( Cooper S kit is the 90bhp kit that cooper garages would fit to anything as long as you had the cash. From what I remember all the end of line coopers had silver roofs/bonnet-stripes and black/silver seats didn't they? Chris > Your car could still well be a cooper, rover still produced coopers with > 12" wheels and smaller black plastic arches, the sportspack was just an [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > im sure someone else will have more ideas where to look, > RS Ive got thebonnet stripes and white roof etc also the mirrors are white The steering wheel is as you described it, white(ish) where you hold it. butI have only got a clock, no volts or oil temp, however it was first registered in april '98 I suppose it could have been made some time before that? The bonnet and boot badges say mini? Its beginning to sound like a bit of a botch job. > Your car could still well be a cooper, rover still produced coopers with > 12" wheels and smaller black plastic arches, the sportspack was just an [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] >> >> Ben. >Ive got thebonnet stripes and white roof etc also the mirrors are white >The steering wheel is as you described it, white(ish) where you hold it. >butI have only got a clock, no volts or oil temp, however it was first >registered in april '98 I suppose it could have been made some time before >that? Additional dashboard dials were an option. Mine doesn't have them either. > The bonnet and boot badges say mini? That is correct for this model. >Its beginning to sound like a bit of a botch job. Not atall. See my previous post. Regards, David Betts davidb@minilist.org The Mini Gallery: http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=64635537103&n=1366070334 Ok thanks to all the responses. I think I can say that I've got a Cooper, even if only in name. At least I drive to work in mine,unlike my friend! What are the main mechanical differences between the 90hp Cooper and mine? I assume its Valve sizes and Cam profile etc? I've been thinking about converting the car to a street racer, full blown wolf in sheeps clothing, I want to keep it looking fairly standard on the outside but mental underneath. Ive already scared a local Subaru Impreza driver off the lights (well at least to 50mph!) >>Ive got thebonnet stripes and white roof etc also the mirrors are white >>The steering wheel is as you described it, white(ish) where you hold it. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > The Mini Gallery: > http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=64635537103&n=1366070334 >Ok thanks to all the responses. I think I can say that I've got a Cooper, >even if only in name. At least I drive to work in mine,unlike my friend! >What are the main mechanical differences between the 90hp Cooper and mine? >I assume its Valve sizes and Cam profile etc? OK. First thing to do is to change the exhaust for a free flow system of your choice from the cat back. Then install an lcb (long centre branch) exhaurst manifold and a K and N replacment filter in the standard airbox. This will free up most of the power, although it may also give you a bit of a flat spot as the ecu doesn't cope terribly well with mods. If you want to go the whole hog, then the next stage is a replacement head and cam followers. I haven't bothered with this yet as the exhaust mods make a huge difference. >I've been thinking about converting the car to a street racer, full blown >wolf in sheeps clothing, I want to keep it looking fairly standard on the >outside but mental underneath. Ive already scared a local Subaru Impreza >driver off the lights (well at least to 50mph!) As a Subaru Impreza owner as well I can assure you that he either can't drive or was not trying. Regards, David Betts davidb@minilist.org The Mini Gallery: http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=64635537103&n=1366070334 > As a Subaru Impreza owner as well I can assure you that he either > can't drive or was not trying. I think it was probably more complacancy. you know how it is, you tend to underestimate the little guy! >>I've been thinking about converting the car to a street racer, full blown >>wolf in sheeps clothing, I want to keep it looking fairly standard on the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > As a Subaru Impreza owner as well I can assure you that he either > can't drive or was not trying. If we're talking about an impreza wrx, then sure you'd need a pretty wild mini to beat one, but for the standard impreza auto, subaru's website quotes 12.7 seconds for 0-100kph which is hardly quick... even beating the manual impreza's 10.2 seconds should be no problem for a lot of minis. G > Ive already scared a local Subaru Impreza driver off the lights (well at > least to 50mph!) wait till he puts the other two plug leads back on then have another try, I doubt very much that any standard mini would even come close to a Impreza, Fitzy > Ok thanks to all the responses. I think I can say that I've got a Cooper, > even if only in name. At least I drive to work in mine,unlike my friend! [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] >> The Mini Gallery: >> http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=64635537103&n=1366070334 >Ive just been given a '98 R Mini Cooper. Or so I think. But a fellow mini >owner says that he does not think its a Cooper. He says that it should have >the 13'' wheels and wide arches, whereas mine has the smaller 12'' wheels >and narrow black arches. Nope, only the sportspack cars had 13-inch wheels and wide arches. They are slower than the 12-inch cars and don't handle so well. >I thought you could still get a Cooper without the wide arches in '98 but >they also did the Rover Sports Pack edition with the wheels and also the >Cooper S which you could only get from John Cooper Garages. Correct. The John Cooper cars are the only ones which have any real connection with Cooper, of course. The Rover Cooper MPIs were simply a branding exercise. Mechanically, they are identical to the non-Cooper cars. It was simply a matter of which cosmetic pack you chose when you ordered it. >Please help with some ID pointers,Ive got the V5 now and that says Mini >Cooper, but my mate is winding me up all the time..Git. As I said, mechanically they are identical. If your V5 says Cooper, then presumably it was branded as a Cooper from new. All that actually means is that it had bonnet stripes, a white roof and some Cooper badging, together with any other extras specified by the original purchaser. Mine, for instance, has alloy door furniture (but not gear lever knob) and front overriders (but not rear). Basically, you could pick and mix from all the colour, trim and interior options and have the car badged as a Cooper or not according to whim. As | said, mechanically the twin-point cars supplied by Rover Group - as opposed to the John Cooper Garages cars - were mechanically all the same. No problem bringing them up to Cooper S Works 90bhp spec, though. Regards, David Betts davidb@minilist.org The Mini Gallery: http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=64635537103&n=1366070334 |
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