Should add, quite fun to drive. ……
My Mrs must have had every derivative going of the R50/R56 Bini, from the Cooper S to the diesel. I’d defy anything to go around a corner or roundabout as quick as a Mini, they are like a go kart. I had immense fun in hers when she wasn’t in it.
The only issue was steep hill starts. Too little revs and it would nearly stall and too many revs resulted in a fifty yard wheel spin like a boy racer. Very difficult to catch it just right and this is where the diesel was the much better choice, as it just plodded away at hill starts with no drama.
Our old Rover 25 was like that, but only on Pirelli P6000 tyres, which went out of production. Next best of all the ones I tried on it were one of the Kuhmos, but they had no feedback, so never sure when its gonna put you in a ditch
Me and said colleague with the Cooper Coupe never, ever raced home from work. Nope, never. Honest guv. They weren't far off each other really, his just had the edge on acceleration (certainly initial acceleration), I seemed to be a bit more stable hard braking into corners