39
H
ere’s a leap of faith. I’ve just
bought a 2001 Mini One for
£3100. And before you fall
aroundlaughing,I knowthat’s
allthemoneyforan18-year-old
BMW Mini. But this one, I
hope,isdifferent.
With only17kmiles covered
by a single lady owner, it
still wears the original supplying dealer
number plates, rear window sticker and
tax disc holder, still has its dealer key
fob and original purchase invoice, plus
thebookpackandtoolsareallmint and
unused.Andit’ s the1535thMiniOnebuilt
in the first six months of production.
AmI mad?Youdecide.
I paid a strong price because if you
activelytry to buyoneoftheveryearliest
2001 Minis in good nickyou’ll findit as
easy as picking up spilt mercury with
tweezers. The first 700 were press and
dealer demonstrators and the 70-odd
that wore Yxxx OBL registrations were
pre-productionmodelsusedformagazine
andTVroadtests.Gotoyregminiregister.
co.ukandyou’llseethat early R50BMW
Minis now have a passionate following
with just 400 ofthat first batch ofcars
reckonedto havesurvived.Assoonasany
Yplate Minihatchcomesontothemarket
its gone in a heartbeat with stories of
gazumpingandwildoffersfromdesperate
buyers. So these 2001 Minis, it would
seem,areindemand.
And like the first Minis of 1959 , the
first 2001s are also landmark cars. The
impact of Frank Stephenson’s clever
retrodesignwashuge withlong waiting
lists, premiums over list price and an
epicglobalmarketingstrategythat made
BMC’s efforts of sixty years ago look,
well, charmingly hopeless. In 1959 BMC
struggledtoselltheMini at all,whereas
BMWcouldn’tbuild themfastenoughand
theysoldlikehairrestorer. Whodoesn’t
remember that It’s a Mini Adventure
launchcampaign,thelittlefilms,TVads
anddealerpartiesallroundthecountry?
But fast-forward 18 years and a
saddening number of 2001 Minis have
gone the way of all flesh, and most
survivorsseemtohave 120 ,000miles or
moreundertheirdinkypepperpotalloys.
That’s whysavingthisvirginlow-mileage
poppetfeltsoimportant to me.
There’s growing interest too in the
first 2002 supercharged Mini Cooper S
R53s, and they alsohave afan website,
02Sregister.co.uk, whichcurrentlylaments
thatoneofthemostfamousroadtestcars
onthecoverofcarmagazinesaroundthe
world– RE02VOM – hasbeentragically
broken up for spares. Early BMW press
Cooper S modelsusually had RE, RJ or
RXprefixesintheregistrationssothey’re
easy tospotinonline adsandareworth
snappingupnow.ButasI droveGY51OTL
backfr omleafySussexit feltsonewand
tight mygamble to secure atime warp,
perfect earlyMiniseemedvindicated.
SotoViolet,its 92 year-old-ownerwho
so diligently cherished this car over the
years, I say thankyou for being sucha
perfect custodian.Your 2001 Miniisgoing
tobepreservedforthenextgenerationto
admireand appreciate.Launch-yearMini
hatchesareanendangeredspeciesanda
modernclassic,sogetsearchingandhelp
save oneforthefuture.There may comea
timewhenyou’llbegladyoudid.
The‘new’Minihascomeof age – yes,already–
soI’v e takena punt onit maturingintoa classic
soonerthanitsancestor.Laugh,butI’mnot alone
QuentinWillsonhada nine-yearstintpresenting
theBBC’sTopGear, hasbought andsold
countlesscarsandhascementeda reputation
aseveryone’sfavouritemotoringpundit.
Will Y-plate Mini Ones one day find
parity with ’59 originals? Quentin
reckons it’s well worth a punt
Quentin Willson
THE INSIDERS
