Re: Minis and Alfas - and Fiats

["Mark Battley" <m.battley@domain.elided>]

From the buy a GTV or Mini? thread...

>Without a doubt, the Mini is the most fun you can legally (and almost
>safely) have on the road - that and maybe a Lotus 7. They are also stupidly
>quick if you sort them out. In Historic racing in the UK (I think it's
>classed Vintage in US), the Mini Coopers leave the Alfas so far behind it's
>sad. Even GTAs and Ti Supers are left messing about at the back whilst the
>Minis mix it up (and often win) at the front with lightweight Jaguar
>specials, hot Mustangs etc.

Dunno about race cars, but in my relatively limited experience with road
legal modified Minis it's not so much that they ARE fast but they FEEL fast,
lots of noise, lot's of feedback, go-kart handling. Which is definitely fun.
Come to think of it, similar comments can be applied to the GTV! Dunno what
they do to the race cars though...

>What it must be like to tool about in
>a road-race Mini with 100bhp, straight-cut gearbox, decent brakes etc, I
>can't wait to find out one day.

Hmm, sounds a bit like what I bought a few weeks ago to supplement the
GTV... it's small, light, 105hp and torquey (and easily able to tuned for
more), 4 wheel disks (vented at the front), 5spd gearbox, faster in a
straight line than almost any Mini, and (more-or-less) go-kart handling.

Best of all it's even Italian, and Red - a Fiat Uno Turbo. One might even
consider it to be a 1980s Italian version of a hot Mini.... :-))

And it cost about a 1/10th of an average condition GTV. Quicker than the GTV
too.

But not as beautiful. Earlier this week I was sitting at the lights on the
way to work in the GTV when a courier on a big motorbike lent in the side
window to say "cool car mate!". Doubt if you'd get that with a Mini... 

Mark Battley
Auckland, New Zealand.

1973 Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce
1989 Fiat Uno Turbo 
1989 Fiat Croma

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