I've been debating making this thread but eh why not.
Since I was a young man, I've always liked the Classic Mini. Ive owned a 2005 R53 Cooper S a few years back which I picked up for an absolute steal and really enjoyed the car. With a slight dip in the used car market and a decline in the value of the Yen, I saw the right car come up and decided to purchase it with no prior inspections, dealing with sketchy importers and it taking months to arrive.
I knew what I wanted which was a Mk7 (1997-2001) "classic" Mini with fuel injection and the sports pack (didnt get the sports pack). Buying a classic mini in 2024 is interesting because not only are they almost all old enough to get past the 25 year federal import ban but you have lots of options regarding markets. The various entities that were Morris, BMC, Austin, Rover sold these cars in many markets and they all have little differences on an otherwise same package since its design was completed in 1959. They sold them all over the world and without getting into a history lesson, some are different. One thing they all have in common is Rust.
Long story short, due to the age range of the car I wanted, I started looking at importing cars from Japan, England, Germany and Holland.
I began looking through the various online auctions and for sale sites. Cars in England are tough. Not only are they typically very rusty but clean examples command a price premium. Germany, cars are in good shape and again expensive. Holland harder to purchase from and get an exporter without being there, which leaves Japan. Some good things about buying from Japan are that the fees are reasonable, ships are plentiful (more later) and the Japanese typically take care of their stuff. Also, the weather can be more mild than Europe.
Apprently in the early 1990s into the 2000s Japan went through a weird love of vintage stuff phase. Rover saw an oppertunity to sell vehicles here and capitalize on this new rush for vintage goods (especially cars). One thing though, because Minis didnt have Air Conditioning, and the Japanese require A/C, the local Rover branch in Japan took it upon themselves to make some additional changes and designed their own Air Conditioning system retrofit for the cars exported in from England.
Ok so, I started browsing the auctions which is where most people start. Most of the stuff that rolls through is junk in my opinion. Lots of "R" evaluation (the equivalent of salvage) cars that were in my price range. One evening while drinking I checked one of the typical vehicle resellers in Japan and found a very clean 1999 Rover Mini in blue which had just popped up at a car reseller website (not auction) with only 32,000km on the clock. I ended up committing to buy for a tad over $6,200. After shipping costs insurance and fees it was around $8,600. This was in early August. I hired a vehicle importer and sent the money over and waited... and waited. The seller said it would take about 3 months to ship but it ended up being around 2. The car was loaded up onto the Nissan USA Ship and headed towards Canada and the Port of Long beach, Arriving on October 21. I ended up renting a trailer and driving to the port to pick up the vehicle, not really knowing what I was going to find.
Here is the original pic:
Low and behold, I am the proud owner of a 1999 Rover Mini.
Notice all the new Z Cars in the background?
The car is better than I expected and has really cleaned up well after a bath and a deep scrub.
I managed to get the car registered locally without much issue as well after getting some Collector Car insurance. It cost $71 in total state fees to register the car for 5 years. All said and done, I am into it for a little under $10,000 which was the original budget. I love the car, it runs great but does need some TLC. I'll keep the thread updated with any relevant updates. Thanks for reading.
