Those who claim that front-wheel drive cars can’t be fun should have to take this little MINI Cooper out for a spin. Equipped with a Safety Devices tubular roll cage, a lot of carbon fiber, and a turbocharged B18 Honda engine, it’s bound to be capable of some wild feats. Those features and more are available to anyone with about $60,000.
Classic MINI Coopers are well-known for their fun driving dynamics. This one, originally a 1970 model, seems devoid of almost all of its original parts. Despite that, we bet it’s considerably more fun to drive. From outside of the car it’s clear to the observer that there’s more to it than just a simple body kit.
The roll cage is clearly visible as are large wheels, big brakes, and sticky tires. The widebody fenders are another dead giveaway that this isn’t your average MINI. Under the front bonnet is a 1.8-liter B18C Honda four-cylinder that evidently develops 350 whp (est. 388 hp / 289 kW) thanks in part to an Innovative Turbo Systems turbocharger.
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While that’s not exactly a gigantic powertrain, it’s clearly big enough for the diminutive MINI that the widebody (built primarily out of kevlar and carbon fiber) was required. Other equipment includes Sparco racing seats, a Wilwood brake balance adjuster, Schroth 5-point racing harnesses, and a Sparco quick-release steering wheel.
According to the listing on eBay, the seller is asking $79,200 Canadian dollars or about $58,869 USD. They say “over $150,000 invested into this rebuild” but don’t specify which currency they mean. Beyond that, some other information is a bit murky at best. It seems as though the car is in Calgary though that’s not explicitly stated. In addition, there’s no information about how many miles are on this MINI.
Finally, that power figure is described as “dyno proven” yet no documentation surrounding that testing is presented. Is it worth its asking price? We’ll let you be the judge of that. We know one thing though, it looks like a ton of fun in a half-ton package.
