I feel I should point out the BMW mini is not really like the BMC mini except in name only. It was introduced in UK in 1958 by the (then) British Motor Corporation. It was an Alec Issigonis design to make a cheap and cheerful London runabout that was easy to park. Its price at the time was around £500 to £600 depending on model. At first it did not sell well. Then one of the royals acquired one, and BMC never looked back. Everyone but everyone just had to have one, usually female -- it went well with their miniskirts. Even the French had to have "Le Mini" -- tres chic. The mini won rallies all over the place, and were even used as taxicabs, the London 'Minicabs'. A new motoring phrase was invented "you've been minied" meaning one of them nipped out from behind you and then squeezed into the safety zone in front of you. It even spawned a famous film "The Italian Job" with Michael Caine.
The BMW mini is nothing like that at all. It is comfortable, reliable, bigger, and has a longer service life -- and costs a LOT more. The BMC mini was awful after about 15mins, I remember driving one for 200mile and having a ringing noise in my ears for half an hour, and backache for a day after. Cute though.
Leedsman.
p.s. The british motor industry was in the 1960s the world's second largest provider of motor vehicles. Then it was, BMW -- who?

 

I'm being a geek, it was 1959.

Also it was introduced during a fuel crisis when people needed to save fuel. The only car available at the time was the BMW and of course, the british couldn't have people buying 'GERMAN'.
Ironic, don't you think?

 

Aye carumba! :-0
Alec Issigonis was light years ahead of whoever designed THAT monstrosity!

 

Yes in many ways, lights years ahead and we all know what happened when John Cooper got his hand on the Mini. Imagine an 'M' version of that thing????

 

For years I drove a 525i as my daily driver. I was forever being purposely cut off and tailgated by young guys in compact pickups. On the other hand I witnessed a pristene Series 3 XJ6 rudely cutoff a guy in a Mint 69 Mustang Boss 302. Being both a Jag and a Mustang owner, I would have loved to apologize to the guy in the Mustang and admonish the XJ6 driver.

Generally, it seems to be as much the driver as the car. We just returned from dinner for my 60th birthday in the XJS. Coming back through a stop and go suburban area, I was challenged at every light by young guys in everything from clapped out Mazdas to a Saturn Sky Turbo. Obviously they were looking at the car, not the codger behind the wheel. Besides, I was too full to race anyone.

 

The idea that BMC mini was introduced in 1959 is a common misconception -- one which I almost fell into. Doing a bit of personal math, there was one in a showroom I passed on my way to school, and it was def. winter 1958.
Re. the BMW Isetta three wheeler, I've owned two of these, the second of which I rebuilt, even removing the body. Compared to a conventional car even in its day, it was an awful driving experience, noisy, throbbing all the time, sticky clutch and no power -- it was a single cyl. 300cc. The best part of it was that it kept the rain off you. Conversly, the BMW motorbikes were absolutely superb, the one I rode in the 1980s had 150,000mile on it, (ex piggy-bike) and I measured the bore wear at 8thou., nothing at all really. It was shaft drive, so no wheel misalignment, it had both electric AND kick-start, and you could ride it on the white lines round the gyrators in UK it was so stable. You could also warm your feet on the pots in winter. Happy days!
Leedsman.

 

Re. driving habits and competency, older drivers like myself long ago realized that haring around like a scalded cat might feelgood to some people, but it doesn't ACTUALLY get you around any quicker. Most of the time you get around slower, paradoxically. You also waste expensive fuel, expensive tyres, and increase your chances of accident and death by a huge figure. In UK, male drivers under 25 have to pay a really hefty surcharge on their insurance, because the accident statistics indicate the prevalence of accidents in the 17 to 25 male age group. Jeremy Clarkson did a piece on this, and if I remember correctly, a quote he got for a 17y/o from one company was £8000.
So these bad drivers you're all complaining about will get their comeuppance sooner or later. Only disappointment is, you won't be there to witness it.
Leedsman.

 

I can't argue that fact as I wasn't born until 1973 and I remember being driven in a Morris Itel months before they were released. My Dad worked for Austin Rover (and lost his 35 years of pension he had with them).

 

1973 was the year of the great petrol crisis in UK, it followed the Arabs doubling the price of their oil (the tax percentage of UK fuel was a lot smaller then) so it hit hard. There was some Jewish-Arab bother in those days, maybe that had something to do with it. I ran an american Ford Galaxy with the stacked headlights just then and when I went to the post office for petrol coupons, the man asked me how many ccs my motor had. It was a 390cu" motor so I said "6000cc". This lifted an eyebrow and he said "I only have 2000cc max". So I had to make do with that. When push came to shove, the coupons weren't needed. Prior to that petrol was 25 PENCE a gallon! Good old days...
Leedsman.

 

I don't wanna be there, it's always their gf that ends up on the mortuary slab while they hobble away with little more than bruises.

 

What year was the more recent fuel crisis? 99?

 

Nah, gas was plentiful and cheap in 1999. After Hurricane Katrina in August/September 2005, gas went through the roof for a few months and took quite a while to settle back down....

 

Maybe not a crisis but the runup in prices in 2008 did a job on GM and Chrysler when they had lots full of trucks and SUVs they couldn't sell.

Mike

 

I have an 97 xk8 and just had a mid 90's 7 series try and pass me,he couldn't.My car has a vvt issue and broke sport button,it wont redline.

 

i hate bmw drivers

 

I just did a search for Jaguar at a BMW forum. There aren't nearly as many BMW owners making negative remarks about Jags and their owners as is the reverse here. Does this indicate: 1. BMW owners are more mature than Jag owners? 2. BMW owners aren't as proud of their rides as Jag owners? 3. I have too much time on my hands if I'm looking at BMW forums?

 

He He;
1- Nope, they don't mention us because Jag owners don't go about p1ssing off other drivers bmw or otherwise
2- Why should they be? BMW's are a model of German efficiency, so they are well built and do what they on the tin, but they just don't feel remotely special to drive and for the most part conform strictly to the eurobox standard look. 'cept the Z4, I quite like them, but it still go XK if I was looking for a convertible.
3- Yes you do :-) you are now a spy for us! ;-)

 

This thread seems to get sillier with each passing day.

 

Staatsof Original - This thread seems to get sillier with each passing day.

Agreed!

Suffice to say I've seen my fair share of lunatics in BM's, but also in Jags, Audis, Porsches etc etc. I have a neighbour in my street with a wicked older 7 series in great condition and he just ambles about in it, and you can see he loves it by the way he looks after it.
Its down to the driver, NOT the make of car.

Anyhow, time to close down this thread I think