The Italian Job Comes to Classic Motorsports

Feb 24, 2008 update to the Innocenti Mini Cooper project car

After spending way, way, way too much time debating what classic to get, David, our editor, finally made a purchase: a 1971 Innocenti Mini Cooper. It’s a twin-SU, 998cc-powered car. It’s also left-hand drive, which he figured would be better in the real world.

This was originally a hydrolastic suspension car, although it has been converted to a dry suspension. The engine was recently rebuilt, the brakes are fresh, the interior is new, and the car is in pretty decent condition. It drives nicely, too, once it’s warmed-up.

The car came on its spare, hence the one mismatched wheel. It did come with two new Yokohama A008 tires, and Orlando & Sons here in Ormond Beach, Florida, was able to mount it no problem. The wheel wouldn’t fit on their balancing machine, so we might be upgrading to alloys soon. We’ll keep you guys posted on our progress.