Austin Mini 1275GT

I wrote a piece for Carthrottle.com on the Mini 1275GT recently. Imagine that, driving a tiny little car all the way from Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur. I left at night from Simpang Pulai near Ipoh and it was raining. The wipers were intermittent in that the wiper motor did not have enough juice to move them all the time (due to faulty grounding) and I was basically driving a dark B-road in the rain. Quite a scare but at least the very old car had good lights to balance things off slightly.

On those B-roads I felt like Paddy Hopkirk driving in a rally. Of course this wasn't a snowy Monte Carlo but it was pretty wet nonetheless. Driving a Mini on a B-road is certainly one of motoring's greatest pleasures.

Driving on the highway was slightly unnerving at the start. You feel slightly small until you get used to those lorries and busses passing by or when you're passing them instead. At least you can maintain a steady cruise of about 100km/h so that progress isn't that slow. It was a nice slow drive basically, one that I could actually enjoy listening to that 1,275cc engine and transmission do its Mini-like thrum. No other car has a noise combo like it so much so that when BMW made the new Cooper S, that supercharger actually mimicked that original gearbox whine.

 "On the B-roads it was a little bouncy but on the 12 inch Minilite wheels and tire combo the ride felt waaayyy better than the original 10inch rims and tires. I suppose this is due to the improvement in modern rubber. The Mini actually cornered better and rode more comfortably than when it first left the factory nearly 35 years ago. "

Read more about the Mini 1275GT here.

p/s. I did not drive back to KL without some semblance of back-up. Two cars left for KL that night, the other was this car from the cat family. A real mis-match.

Last November ......

.......I drove over 200km or from KL to Pengkalan Pegoh, Ipoh (remember this place readers - it is one of the last traditional kampung settlement right smack in Ipoh City) in this...

.it was epic. My hands got tired waving at people who constantly waved at me. Then it rained...things got even more awsome...Driving a 1950s ragtop in a tropical storm halfway to Ipoh......I repeat..IT WAS EPIC.

..and drove this...

from Ipoh to KL. A nicely sorted out Mini 1275GT. The fastest Mini you could buy in the mid-Seventies (That's 1970s to you young ones). Ignore the red car in the foreground people...nothing to see here...move along folks...move along.

I also drove this....

It was more like piloting it as it wafts slowly down a kampung road. Truly the best way to travel. Even today.

And lastly, this crazy original LHD milspec Willys Jeep (export spec with a 2.5liter 4 cylinder engine) that was filled up with avgas (aviation gas)

.... A real beast to drive...sputtering...sputtering....then Powahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Without doors, windows, roof, proper seats, seatbelts (hey, its authentic milspec - like those you see in vietnam, korean war movies!!!!)...oh yeah...no key, just a kill switch and a starter buttom and 24v battery system. The only registered one in Malaysia. It may not have a bazillion horsepower, but without anything resembling safety equipment around...you feel extremely mortal after driving it.

I was chuffed to bits last November. I mean who wouldn't be after all of this?

I will get about and write about all of these stupendous drives and rides...but I have been extremely busy with life.... So it's going to take awhile. Do bear with me...and enjoy the ride as I often cook up something in between writing about drives mentioned above.