Ernst Blofeld
Member
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Given the success of the MINI in the US, has interest in the old car picked up Stateside?
Just wondered really, because the original car wasn't much of a hit on your side of the Atlantic.
I suppose its lack of success was hardly surprising given the car's tininess: in a country the size of a continent smallness must be much less of a virtue, and mile-munching can't be said to be the car's forte.
On the other hand, the car did achieve some measure of success in Australia and Canada where you might assume the same conditions applied.
And if the likes of Triumph and MG had some measure of success selling tiddlers in the US, you might have expected the Mini to appeal to those folk who would have liked a Spridgefire but needed two extra seats. You might have supposed that the latter group outnumbered sportscar fans.
So I'm guessing that it was BMC's lack of marketing nous that scuppered the car's chances in the USA back in the day.
These days I hear that the market for pre-1973 Minis in the US is quite strong, and where once you might have expected the best cars to have wound up in the hands of Japanese enthusiasts more and more classic Minis are ending up Stateside.
I don't know if this is true, but how much interest is there in the old car in the US?
Just wondered really, because the original car wasn't much of a hit on your side of the Atlantic.
I suppose its lack of success was hardly surprising given the car's tininess: in a country the size of a continent smallness must be much less of a virtue, and mile-munching can't be said to be the car's forte.
On the other hand, the car did achieve some measure of success in Australia and Canada where you might assume the same conditions applied.
And if the likes of Triumph and MG had some measure of success selling tiddlers in the US, you might have expected the Mini to appeal to those folk who would have liked a Spridgefire but needed two extra seats. You might have supposed that the latter group outnumbered sportscar fans.
So I'm guessing that it was BMC's lack of marketing nous that scuppered the car's chances in the USA back in the day.
These days I hear that the market for pre-1973 Minis in the US is quite strong, and where once you might have expected the best cars to have wound up in the hands of Japanese enthusiasts more and more classic Minis are ending up Stateside.
I don't know if this is true, but how much interest is there in the old car in the US?