R50. Y-reg. Preferably with a plate ending in ‘OBL’. Eh? To decode, the R50 is the codename of the original BMW Mini, co-developed with Rover.
Y-reg is a car from 2001. And if its registration number ends with ‘OBL’, then it was very likely owned by BMW and used as a demonstrator, a press car or a promotional vehicle.
In classic car collecting circles that gives it provenance, even if it means that this Mini may well carry some of early bugs exorcised in later models, such as front seat backrest mechanisms that fight back, a rattling accompaniment to your journey and, as the cars age, oil leaks too.
But there are some desirable items too, just as there were with the original Mini. The early, 1959-built examples of these are coveted as much for their age as an assortment of features soon modified in production, such as the addition of drain holes in the roof gutter, two-piece road wheels welded rather than riveted together and hubcaps with differently shaped ventilation cut-outs.
Those who revel in such pedantic details (who, me?) will be delighted to hear that there are similarly arcane variations peculiar only to the very earliest of R50s too. One is the longitudinal indentations moulded into the seats, a design flourish soon considered unnecessary.
Another is the embossing of the pedals with an ‘M’. The upshot is that there is now a register for these Y-registration Minis, and a website detailing the differences is apparently on the way too. I won’t be looking at that, of course.
Now you may be healthily unbothered by such collectors’ trivia, and simply like the idea of an early new-generation Mini. And why not? These cheerfully individual cars can now be had for under £1000 with an MoT, although they will likely have covered six-figure distances.
Add your comment