Photo: Bring a Trailer/adamturbo
Swapping the engines of the Minis of old is not something new in the custom industry, as these tiny vehicles seem to be the perfect platforms for such engineering challenges. Yet from time to time one pops up so strange in design it deserves a closer look.
Before us sits what was one an unassuming 1990 Mini, now wearing racing-inspired overalls in black and blue. One immediately realizes something’s off with this one because of its mutated body: there are a large aluminum diffuser at the rear, fiberglass fender flares, and carbon fiber on the hood, boot lid, and spoiler, just to name a few.
But what really catches the eye are the vents drilled in the Lexan rear windows, some of them just the visible ends of air ducts. And then you realize they’re there to serve the car’s engine. Or should we say, the motorcycle’s engine.
This Mini's original powertrain was swapped a few years ago by a British Columbia garage called AMT Machine Shop in favor of one striped from a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. This unit, 998cc in displacement and linked to a six-speed sequential transmission coming from the same bike, is mounted where the rear seats used to be, and is the reason why those window ducts are there in the first place.
We are not told what the performance numbers of the engine are in this configuration, but this left-hand-drive Mini looks like it was made for racing. The exterior sure looks like it, and the interior enhances that courtesy of the sport seats with four-point harnesses and a braced roll bar.
Weird as it may be, sitting on the 12-inch wheels and lacking the ability to go in reserve because of its motorcycle drivetrain, this build was enticing enough for someone last week on Bring a Trailer, where it went for $37,000.
But what really catches the eye are the vents drilled in the Lexan rear windows, some of them just the visible ends of air ducts. And then you realize they’re there to serve the car’s engine. Or should we say, the motorcycle’s engine.
This Mini's original powertrain was swapped a few years ago by a British Columbia garage called AMT Machine Shop in favor of one striped from a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. This unit, 998cc in displacement and linked to a six-speed sequential transmission coming from the same bike, is mounted where the rear seats used to be, and is the reason why those window ducts are there in the first place.
We are not told what the performance numbers of the engine are in this configuration, but this left-hand-drive Mini looks like it was made for racing. The exterior sure looks like it, and the interior enhances that courtesy of the sport seats with four-point harnesses and a braced roll bar.
Weird as it may be, sitting on the 12-inch wheels and lacking the ability to go in reserve because of its motorcycle drivetrain, this build was enticing enough for someone last week on Bring a Trailer, where it went for $37,000.
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