The Rise of The White Roof

Jack07734 Jun 12th, 2007 Link

A white roof may be cool but no roof is cooler.

Cheers, Jack (Motoring Topless)

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gmini Jun 12th, 2007 Link

and a silver roof is coolest. ;)

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gz Jun 12th, 2007 Link

I have a white roof on my new FJ Cruiser. Looks great, however, I still like a black roof on Minis. The white roof seems too “cute”.

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Nathaniel Salzman Jun 12th, 2007 Link

Yes! Silver roof is certainly the coolest!!!

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jarrett Jun 12th, 2007 Link

I agree, white roofs are a necessity down south, every time i drive though dallas, i cringe when i see a black roof as i know the car temperature is quite warm inside.

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Imurtrbolvr Jun 12th, 2007 Link

I guess it sucks for us “Black-Roof Mini-owners” :( noooo… we wont be saving energy and eventually we’ll become the sole cause of earth’s destruction.

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justinm Jun 12th, 2007 Link

Imurtrbolvr, it will be those with dark black window tinting that will the cause of the earth’s destruction. I just know that some of them drive around saying to themselves, “I sure am glad I got this tinting, I can’t imagine how hot it would be in here without it.”

Anyway, just enjoy your dark roof in the winter, or move farther north.

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joey drama Jun 12th, 2007 Link

kinda surprised that no one included in their articles about how the mini originally had a white roof so race spectators could easily pick it out at a race. Question: what is that first car shown in the second article? i always wonder what it is when i see it in scarface.

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justinm Jun 12th, 2007 Link

or move farther north

Oh, now that was a hemispherist comment. Apologies to those in SA, Australia, etc. :-)

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Ken Jun 12th, 2007 Link

In 1965 my dad bought a beautiful Ford, LTD with a white, metallic turquoise body and matching turquoise interior. When we visited the Gateway arch in St. Louis Mo., we could see our car in the parking area because it was one of a handful of white roofed autos. I day I’ll never forget.

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Mark Jun 12th, 2007 Link

Joey: I the car in the second post is an early ’70s Citreon DS, I think.

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MQuin Jun 12th, 2007 Link

a white roof looks real girly to me….black or silver!

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Dave Mac Mini Jun 12th, 2007 Link

Mark and joey

Indeed, the car is a Citroen DS, a wonderful machine that was far ahead of its time, as it was introduced in 1955 and produced for 20 years or so. I have owned several of them over the years, and they were fun cars to own. Much like the MINI, they always attracted a lot of attention.

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dr Jun 12th, 2007 Link

if they painted prius roofs white I would paint my white roof black!

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Greg W Jun 12th, 2007 Link

The first Classic Mini Coopers had white and black roofs as a contrasting colour, i.e. red car/black roof, white car/black roof, green car/white roof, grey car/white roof. The white colour was “Old English white”. This had nothing to do with spotting a car on the track. John Cooper used his GP Formula One Cooper car colours for his Mini Cooper team – British racing green with two stripes from radiator grille to windscreen. The cars had a white roof. The BMC Works cars as used in Monte Carlo Rallies were traditional red car with white roof (also used for Austin Healey works cars, and other models).

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chakaluka Jun 12th, 2007 Link

My 74 FJ-40 (real Land Cruiser) had a white roof. it was a fiberglass part molded with white Gelcoat. All FJ-40s got the same piece – no repainting. Functional both in terms of weight and production efficiency. Not so with the white roofs on the new FJ or MINI.

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Aussom Jun 12th, 2007 Link

Whatever happened to Vinyl roof skins? A possibility for future MINIs?

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Vanwall Jun 12th, 2007 Link

Growing up in Arizona, I learned to appreciate how cool a white roof could be, believe me. Strangely enough, the vast majority of Mk1 Minis I ran across had been red with the black top originally – must’ve been the factory’s export choice. Considering on a hot day you could cook an egg on a black car there, white is my choice, if nothing else so you could rest your arms on the roof without screaming.

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Nigel Jun 14th, 2007 Link

If you live in the “sunbelt” getting a MINI with a white roof is a very good idea. If you want to keep a cool cabin, avoid the sunroof and add tints all around…it really helps the A/C in those extra hot days…

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