Yes $500 MINIs do exist. Or at least one does as it showed up recently at the 24 Hour of LeMons in Texas. According to Jalopnik the above MINI incurred a 1066 lap penalty for being too new and too nice to possibly cost only $500. The team bought the car from a junkyard where it ended up after a roll-over accident.
The car finished 122 out of 123 (due to that healthy penalty and recorded a best lap time of 2:09.79. That was some 10 seconds off of the pace of the fastest cars out there. Clearly they either weren’t pushing the car or the team weren’t the hottest shoes out there.
But this all begs the question… how much would you have paid for the MINI above. All mechanicals work but with a salvage title and a body more warped than the mind of military dictator, it’s not exactly pretty.
<p>If I were a mechanic I’d buy it for the 05 gearbox and swap it into my 04. The supercharger would probably come in handy in the next year or 2, too. I’d say $500 was a steal.</p>
<p>I would think you could buy one for that cheap, plus they can sell off stuff inside the car to drop the cost of the car. I think it could happen.</p>
<p>But surely the junkyard knows that the supercharger and transmission are worth what they are. Surely they know that the other interior parts can be sold, that is their business after all. I bet they had to know somsone at the yard to get the whole car for only $500.</p>
<p>Sorry, but I don’t see how legitimately you get any car that will run for $500. Even the plentiful examples of old American iron, if they have a running engine and tranny are “worth” more than $500. Every single car in a lemons race is worth more than $500….What one actually pays for a lemons car is merely a matter of finding a willing seller to unload something regardless of value or a bit of forgery….and I am sure the latter is much more frequent.</p>
<p>Did any of you even read the article? It states clearly that the guys who brought the MINI to the race own a salvage yard, and that they got the value of the car down to $500 by selling off interior parts until the net value (what they paid minus the selling price of the parts) was less than $500.</p>
<p>If I could have bought that car for $500 or even $1000, I would have in a heartbeat! Looks like it would be a perfect candidate for a Grassroots Challenge car.</p>
<p>I have seen very repairable (appearing) JCW’s going for three grand. I am sure it is possible to find the car in question for the price in question</p>
<p>at a Lemons race, one can’t be sure.. could just as easily be a guy in that dress…</p>
<p>How much would I have paid? A lot more than $500, that’s for sure… but given the guys own a salavage yard, I don’t think the car was a fair entry and the lap penalty was deserved.</p>
<p>Posted by Minipuma:
“Did any of you even read the article? It states clearly that the guys who brought the MINI to the race own a salvage yard, and that they got the value of the car down to $500 by selling off interior parts until the net value (what they paid minus the selling price of the parts) was less than $500.”</p>
<p>Actually, I did not read the Jalopnik article. I did read this article at Motoringfile where it explicitly states “The team bought the car from a junkyard where it ended up after a roll-over accident” So I had no idea that they actually owned or worked at the junkyard. ;)</p>
<p>IF it’s too new it’s really attracts suspicion. They should have let a group of kindergartners go at it with about 6 different shades of flat paints in rattle cans. Removed some body panels and the like if they wanted it to look cheap.</p>
<p>There are some who do a very good job of starting with a more expensive car and selling parts down to lower the effective cost, it’s just hard to do with a newer car. Around here a running wreck of a new Mini is a $6k car or so. Takes a lot of bits sold out to lower the price to $500.</p>
<p>i’d buy it just for the sake of having a cooper S engine, SC and transmission, i’d take those, the wheels, get my hands on a nice cooper S body kit and front-mount intercooler, and convert my R50 into a quasi-sleeper R53. and the body pieces would be sold either as scrap metal or to a shop that thinks they can fix them. and if they called me up now and offered me a deal for a grand or so, i’d let them hold me to it.</p>
<p>If I were a mechanic I’d buy it for the 05 gearbox and swap it into my 04. The supercharger would probably come in handy in the next year or 2, too. I’d say $500 was a steal.</p>
<p>I would think you could buy one for that cheap, plus they can sell off stuff inside the car to drop the cost of the car. I think it could happen.</p>
<p>“…a body more warped than the mind of a dictator…”</p>
<p>You, sir, are no Ezra Dyer.</p>
<p>But surely the junkyard knows that the supercharger and transmission are worth what they are. Surely they know that the other interior parts can be sold, that is their business after all. I bet they had to know somsone at the yard to get the whole car for only $500.</p>
<p>wheels and tires alone would be close to the $500 — unless it only came with the 1 wheel shown above</p>
<p>Sorry, but I don’t see how legitimately you get any car that will run for $500. Even the plentiful examples of old American iron, if they have a running engine and tranny are “worth” more than $500. Every single car in a lemons race is worth more than $500….What one actually pays for a lemons car is merely a matter of finding a willing seller to unload something regardless of value or a bit of forgery….and I am sure the latter is much more frequent.</p>
<p>Don’t believe it if the gearbox and motor are still in working order.</p>
<p>Looks damn good for a rollover…</p>
<p>Was this poor MINI the unfortunate recipiant of a mob after a college football game then???</p>
<p>Did any of you even read the article? It states clearly that the guys who brought the MINI to the race own a salvage yard, and that they got the value of the car down to $500 by selling off interior parts until the net value (what they paid minus the selling price of the parts) was less than $500.</p>
<p>If I could have bought that car for $500 or even $1000, I would have in a heartbeat! Looks like it would be a perfect candidate for a Grassroots Challenge car.</p>
<p>I have seen very repairable (appearing) JCW’s going for three grand. I am sure it is possible to find the car in question for the price in question</p>
<p>Am I the only one who noticed the blonde in the black dress??</p>
<p>no you are not….</p>
<p>at a Lemons race, one can’t be sure.. could just as easily be a guy in that dress…</p>
<p>How much would I have paid? A lot more than $500, that’s for sure… but given the guys own a salavage yard, I don’t think the car was a fair entry and the lap penalty was deserved.</p>
<p>Posted by Minipuma:
“Did any of you even read the article? It states clearly that the guys who brought the MINI to the race own a salvage yard, and that they got the value of the car down to $500 by selling off interior parts until the net value (what they paid minus the selling price of the parts) was less than $500.”</p>
<p>Actually, I did not read the Jalopnik article. I did read this article at Motoringfile where it explicitly states “The team bought the car from a junkyard where it ended up after a roll-over accident” So I had no idea that they actually owned or worked at the junkyard. ;)</p>
<p>Makes perfect sense knowing that though.</p>
<p>IF it’s too new it’s really attracts suspicion. They should have let a group of kindergartners go at it with about 6 different shades of flat paints in rattle cans. Removed some body panels and the like if they wanted it to look cheap.</p>
<p>There are some who do a very good job of starting with a more expensive car and selling parts down to lower the effective cost, it’s just hard to do with a newer car. Around here a running wreck of a new Mini is a $6k car or so. Takes a lot of bits sold out to lower the price to $500.</p>
<p>Matt</p>
<p>i’d buy it just for the sake of having a cooper S engine, SC and transmission, i’d take those, the wheels, get my hands on a nice cooper S body kit and front-mount intercooler, and convert my R50 into a quasi-sleeper R53. and the body pieces would be sold either as scrap metal or to a shop that thinks they can fix them. and if they called me up now and offered me a deal for a grand or so, i’d let them hold me to it.</p>