New Mini To The Family

"f86sabre" (f86sabre) 07/24/2017 at 15:22 • Filed to: Mini

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A few weeks ago Flavien posted about the cool little Mini that he found at auction over in Japan. Well, I bought it and will be importing it into the US via the port of Savannah, GA. There will be another classic Mini in Atlanta. This is intended as a gift for my wife, but I hope/assume that I will get plenty of time with it. I am pretty excited all around. The car will probably be home somewhere between the first and mid part of September.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

The Mini will join our ‘05 Cooper S, ‘03 Evo VIII, ‘02 Chevy Silverado, the LeMons Escort and my ‘02 BMW R1150RTP. I’m going to try and sell the bike before the Mini arrives so we have room in the garage, so if anyone wants a used cop bike let me know.

Flavien has been fantastic to work with. He’s been great about making the process as easy as possible. 11/10 would recommend.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > f86sabre 07/24/2017 at 15:29

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If you don’t mind me asking, what did it cost you delivered? I would love to own a classic Mini one day and the ones that are already here cost a fortune.

Jobjoris > f86sabre 07/24/2017 at 15:29

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Totally agree on the process by Flavien. That’s why I bought a second car from him within a month ;-)

For Sweden > f86sabre 07/24/2017 at 15:29

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Put a Trent XWB in it

WilliamsSW > f86sabre 07/24/2017 at 15:29

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Awesome! Looking forward to a full Oppo report. And how the heck did I not realize that Flavien did this for a living until I saw you/Flavien post something to that effect in the last day or so?

f86sabre > For Sweden 07/24/2017 at 15:33

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I did think about flying it home air cargo, but sea shipping is so cheap right now that it is hard to beat.

f86sabre > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 07/24/2017 at 15:36

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Let’s see If Flavien is comfortable discussing the sale price. As mentioned in his initial post about the car it was well below what you see on BAT or CL for a car in similar condition.

Cash Rewards > f86sabre 07/24/2017 at 15:38

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Yeah, same as turbo squirrel here. Also, where’d you info about them? They were made for so many years I assume there are differences over the decades.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > f86sabre 07/24/2017 at 15:48

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I have nothing to add other than general Flavien accolades: he was my Secret Senna and sent some very sqweet Japanese diecasts and a BMW history picture book.

diplodicus > f86sabre 07/24/2017 at 15:59

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Do you know if it will actually stay on a boat until Savannah, going through the Panama canal. Or will they unload the container in LA and put it on a train?

f86sabre > diplodicus 07/24/2017 at 16:05

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Ship all the way.

f86sabre > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 16:08

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I just looked at BAT, CL, Ebay and Autotrader. Price was good compared to all of those. BAT and CL tend to higher end models or modded cars. Autotrader didn’t have much. The price was favorable to what I had seen for the last few years for comparable cars. My wife has wanted one of these forever, so I have been casually keeping an eye out.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > f86sabre 07/24/2017 at 16:11

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Someone in my home town has a blue van variant and it makes me super jealous every time I see it.

Cash Rewards > f86sabre 07/24/2017 at 16:31

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I meant in terms of “don’t buy the ones from 76-80, the 81s had more reliable motors” type of info.

f86sabre > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 16:34

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Ah, I didn’t worry about that much. Minis are quirky cars in the best of times. I can wrench reasonably well and I have a ton of friends who are very good. One is already pushing for an engine swap. My plan is to just enjoy it as it is.

f86sabre > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 07/24/2017 at 16:35

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Yeah, the vans and trucks are super cool just for the oddball factor.

Mini Guy- Now has a 4Runner > f86sabre 07/24/2017 at 17:17

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ARGH IM SO JELLY

f86sabre > Mini Guy- Now has a 4Runner 07/24/2017 at 17:34

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Rover-mini > f86sabre 07/24/2017 at 22:05

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Enjoy. I bought my 99 mini last year, and have been loving it.

Flavien Vidal > f86sabre 07/25/2017 at 07:44

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Man it is your car and your money that you gave me haha, no problem for me to pay it obviously :)

Not to mention I think I did post the price publicly before too :)

Flavien Vidal > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 07/25/2017 at 07:46

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The car was $7000 shipping to Savannah, GA included. Keep in mind this one is in really nice condition. I can certainly get cheaper ones...

Flavien Vidal > Jobjoris 07/25/2017 at 07:49

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Which we almost thought was in South Africa before learning we were following the wrong ship... Yeah my work! :S

Flavien Vidal > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 07/25/2017 at 07:50

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Dude... Alpina history book!! Not BMW!!

:)

Flavien Vidal > diplodicus 07/25/2017 at 07:52

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It doesn’t ship in a container... It’s “Ro-ro” shipping (Roll-on, Roll-off). Ships transformed into gigantic parking lots to ship cars all around the world. Container shipping is much more expensive...

And yes, it goes through Panama...

diplodicus > Flavien Vidal 07/25/2017 at 08:11

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Interesting. All my world shipping knowledge comes from The Wire, the stolen mercedes in season 2 were in containers lol. Which I guess if they’re stolen makes sense.

Flavien Vidal > diplodicus 07/25/2017 at 08:14

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Yep all the black market cars brought into the US are brought in via containers :)

Legal stuff that doesn’t cost a fortune ships via Ro-Ro. More expensive cars usually ship in their own containers, which is dumb, considering how many containers are lost at sea all the time when cars parked in RoRo ships don’t just choose to drive themselves into the ocean lol

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Flavien Vidal 07/25/2017 at 08:55

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Sorry, sorry. I don’t *quite* sleep with it under my pillow every night.

Maybe I ought to. :)

Flavien Vidal > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 07/25/2017 at 08:58

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You better start now! Apparently you got quite a few nights to catch up! I am disappoint...

f86sabre > Flavien Vidal 07/25/2017 at 20:10

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I try to be respectful when it comes to business. ;)