Scratch-built mid-engine Mini

[kb58]

Hello all,

First post here, but long-time car guy. I guess this is the best place for my one-off car, a carbon shell, tube-frame, mid-engine MK1 Mini. I built it because I couldn't afford the cars (or even the kit cars) that I wanted.

To be honest, the only Mini parts are the doors, lights, and windshield. The engine is a 2.2 liter VTEC from a Honda Prelude, so it has plenty of get-up-and-go, weighing only 1595lbs. Anyhow, instead of going on and on, check it out at www.kimini.com. There's tons of pictures in the Build Diaries, and check out the driving videos, too. It's been a 10 year project and has been done now for a year and a half.

While designing and building the car, I also wrote a book about how to do it (www.kimini.com/book info/) With this book, you can take a commonly available FWD drivetrain assembly and build your own! I know many of you guys have experience with FWD engines, which makes it even easier. I used a Honda, but you can use whatever you want. The key thing to know about the book is that it is a guide for building a mid-engine sports car based upon parts you have, not forcing you to make it look like anything in particular (I build a Mini, but the book covers ALL mid-engine car designs.)

Anyhow, I hope you like my site, and if you find it intriging to build a car froms scratch instead of buying a kit (that ends up being a lot more) please buy my book! Since so many kits use front engine / rear drive, they apparently haven't seen the writing on the wall. My book shows just how to do it, using a FWD drivetrain.

Thanks,

Kurt