This is my first classic car: a 1975 Austin Mini 850 MKIII

It was September 8, 2003. I was riding on a motorbike with a friend, heading home after lunch. Out of the blue, I saw a lady driving this Mini on the street — and I quickly went after it.

The car stopped at a bank after a few minutes of chasing. A lady got out of the car, and I walked up to her and asked if she was interested in selling it.

“This is my father’s car. I think yes, he is selling it,” she replied.

I was happy to hear that her father — the owner — was indeed selling the car. I asked if she knew the price, and she said it was RM4,000 (about $950 USD or £700 GBP).

She seemed to be in a rush that day, so I got her father’s phone number from her.

This is another photo I took on the same day. The lady in the photo is the owner’s daughter, whom I spoke to.

So eventually, I called the owner on the same day. We arranged a time to meet up to discuss buying the car. I was still a poor student at the time, so I asked if he would consider selling it at a lower price.

He said his original intention was to sell the car for RM4,500, but his daughter had mistakenly told me RM4,000, so he agreed to let it go for RM4,000.

The car didn’t have air conditioning, but it was in very good condition. The floorboard had been replaced, the engine had been rebuilt, and the brakes, clutch, and everything else worked well. It didn’t have front disc brakes — it had four drum brakes, front and rear — and it was fitted with 10-inch BWA sport rims.

Looking at the condition of the car, I decided to go ahead with the deal. I still remember that back then, no car inspection was required for a name transfer in Malaysia.

The owner was very kind — he even used his motorbike to pick me up from Penang Island and took me all the way to the Butterworth JPJ office for the name transfer. We simply took a queue number, filled in some forms, submitted photocopies of our ID cards, and kept our fingers crossed.

If my memory serves me right, no thumbprint was required at that time.

Afterwards, he brought me back to his house and invited me up to his apartment for a cup of tea. We chatted a bit about the history of the car.

It was very nice to learn about the history of the car and how the previous owner took care of it. Understanding the rebuild process was vital so I could maintain the car properly in the future.

The owner gifted me two rubber cones and explained how to handle the second gear if I found it hard to engage. I then happily drove the car home.

I’ve been using the car for more than two decades. Back then, owning a car during university life was fantastic — most of my friends didn’t have one, so I often picked up a few friends and drove this car across different provinces in Malaysia, from Penang to Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and more.

Recently, I was forced to replace the car body due to rust issues, but yes, it’s been 22 years and I still own it. In fact, I now own three Minis, one of which is the new BMW MINI.

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