Vinnie
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At first glance this would look like an '86+ British Mini due to its side marker lights. |  |
The front, however, shows that this has a quite different grill with its MiniCooper 1300 badge |
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Close inspection of the rear again shows the different badge, and the fact that this is an Innocenti. |  |
The British Leyland badge is correct, since Innocentis were produced in Italy by a British Leyand factory located there. |
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A glance at the interior shows comfortable style seats with a dash that appears a bit different. |  |
A closer look at the dash shows the distinct cave dash insert with multiple gauges not included on standard British Minis. |
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The boot appears spacious without anything in it, but is the same size as Minis from '59 onward, though the Italian petrol tank is a bit larger. |  |
The engine is the original Innocenti 1300 rebored to 1340 cc, with a rallye cam, hardened valves, and the addition of added power assist brakes. |
This is my Italian cousin Vinnie. Vinnie was made by British Leyland in their factory in Italy in 1975. In 1981 he was imported into England and sometime later had the steering switched to the right hand side. Within the last two years, the car was restored with a new paint job, suspension system, and a complete engine rebuild. The engine rebuild increased its bore to 1340 cc, added a rallye cam, a larger carburetor, and a stage one tuned exhaust. A power brake booster was also installed to give it a braking quality that surpasses other Minis of its age.
The car is comfortable to ride in, incredible to drive, and has more power than you would want to release. In the fall of 2002, I drove the car over a thousand miles round trip to the Classic Grand Prix Festival in Watkins glen, NY and had not a problem. On the guest drive on the track, Vinnie hit 95 mph with power to spare, and made me believe that it might indeed do the 220 km/h on the speedo (135 mph).
Vinnie is one of my favorites as an unusual and different kind of Mini. There are not very many true Innoncentis in either the US or UK
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