Chris Lee
1990 Mini Cooper RSP
“These Morgan's really get under your feet!”
The RSP (Rover Special Products) was a
limited edition model brought out to celebrate the 30
class=Normal-C7>th anniversary of the introduction
of the original Mini Cooper in 1960. In all 1050 RSP were sold in the UK and
were very sought after commanding prices up to double Rovers official price.
The background to the models
development was interesting – Rover had three special editions of their 998cc
Mini; the Racing, Flame and Checkmate which were also available with a John
Cooper conversion which was proving successful and they wanted to see how a full
blown 1275cc version would sell before introducing a ‘mainstream’ Cooper. They
introduced the RSP to see what public reaction was and sold the entire
production run before the first car was made. This lead to the standard
production model which continued in production until Mini production came to an
end in 2000.
The RSP was hand built and based on the
three 998cc special editions with the following changes:
Engine
1275cc ‘A’ plus engine from the MG
Metro producing 61 BHP (compared to the original Mini Coopers 55)
Oil cooler, Single big SU
Carburetor
Exterior
Body colour door mirrors, Glass
sunroof, Nine spoke ‘minilite’ alloy wheels, Signed bonnet stripes, Halogen
headlamps, Body colour wheel arches, sill finishers and number plate housing,
Front spot lamps
Interior
Badged half leather interior, Red
carpets,Red leather steering wheel, Sundymclass=Normal-C2>
glass
Additionally this car
has:
Engine
Gas flowed, K&N air filter, LCB
manifold, RC40 exhaust, 1:5 rockers producing 77BHP and 72 lbf-ft torque
(recorded top speed 108mph). Competition clutch
Suspension
Moulton ‘Smootharide” suspension with
Hi Lo adjusters, Koni adjustable dampers
Brakes
Tarox grooved discs and competion pads,
Minifin drums.
Exterior
Mud flaps, 165/60 Yokahama tyres, rear
wheel spacers, sump shield.
Interior
Newton Commercial half leather front
seats, column dropper, seat brackets, extensive sound proofing
This car has covered over 100,000 miles
and takes part in various classic rallies. It acts as ‘course car’ on the
Manchester to Blackpool Classic Car Run and the Coast to Coast to Coast Classic.
It has lapped the full grand prix circuit at Aintree and appeared at many shows
around the country.
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