Droptops In Saint Louis: 1993 Ford Mustang vs 2005 Mini Cooper

Sbsd 3 30 2023
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Good morning, Autopians! Today we take on the second leg of our Route 66 tour, with a stop in St. Louis, Missouri. But first, let’s see how you got there, and check in on Chicago’s results:

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A decisive win for the Galant. I was curious to see if the wagon bodystyle had enough pull to help the Saturn’s numbers; I guess not. 62,000 miles and rust-free is hard to pass up at that price. But yes, if you buy it, change that timing belt right away.

So now we head southwest through Illinois, past Dixie Trucker’s Home (if you know, you know), through Springfield, across the mighty Mississippi River, past the Gateway Arch to St. Louis, where an unlikely pair of convertibles waits for us.

First, though, it’s story time, if I may… In the spring of 1986, I was on an eighth-grade field trip to visit the Illinois capital of Springfield. There were about forty of us, riding down from the Chicago suburbs in a comfy tour bus (not one of the rickety old Bluebird school buses) for the day. We toured the capitol building, saw Lincoln’s tomb, met with our state representative (a guy who would later become infamous), and all piled back into the bus to head home.

An hour or so into the trip, a wild pheasant jumped out of the weeds along the shoulder of Interstate 55, directly into the path of our bus’s windshield. The poor bird smashed clean through the right side of the windshield, and landed in a bloody lump of feathers on the entrance steps. Kids in the first two or three rows got a good view (and some blood and feathers of their own), and screams alerted the rest of us further back that something terrible had happened. The bus driver kept his cool and took the next good exit, onto US highway 136, and pulled into–you guessed it–Dixie Trucker’s Home.

For the next five hours, all of us kids milled around the giant truck stop, while we waited for a new bus to arrive and take us the rest of the way home. The phone tree (remember those?) was activated so our parents didn’t worry, our teacher bought us all dinner out of his own money, and we dumped every quarter we had into a row of arcade games. We eventually made it home at around 10 PM, pheasant-free, but with a hell of a story to tell on Monday morning.

Anyway, back to the cars. Here are today’s contestants.

1993 Ford Mustang LX – $3,500

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Engine/drivetrain: 2.3 liter overhead cam inline 4, four-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Alton, IL

Odometer reading: 203,000 miles

Runs/drives? Sure does

The now-legendary Fox-body Mustang ran from 1979 to 1993, making this example one of the last. Engine choices came and went over the course of that long run, but one constant trusty powerplant remained: the 2.3 liter “Lima” four. We all wanted the five-liter V8, of course, but I’m willing to bet Ford sold way more of these four-bangers. It’s a good reliable engine, if a bit anemic with an automatic, and it’ll put the wind in your hair just as effectively as the five-point-oh. Just, you know, not quite as much of it.

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The third-generation Mustang wore three distinct faces over its run. This last design, introduced in 1987, has always been my favorite, possibly because of its similarity to the earlier Mustang SVO, which I still covet. It’s a handsome, friendly, approachable look, nothing at all like the angry Mustangs of today. This car wants to be your pal, not scare the crap out of pedestrians in a parking lot.

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This Mustang appears to be in such good shape that I question the listed mileage. This car has a five-digit odometer, so it might actually be 103,000 miles. I know the engine and drivetrain can go 200,000 miles, but Ford interiors of this era don’t often hold up this well. If it actually is 203,000, someone took damn good care of it.

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This plum-colored pony car is for sale at a dealership, so don’t expect to get much in the way of service records. But it’s a simple car, especially with the four; there’s just not much to go wrong, and it doesn’t have enough power to beat things up too badly. It should be a nice reliable ride for a good long while.

2005 Mini Cooper convertible – $3,800

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Engine/drivetrain: 1.6 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: St. Louis, MO

Odometer reading: 122,000 miles

Runs/drives? Yep!

BMW’s revived Mini Cooper has had a rocky road since its 2002 introduction. It got rave reviews, but quickly gained a reputation for mechanical troubles. It’s fun to drive, but a bit fragile, and not nearly as easy to work on as the BMC/British Leyland/Rover original. The new Mini did manage one trick the original never did, however: in 2004, a convertible version was introduced.

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The Mini convertible has a “sunroof” mode as well, just in case you don’t want to go full-open-top. It’s a bit like the Webasto cloth sunroofs that were popular when the original Mini was around. Of course, you can open it all the way for the true convertible experience. It’s always a plus when an ad for a convertible shows it with the top up and down. It’s not a guarantee that the top motor works, but it’s a good sign.

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This Mini Cooper is not the S model, so it lacks the supercharger and the six-speed manual. This one makes do with five forward gears, luckily in a Getrag box that’s more durable than the original Rover-derived five-speed. This Mini has 122,000 miles on it, and the seller says it runs well. It was used as a daily driver until recently, when it was retired to weekend duty.

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This car is in good condition cosmetically, and it’s a great color. There are a few bumps and bruises, but that just means you don’t have to worry about it in parking lots. It has the seventeen-inch wheels from the Cooper S, which give it a little bit more serious stance, but it does make replacement tires a bit more expensive.

So there we are; two different ways of taking your top off in Middle America. Open-air road tripping is a unique experience everyone should try. So what will it be: the slightly-underpowered classic Mustang, or the fiery orange Mini?

(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)

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71 thoughts on “Droptops In Saint Louis: 1993 Ford Mustang vs 2005 Mini Cooper

  1. For an actual Route 66 journey the Mustang wins by the nose of having an easier time getting it fixed if it breaks down in Erick, Oklahoma or Ludlow, California than the Mini even if that 3-speed slushbox’ll be miserable on the Kingman-Oatman stretch.

  2. The Mini is alarmingly close to me (I’ve been to that DIY car wash many times, in fact), but I’d travel ten times as far to avoid the issues they have. Plus the Mustang seems to present well, and I haven’t yet been to Fast Eddie’s Bon-Aire in Alton, so might be worth the trip.

  3. Welcome to my neck of the woods! I love Minis, and especially the early-year reboots, but the convertible version just looks too cutesy to me. I’m not a huge fox-body guy, and I used to hate them, but they have grown on me and this example is super clean. I have to go Mustang today.

  4. This seemed like most difficult showdown yet, until I typed this out…

    Mini is good
    Everyone loves the way the Mini drives and handles, and it has a manual. That color is fantastic. I’ve shopped them for few years, and every time I test drive one, I don’t want to give the keys back. Even the autos are a blast on the road, and the manuals are even better. The top is a canvas cloth, and you can take it down in 35 degree weather. I know I would.

    Mini is bad
    The Mini’s not a garage queen, it’s a garage teen. It will do absolutely everything it possibly can to lay around in the garage all weekend watching Twitch or TikTok or trolling Facebook instead of actually getting out there and doing something. And it’ll torture your wallet as it does. Some parts are cheap, some parts are expensive, and some parts are completely priced out-of-line. There’s a good reason why I haven’t bought one yet. Every time I code-scan one, I’m disappointed. I have yet to find one that doesn’t already need an expensive repair or have a torn door seal ($610!) waiting to be replaced.

    Mustang is bad
    The Mustang is one of those godawful ugly Fox bodies, with the cheapest looking alloy wheels ever made. Yeah, you got alloys… …but dude, you got those alloys. Bordello red interiors do nothing for me ever since the dry cleaners lost my purple suit and I sold my gold chains. And that trunk rack? Ugh. Those only belong on British cars, and even then, no thanks. Demerit points of a weak engine and an automatic. The top is a vinyl coated cloth, and will crack and leak like crazy if you don’t wait until it’s over 60 degrees out to take it down. Not a very good at its primary job of you know, being a convertible.

    Mustang is good
    I’d love to do the aforementioned Volvo head swap and turbo that inline 4. 400 HP without the weight of a V8 in that chassis sounds awesome. Parts are cheap and plentiful (ALL of them) and you can tune the suspension to ride any way you want it. Soft weekend cruiser? Sure. Hard as nails race chassis? Hell, yeah. And at least the bordello red interior looks relatively unused. Maybe this really was owned by a little old lady? Jesus fish logo on the trunk says so.

    I voted Mini, but after typing this out, I’d definitely take the Mustang. No question. I’d hate the Mustang until I spent a bit of money to personalize it, but I’d hate the Mini for eating even more of my budget without even giving me any chance to personalize it.

  5. The 2.3 is super detuned from the factory and has a surprising number of tricks to make it better.

    For one, it’s a dual spark cylinder head with 2 valves per cylinder. But you can swap a volvo head with DOHC and 4 valves per cylinder onto it using a different head gasket. That alone is worth a decent power upgrade. Fuel pressure is also weak in these and fuel system upgrades plus a turbo and you can make this into a wild engine.

    400hp is easy with a turbo and 4 valve head with a standalone ecu and upgraded fuel system.

  6. Yeah, that era of Mini you really don’t want to deal with unless you are already a BMW mechanic with access to the special tools. Had a 2003 Cooper S for 15 years. Dropped it when it needed serious work. Mind you, fun as hell to drive, but nah. Convertibles aren’t really about performance, so the automatic isn’t a problem here. Go with the ‘Stang.

  7. I HATE those stupid ‘luggage racks’ on the back of 80’s Fords. My mom’s Tempo had one, and all it did was rattle when you closed the trunk. Does anyone strap anything to those things? How do you even tie something down on that thing? I only see one set of loops for any tie-downs.

    I know the old chrome luggage racks on English convertibles make sense. These are just a pseudo-spoiler.

    Rant over. I’d gamble on the Mini, even though I love the look of the Mustang.

  8. The manual makes the MINI my winner but that stang is quite the looker. Honestly if it had a manual I could forgive its lack of the 5.0 for that interior but if I were to actually spend money here it would have to be the MINI.

  9. I recently sold nearly the same exact ‘93 Mustang 2.3 automatic convertible (mine was white with a blue interior and a blue top). Yes they are a fun around town top down ride – but absolutely miserable to drive on the highway from the wind and road noise with the top up. Mine leaked despite replacing everything piece of weatherstripping. The engine was rock solid but they are absolutely not a well built car. Also good luck merging onto the highway with today’s 85-in-a-70-gets-you-tailgated highway speeds.

  10. The Mini might be fun, but the Mustang should be simple, reliable, easy to fix and cheap to mod. Not to mention the condition it’s in, and the ACTUAL COLOUR in the interior. I wish we got more than black or MAYBE grey or tan interiors nowadays.

  11. Hafta be the rustang, can make those limas scoot hard with some parts, or slap a turbo on it. Swap in a t5.

    The mini just, just hear nightmare after nightmare with these

  12. It’s a good reliable engine, if a bit anemic with an automatic, and it’ll put the wind in your hair just as effectively as the five-point-oh. Just, you know, not quite as much of it.

    My hair hasn’t thinned that much…

    Anyways, I went with the Mustang. That car is just calling out for an engine swap (along with some chassis reinforcement). Plus, I’ve already got a fast convertible.

  13. Easy. That era of Mini are total garbage. The few people I know who owned them were constantly having problems with them and were all too happy to get rid of them. That Mustang is a steal.

  14. The Mustang will be cheaper to keep running, but you’ll die a little inside every time you hit the go pedal and hear the Lima whimper in reply. The Mini at least gives you a manual to play with.

  15. Ooof… I’m not a fan of the inline four for the Mustang, but I think that’s still my choice. I’ll acknowledge that in a lot of ways the Mini is better on paper (newer, lower miles). But they’re also mechanical nightmares and I’ve just never personally been interested in Minis… they don’t do anything for me.

  16. Man this is tough. I used to own one of those 4cyl Mustangs (a ’90) which wasn’t the greatest ownership experience and I’m scared to death of anything made by BMW.

    Mustang by a nose.

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