Thanks!

Willie_B - The 'Aerkuld' name does have origins similar to those you thought. The difference being a flat-six engine, rather than flat-four. Sadly, I sold the air cooled car when I moved back to California from the East Coast three years ago. Her new owner appreciates her though, and I get regular updates. I still have something with the same pedigree as a daily driver / track car, so it's not exactly a sob story.

Terry - Will do. I've found the MOASF club page and expect to get out to a meet-up soon. I look forward to meeting you also

Look forward to meeting you. Check out the MOASF club. We just has a meeting, but another one will be coming up.
Terry

Saw your name and thought you came from a VW background. Nice looking cars and great story. Welcome aboard.

Great stories, great cars along the way. Thanks for sharing and welcome to the MM board. 

Thought it was about time to introduce myself as a recent new addition to the forum. Long post, but hang in there . . .

This is far from my first Mini, but the first after a very long absence from the marque.

The first Mini with which I was acquainted used to be my Grandfather's. He bought a brand new Morris Mini-Minor in early February, 1965. It was Old English White, with a red interior. Due to unfortunate circumstances, in November that year, that car became my Father's. He and my Mother used it to compete in road rallies with the local car club through the late 60's. This was then the car he used to drive my Mother and I home from the hospital when I was born. Yes, my first car ride was in the back of a Mini.

Later, I passed my driving test in a 1976 Mk III Mini 1000. It was my first car, Maroon with a beige interior. I had purchased it from my Mother when she was replacing it with a silver Mini Metro. Interestingly, it was originally from Belgium, but was converted from LHD to RHD when it was re-imported to the UK. My first Mini met an untimely demise; youthful exuberance > (driving talent + available grip)

A black 1980 Mk IV Mini 1000 replaced it. I wanted a 1275GT, but I recall my Father telling me it was too powerful! The black car evolved over the coming years. First, it had it's engine swapped out for a 1967, 998 Cooper engine, gearbox, and 7" disc brakes. Those are also still in my Father's garage and I need to find a way of shipping them out to me, but that's another story . . . The Cooper engine was followed by a 1293cc MG Metro engine and 8.4" discs which I'd pulled out of my 1970 Cox GTM (in the background of the photo of the black car). At that time I was doing some navigational rallies with the local car club - the same car club in which my Mother and Father had competed with the original Mini. Needless to say, the car gained a full cage, fiberglass front, Hi-Lo's, Spax, and harnesses, etc. That is probably about the point that the photo was taken. It looks as thought he car still has its blue and grey velour seats in the back, even though they were completely unusable because of the cage with diagonal.

Still not satisfied, I bought a used kit of parts from a friend for a 1380, rebuilt it, and fitted it in the car. That engine was mated to a close ratio box and a fairly low diff for hillclimbing. I don't recall the ratio exactly, but at 100mph it would be hitting 7k rpm in top gear on 13" wheels. This was 'on a track', obviously. My Mini ended up as a VERY fast car, far faster than a 1275GT. This was the late 80's and I recall humiliating a coworker who had a newer 944S - an impressive car at the time, but I digress . . .

I think I had that Mini and the Cox (which is sort-of a Mini) for a while, even though I had other daily drivers, bikes, etc. Anyway, when I got a job in the USA eighteen years ago I basically sold all my toys (apart from the parts left in my Father's garage) and moved on.

Now, here I am in California eighteen years later. Ever since I first visited the USA as a kid I thought it would be fun to have a Mini here. I've had some great cars since then (yet another story), but there was always that itch that needed scratching. Last year I managed to convince my wife that we should 'invest' (yes, I know) in a Mini. I knew I wanted a Mk I for the purity of the original design - I'm an engineer so I admire the simplicity and ingenuity of the design. I searched a lot and found lots of 'rust free' cars with the floors falling out, lots of cars with VIN swaps, lots cars which I wouldn't be able to register in California, plenty out of the target price range, and several nice restoration projects. As much as I'd love a project, I really don't have the extra garage space, let alone the spare time to restore a car right now. One day it will happen, but this isn't the time. I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to look outside of the USA and consider importing an already-complete car. There's another saga I could write on what I found out about importing a car to the USA, and yet another when it comes to importing to California. Anyway I eventually found the most impractical car I could find, in the most ridiculous location, but it checked all the correct boxes.

Well, here it is in the other photo. I'm still working through it, but it seems to be in fantastic condition, which is always a concern buying a car sight-unseen. It's a Morris, built in December 1964, so could have rolled down the production line not many cars away from the white Mini that my Grandfather bought. This car was destined for export, so left the factory with LHD, a cold climate boosted heater, and a heated collar around the SU carburetor, all of which it still has. At some point in it's life it was prepared for rallying and registered with the FIA. It still has all it's paperwork for a production touring car, and all the numbers match it's heritage certificate. The preparation looks very thorough. The shell was taken back to metal and painted all over, no under seal or sound insulation to hide rust, and all the lines run inside the car. Full cage - which I explained to my wife ". . . makes it much safer" - and I got away with that!

As I said, I'm still going through it to make sure I know as much about it as possible and ensure there are no surprises, but I should have it out to a few events in the Bay Area before long.