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Motor Road Test: Innocenti Mini DeTomaso

BELIEVE IT or not, almost five years have already passed since Innocentiunveiled its pert little Mini-derived hatchback at the Turin Show and sparkedoff a chorus of pleas for BL to put it into production, or at least marketthe thing, in the UK. Sadly, that still hasn't happened, and indeed, BL hasin the meanwhile sold its Italian subsidiary to automotive entrepreneurialwhizz-kid Alejandro de Tomaso, who has continued to churn out Bertone's butchbabies to the extent that they are now commonplace in practically all ofWestern Europe's major cities, except our own.

Much as de Tomaso would like to export them to Britain, he isn't allowedto, but of course there's nothing to prevent the individual bringing onein privately, provided you, manage to cut, or at least disentangle, the relevantred tape. That was certainly no problem for Mario Condivi, who is the UKConcessionaire for Maserati and de Tomaso (the supercar variety), and whosedaughter Loretta thereby took delivery last year of Willy, an Innocenti Miniof the de Tomaso variety, to give its full title.

Thus it is to Loretta that our gratitude is due for so generously, and bravely,allowing her personal transport to fall into our hands for a few days tobe subjected to the rigours of a full Motor road test. It should be stressed,though, that this is not a formal road test of a car that is available throughnormal channels in this country; moreover, the car was a privately run examplethat had been plucked straight out of its owner's hands without any of themeticulous preparation normally lavished on press demonstrators. Loretta'scar (which was swiftly and ever so neatly converted to right-hand-drive byone of Modena Concessionaires' own mechanics) is the top model in a three-carrange collectively known as Innocenti Minis, the individual models beingthe 90, the 120, and the de Tomaso. All three share the same Bertone-styledhatchback bodyshell, and are based mechanically on the basic box we all knowand love so well, though with the front disc brakes and 12-inch diameterwheels of our top-of-the-UK-range 1275GT, and with a front-mounted radiatorcooled by an electric fan.

Enginewise it's the familiar A-series in 998cc form in the 90, and 1275ccform in the 120 and the de Tomaso, but performance-wise they're like nothingthat's been seen in this country since the days of the Coopers. The 998,for example, is rated at 49bhp (DIN), 10bhp more than the UK version, whileour own 1275GT's 55bhp looks distinctly weedy compared to the 65bhp (DIN)of the 120, or the 71bhp (74 on 1978 models) of the de Tomaso. In fact thelatter is to all intents and purposes in Cooper 'S' tune, though it usesa single 1.25in SU in place of the S's twin 1.25s, and has an ordinary 1275camshaft, advanced by 4 degrees, rather than the old S's wider-overlap grind.What's more, these pokey units are not specially breathed upon by some Italiantuning wizard, but are actually produced in the UK and then shipped out tothe Italian manufacturer, which makes you wonder what's to stop BL from slottingthem into the 1275GT; excuses about 'rationalisation' begin to sound a bithollow...

Should the sceptics among you be inclined to suspect the worth of Italianhorses, we can only suggest you direct your attention to the performancefigures, remembering as you do so that the Inni Mini is almost 2 cwt heftierthan the home-grown variety, that the car we tested had been plucked straightout of the commuter routine in Central London, and that out of deferenceto its 'civilian' status we didn't try too hard to shave every last tenthof a second off the standing start times. In spite of all of which, Loretta'sMini turned in a set of figures not far off those of the original 'S', andcomfortably quicker than practically any modern alternatives. The 0-60 mphsprint, for example, took 12.0 sec, compared to 10.9 sec for the 'S', 12.9sec for the 1275GT, 13.0 sec for the Fiesta 1300S, 13.9 sec for the Peugeot104ZS and 12.3 sec for Fiat's 127 Sport. Its maximum speed lap (in windyconditions) round MIRA's banking of 94.7mph wasn't quite so impressive, butstill good; the Cooper S (96.8) and Fiesta 1300S (96.6) are faster, but thePeugeot (94.3), the Fiat (92.5), and the 1275GT (88.7) were all slower.

In top gear the BMC cars are clear leaders, the Inni taking 9.4 sec for the30-50mph increment compared to 9.0 sec for the 1275GT and the S's astonishing7.3 sec; the Ford (11.0 sec), Peugeot (13.2 sec) and Fiat(11.9 sec) are along way adrift, and for the 50-70mph speed increment the story is much thesame except that the Inni Mini has overtaken its modern British counterpart.So it's certainly got the urge to go with its cheeky charm, and from thedriver's seat you don't half know it. The engine has that raring-to-go eagernessthat's the hallmark of any nicely tuned A-series, zipping up through therev range at the merest tickle of the throttle and making you want to keepblipping the pedal just for the sheer fun of it. Even if it's not quite asflexible as the 1275GT, it's still got the same quickly-without-trying punchin the low and middle rev ranges, yet revs much more freely and smoothlyat the top end.

The absence of the British car's engine-driven cooling fan eliminates ata stroke one major Mini noise source, and although the Inni substitutes anotherfor it, the negligible silencing of the Italian car's intake and exhaustis hard to dislike, except for a rather nasty mid-range boom period. At thebottom end the carburation growls, developing a rasping snarl at about 70mph,then smooths out to a remarkable degree at 80mph, at which speed it'll cruisequite happily without drowning out the radio and is quite capable of creepingup to 90mph without you even noticing it.

Good ratios and a snappy, quick gearchange nicely complement thebubbling-over-with-enthusiasm engine, and although the clutch action is alittle sharp and juddery on take-off, it's easy to make smooth gearchangeson the move. Larger tyres compensate for a lower final drive ratio to giveidentical gearing to the 1275GT, at 16.5mph per 1000rpm, but the steady speedfuel consumption is nonetheless a long way down on the (exceptionally good)figures we recorded with the 1275GT, resulting in a touring consumption downfrom 39.6mpg to 33.5mpg (34.6 on the 'S'). Similarly, our usual enthusiasticdriving gobbled fuel at the rate of 28.2mpg overall, compared to the GT'sout-standing 33.4mpg and the S's 29.9mpg. Even so, it's not a bad figureon a fun-per-gallon basis.

The fun continues with the handling, which is much the same as the British car's except that the quick steering is a little heavier — which isn'tnecessarily such a bad thing as it provides a shade more feel — andwith the fatter tyres the roadholding is even better. The handling is chuckableand safe and the attitude understeer or tuck-in, can be controlled at willwith your right foot. The only flaw is the easily-provoked steering tug andwheelspin when powering out of a 2nd or 3rd gear corner.

Braking effort is a little on the heavy side, but the system is nonetheless powerful and progressive. With its heavier body and lighter (alloy) wheelswe expected the Inni Mini to behave better on bumps than the British car,but that proved not to be the case. It is similar, i.e. just about acceptable,over small bumps and most sharp edges, but the jerks and sheer bouncinessover large bumps and humps were, if anything even worse — to the extentthat on country lanes we sometimes had to slow down just to keep from hittingthe roof; perhaps the heavier body has the effect of using up some of thealready very limited spring travel, a theory supported by the fact that theride deteriorates further with a load aboard.

Accommodation-wise, what you gain on the roundabout compared to the normalMini you lose on the swings. What you gain is a lifting tailgate providingaccess to a boot slightly larger than normal, and the facility to tip therear seat forward to obtain a flat and usefully shaped cargo deck. What youlose is some legroom, not because the interior is any shorter than the Britishcar's, but as a consequence of valuable fractions of inches stolen by themore plushly upholstered front seats. On the other hand, said seats reallyare quit comfy, and help you make the most of the strange driving positionforced on you by the curiously angled steering wheel.

Switchgear follows Italian rather than British practice, with the light masterswitch on the facia, and one left hand column stalk that alternatively selectsside, dipped or headlights, and also operates the horn; a smaller left handstalk operates the indicators, while that on the right of the column catersfor the wash/wipe systems.

The heating system has proper slide controls for both distribution andtemperature, the effectiveness of which could not properly be determinedduring the warm weather of our test; ventilation is by ram effect only, throughface-level penny-flap vents, and didn't seem quite as effective as in theBritish version. Highly reflective glasses in individual round housings coverthe numerous instruments, which comprise of speedometer and tachometer withneedles rotating clockwise and anti-clockwise respectively, and smaller gaugescovering battery voltage, water temperature, oil pressure and fuel level.The whole instrument pack is set into a neat, symmetrical facia mouldingwhich must have greatly facilitated the right-hand-drive conversion, witha useful open compartment on the opposite side where the instruments usedto be.

There are bins on the doors — the latter trimmed in vinyl and a denim-likecloth that matches the seat upholstery — with further bins either sideof the rear seat, and the floor is covered by a tidy one-piece carpet. Thefairly plush overall effect is somewhat let down, though, by large areasof bare painted metal. As for the exterior appearance, the pictures speakfor themselves.

We found it irresistable; an engaging little car with an on-the-road performance as chirpy as its appearance; but it isn't, as has sometimes been suggested,the car that BL should have produced as the successor to the Mini. For allits charm, the Inni Mini still has all the old failings of the original article — turbulent ride and high noise levels especially — with even lesspassenger space. Nonetheless, there would surely be a market for it as acult-car appealing both to chic-about-town Chelsea-ites, and "bring-backthe Cooper S" enthusiasts.

owners club tdt / 2003