First time Mini Owner - 1989 ERA Mini Turbo
Turbo Mini Forums

9 months ago I bought a 1989 ERA Turbo for what I thought was an amazing price. It had been converted over to Mark I style without the ERA body kit. The interior is original though. 20 minutes after buying it the head gasket blew out and I waited for a tow. 9 months later and double the price I paid for the car, my wife and I are now the proud owners of Foxie. She has Omega 10cc dished pistons, Phase 2 cam. port and polished 24cc head for a 8.94 compression ratio, and lots of new parts. She was built to run 10 psi but I need to order a few carb parts first. Currently running 7psi through all RPM and she burns rubber.

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That's looks coolio!
Welcome to turbo ownership. Oh and having no money after your mini has taken your pay packet off you every week. It's all worth it, I think.

Burchy

love the interior, you say that's standard? Is the air-con a standard fitment too?

1275 N/A Sprite, 998 T2 Turbo Mayfair
1275 EFi Turbo

Welcome, someone had some balls to ditch the kit, but looks better imo

Nice looking car.

Edited by gr4h4m on 24th Jun, 2016.

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

Welcome! One of our friends has an ERA and his interior is nowhere near the condition of yours. Very brave to ditch the body kit!

They don't die, they just get faster!

I just love it, where are you based? Any pics under the bonnet. ?. . . . And a very warm welcome!

Welcome to TM.

Thats a lovely looking car.

I remember being offered an era back in the mid 90s and not having the cash to buy it. It ticked so many boxes in my eyes although the bodykit did date it.

Although the body kit is ugly. You'd need to re fit it to command the prices that these can go for.

Looks in great condition. The kit usually hides a ton of rust.

In the 13's at last!.. Just

Welcome. Nice motor

A lovely looking car but I see nothing on it that would make me think it was a genuine ERA. The dashboard with air con is the Jap spec but it is fitted with the wrong clocks. Nothing on the exterior apart from the bonnet bulge which you could buy on its own is from an ERA.Like others say brave to remove the body kit and wheels which are like gold dust.All ERA's left the factory as Mayfairs so there hard to trace .

Edited by PhilR on 1st Jul, 2016.

Very nice indeed and welcome 👌

I forgot to log back in to see the comments. Here are the answers to the questions and an update. The motor is solid and we are running 10psi and it loves it. I sold the black wheels because they were too wide and I didn’t want to cut fenders out. I have ultralites but compared to the old wheels they are heavy. Maybe we will do 12’s this year. I am in Ogden Utah.
Yes interior and the AC is standard for the 100 or so ERA made for Japan.
Not only does it not have the body kit, it also has MK1 style tail lights, bumpers, and boot. We like the classic look so much better than the ERA body kit and we will likely never sell it and never even try to get the original body kit for it.
Does the VIN and ERA tag in the engine bay count to show its genuine. R1228
Yes, the metal under the door as far as I’m told is for jacking. It is very rust free. We have had the entire front subframe out and the only we could find is surface on the firewall.

Excellent update!
Just Always remember, it’s your car to do whatever you want with...

top marks on you car it looks fantastic

The R1228 is it body number or something. Correct me if im wrong but it refers to something. If you google era turbo mini then there is a website and there is also a facebook group. They do try and keep track of where all the ERA minis are etc

Yes. Each ERA has a car number. I remembered mine wrong, Its RJ1224. The UK spec were just R then the car number starting with 1000. So RJ1001 was the first japanese spec to roll our of ERA.