I learned to drive in a 1967 Hillman Minx, but my first, second and third owned cars were all Mini's. I only owned each of the first two for a matter of months, but the third was a keeper at the time, evolving from a bog standard 848, through an 1100 with decent head, and road cam which, because it kept eating clutches, eventually became a 997 with head, cam, crank and exhaust etc all 'worked'. And yes, one of the first jobs was a set of Cooper 1275 discs to make sure it could stop! Moved on to a GT Escort after that. When I'm next in the attic I'll see if I can find and scan a pic or two.
Happy days