You won't hear a lot of people complaining about how massive the original Mini was back in the day. At just 120.2 inches (3,054 millimeters) long, the classic Morris Mini was about as long the wheelbases of '60s land yachts. Besides, the car didn't get its name out of thin air.
However, there are those who think this tiny wonder of packaging still needs several inches off its length. There are those who literally cut them and turn them into what's called a Shorty. It looks rather interesting, and one of them is up for sale over in England.
So how much smaller is a Shorty compared to a standard Mini? There are no exact measurements but there are those that say it's, give or take, seven inches (180 mm) less than the regular versions. If that's the care, we're looking at about 113 inches (2,870 mm) from bumper to bumper. Again, that's even shorter than the wheelbases of some full-sized SUVs these days. Talk about pocket-sized; even a Smart ForTwo will probably look massive next to it.
To make the Shorty look (somewhat) proportional, it the doors were modified to fit the much shorter wheelbase. The window frames were also changed to follow the shape of the roof. As for the interior, everything is much more intimate to the driver and passenger. The seats are basically the standard Mini's rear bench that's been cut in the middle for the parking brake.
You're probably wondering about its performance. This Shorty still uses the standard 998 cc A-Series engine with 38 horsepower (29 kilowatts) and 52 pound-feet (71 Newton-meters) of torque. The 1.0-liter engine never made the Mini a performance car, but with much of the car chopped off, it should go a little bit faster. It even has a custom exhaust for good measure.
The car will be up for auction soon, and it will be interesting to see how much it'll go for in the coming days. Either way, the Mini Shorty seems to tell everyone that a car half the size can also be twice as fun.
