Originally Posted by Dave_n

Ah, but you have to have owned one of the British Mini-Coopers, not the Germanified ones. If you took the decals off, the only way you could tell the difference was that the Cooper had a 2" diameter exhaust whereas the Mini had a 1.25" exhaust. The local cops in Sussex used to take the logos off, put a good-looking policewoman in it and then let the "local yobbos" try to race her. Nothing destroys the ambiance more than having a Mini come past you after you had overtaken it at speed, and have the rear number plate now read "Police: Pull Over".

The stretch of road outside of the University of Sussex was one of the Sussex Constabulary's hunting grounds when I was a Grad Student there in the middle 1960s. Needless to say, the Grad Students knew the trick and did not race good looking young women in Minis (cars that is!).

One also has to remember that the original Minis were only 10 feet 6 inches long, so your girlfriend did not take a handbag (US version "purse") but only a true "purse". Ah, those were the days!! Dave_n