ERA Mini Turbo

The E.R.A Mini Turbo was conceived as a 1980’s replacement for the Mini Cooper S. A car with all the key characteristics of the Cooper – speed, handling, excitement - but one which would introduce into the concept the refinement and comfort lacking in the original, but so necessary for modern motoring.

E.R.A set out to engineer a car to the highest automotive standards. There would be no compromise on engineering quality. The car should use as many tried and tested standard Austin Rover components as possible. It should minimise the use of special tooling to avoid lengthy testing and uneconomic production batches.

The power for the E.R.A Mini comes from the well tried Austin Rover A series 1300 turbo engine which gives a smooth and reliable 94 bhp at 6200 rpm but, more important than out and out power, the mid range torque has been matched by careful testing on the E.R.A test beds to suit the required performance of the car. It is easily sufficient to provide excitement and satisfaction to the user, yet docile in traffic.

Only 81 were sold in the UK and 5 exported to Germany. However, a special edition, without sunroof but fitted with AC, was built for the Japanese market and 337 of these were exported to Japan. Three have recently been imported back to the UK.  Practical Classics December 2001 - Featuring Buyers Guide Mini 1959-2000 available.  Click here to view in our shop.