ha ha .. yeah i hear ya.....it is SMALL but these are very tuneable engines.... alot of UK young drivers start out with 1000cc minis, change heads off the mini cooper n bore out to something like 1480cc..race cams, twin SU carbs, lighten n balance, ceramic clutch n big bore headers n muffler....and trust me, those lil suckers FLY!!!!
its an engine that if built right will be pretty near bulletproof and real quick..... ok so as far as i'm concerned there's 4 cyl's missin.. but the A series is a great 4 banger block...in rear wheel drive cars the Trans of choice is the 1100/1300 Austin marina..and comes with varying diff ratios in diff models..and the rear ends are pretty tough too... i pushed a tuned 1750cc thru one and it was indestructable...also they bolt straight up to the A series block , as does the FWD mini trans..... basically Austin/morris/MG all used the A series as it was an dependable, strong and reasonably powerful lightweight block... and as i explained it was used on RWD and FWD vehicles... pity other motor factors didnt make their parts soo universal huh???
spares are hella cheap too.
The Co. that produced Minis up until a coupla yrs back still used the same basic block from start to finish of production....as far as i see it, its a case of if it aint broke dont fix it..