I can understand the old classic Mini thoughts, but unless you are good at & like working on cars & are prepared to spend the time sourcing affordable parts, then don't, unless you have deep pockets to pay someone else. I have gone down this path with the Beemer & over the last, almost 4 years with a '72 SuperBug for my son, as a rule of thumb, if you are going to spend $5K on an oldie then be prepared to spend that much again to get it up to scratch. The bug was $4K plus that much again, although that is partly due to over exuberant driving from a 18/19 year old who didn't quite understand that you can't constantly flog a fairly original 35 year old car. The upside is the driving pleasure that you derive from driving the old things, hopping in the bug & ambling along always brings a smile to my face, similarly taking the old Beemer for a blast is a blast. As an aside the Bug is about to be passed on to son number 2, so ultimately there is some value there
![Big Grin :D](./images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
As others have said, a Kombi would be ideal, good ground clearance, weight of the engine over the driving wheels, can sleep / camp in it, all the things that made them so popular in the first place, but you are still faced with the old car issue. You can get a reasonable restored Kombi for about $10 - 12K in NSW, maybe cheaper in VIC, which would leave some change for the repairs
AS others have said, a Forrester or Outback for the light AWD option is a good choice, with manual versions you can get dual range which is handy, they have good ground clearance & are very capable on dirt roads, read, lots of fun. I have had / have 4 subies, currently have a 06 Outback which has just done 99,000 kms, super reliable & economical to run, service costs are reasonable. Also have recently bought a 2010 Liberty for the missus, only done 3K, great car.
If you go down the uber 4WD road such as a Hilux, all costs compared to a car like AWD can be roughly doubled, from service & maintenance to repairs. Tyres are expensive, suspension, etc, just costly to run so you need to ensure that that is what you really want, then get out & use it
![Big Grin :D](./images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
, I understand your point for being able to get to those hard to get to places, can also be a lot of fun to go off road, I used to do a fair bit of off road / camping weekends, always a good time, just the cost. Also the comfort factor, the Subies are car like, a Hilux or similar are truck like. Having said that I have been considering getting a 4WD ute & getting back into it
My ultimate recommendation would be for you to buy my Beemer
![Big Grin :D](./images/smilies/biggrin.gif)