Mini Traveller

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Ah, you say, Mini Countryman. Ha, we say, Mini Traveller. Austin made the Countryman; Morris made the Traveller. Both cars originally came with wooden trim as this example shows, but both later offered the wood-free option.

What you see here is the long-wheelbase Mini Estate in its wooden flanked Traveller form, 998cc engine, smart red paintwork. The car is a Mk2, but – as the eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted – it does have a Mk1 grille. The Mk2 grille will come with the car.   Once a common sight in the UK there are now approximately 100 left on the road, a much rarer car than its Austin sibling.

This Traveller was first registered in June 1968 and supplied to the Wicliffe Motor Co. of Stroud, Glos. There were 6 owners before the Vendor purchased the car in 2000. One of the ten old MOTs on file from 1994 showed it had covered 62,000 miles, subsequently the next in 1995 shows 16,000 miles, so we can assume that it had a speedo change when it was the subject of a light restoration. It was repainted in 2002 from its original blue to red, and received a new subframe and various parts with invoices on file for £2,000. In regular use as a daily driver by the Vendors wife it now shows 38,500 miles and had new fluids and a new fuel pump fitted when it was serviced in June this year. It started easily on the day of our visit, and ran well when we were manoeuvring for photographs.

After 18 years of ownership its now looking for a new home, and with a Heritage Certificate, an MOT until June 2019, lovely patina, a good folder showing care and attention and a reasonable estimate, it’s unlikely to have a problem finding one!