Mini Cooper S

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Sir Frederick Henry Royce, 1st Baronet of Seaton and engineer par excellence, said of the motor cars that bore his name: “The quality will remain long after the price is forgotten.” The same could be said of this Mini Cooper S, although it is unlikely that the price of this particular mini will be forgotten.

Featured extensively in the 2018 summer edition of Mini World, OGU 687D, was restored by JD Classics – a company better known for their achingly expensive Jaguar and other high-end marque restorations. OGU 687D was sold to its new owner while still under restoration and delivered to him in June 2017; total purchase price was in excess of £50,000 (note to printer: that’s a five and four noughts).

The restoration work was carried out by Scott Turner, a man who has extensive experience of Mini rebuilds and a refreshingly straightforward approach to restoration: “Take it apart, get it painted, put it back together.” Said like that, it sounds simple; we all know it’s anything but.

The car started life as an American-spec model and was shipped overseas in May 1966. It made it back here in 2014, when it was bought by an experienced Mini-fancier who was attracted by its originality. When he parted with it he sold it to Scott Turner knowing that he would do the right thing with the car.

OGU 687D went through the JD Classics’ process with Scott Turner and was delivered to its new owner three days before the big Beaulieu Mini-fest in 2017. He drove it to Beaulieu and was delighted to win the concours award in its class and also went on to win the concours in the British Mini Club’s Cooper and Cooper S class.

Mini enthusiast though he was and obviously quite committed, the then owner was bitten by the E-type bug and traded in the Cooper S against a JD E-Type (he also threw in an XK150 and sold a TR5 to finance the new toy: ouch!)

The Mini didn’t stay long in the showroom and was bought by our vendor - another arch Mini enthusiast (well, you would have to be, wouldn’t you?). He won’t say what the car cost him, but the price wasn’t important – the quality was still there.

Our vendor made a few changes to the car - he replaced the Les Leston steering wheel with an original ‘bus driver’s’ wheel, changed the rose-petal alloy wheels for period-correct wide steel wheels, and removed the period after-market door mirrors. Improving on perfection, making it more standard or just fine-tuning to one’s own preferences?

There is little purpose in detailing the work carried out on OGU 687D as the results speak for themselves and the provenance of the car carries a guarantee of quality that cannot be denied. It is no exaggeration to say the car is better than new (BMC build quality is well-known and not in a good way), and it is probably true to say that no expense was spared in this car’s restoration. The vendor has admitted that he will be losing money on the car at the quoted estimate but is philosophic about it, an attitude that, it is hoped, the new owner will appreciate.