Mini Cooper S Mk1

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The Mini Cooper dominated motor sport in the Sixties, with Monte Carlo Rally wins from 1964-1967. Having won in 1966, they were infamously disqualified because of an irregularity in the lighting system. However the ensuing rumpus produced more positive publicity than the company could have hoped for and the moral victory was theirs.

This extremely well prepared 1966 Cooper S comes from the stable of the late Mike Cockayne. Mike was a prolific and skilled builder of race cars who was not shy of spending money on the right bits to make his cars go that bit faster than the next man.

As the accompanying Heritage Certificate confirms, it was originally a 1275 S in RHD Home Market specification with Almond Green paint and a white roof, a fresh-air heater, an oil cooler, 4 ½ inch wheels and an extra right-hand fuel tank. Dispatched to Stour Valley Motors Ltd of Stourbridge on 1st March 1966, it was first registered exactly one month later. With just three prior keepers, it has been in the Cockayne family since 1991.

Somewhere along the way the Cooper S has changed its colour from Almond Green to Tartan Red, gained a full roll cage and lost some of its original interior. It is always difficult to say with certainty what is in a competition car (especially when its creator is no longer around to ask) but as far as we can deduce the following details are probably not too far from the mark.

Chief among the modifications is a really powerful A Series engine that is thought to be 1380cc. A stamped tag states 1275 and together with the removable tappet chests on the back side of the cylinder block, indicates that this is probably a 1275 Cooper S cylinder block. Inspection shows that it is a ‘thin flange’ block which makes it correct for a Mk1 Cooper S of this year. The carburation is by split 45 DCOE Webers of the Bologna type.

The engine sits on top of a modified gearbox that is coupled to a negative camber front end which ultimately drives through a set of Minilite-type alloys and slick tyres. Judging by the way the car drives, it is suggested that a limited slip differential is fitted while the general cacophony from the gearbox indicates a straight-cut close-ratio gear set inside.

You are asked to come to your own conclusions as to what might or might not have been specified in the precise build of this car, suffice to say it is a very quick machine, set up for hill climb racing, and comes from a car builder whose reputation for having the best speed parts is well known. A spare set of Minilite-style alloys with slick tyres is also included.

Mk1 Cooper S cars seem to come onto the market either as rough, rusty projects or in pristine showroom condition with precious little in between. This well-developed competition example could easily be a road car once again or it could just as easily return to the hills and carry on beating up the big boys!