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Mini 1000

Mini 1000

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Lot number 104
Hammer value £4,500
Description Mini 1000
Registration BCJ 494L
Year 1972
Colour Blaze Orange
Engine size 998 cc
Chassis No. XA2S1N824433A
Engine No. 13922
Documents V5C; MOT January 2016; 8 old MOTs; Handbook; Brochures; Invoices

When it comes to motoring icons the Mini stands head to head with the best of them. Launched to a dumb-founded motoring press in 1959, the amazing Alec Issigonis-designed Morris Mini Minor introduced a whole new concept in car design.

Its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout and ingenious transverse engine allowed 80% of the car to be used for passengers and luggage. Throw in a cute little monocoque body and go-kart like handling that made 30mph feel like 60mph and Issigonis was on to a winner.

Fondly remembered for its giant-slaying race and rally performances, most Minis led far less exotic lives. Health Authorities issued them for district nurses, the Police patrolled our towns in them, but most Minis were bought by the general public.

In 1972 Mrs Pritchard of Credenhill in the County of Herefordshire bought a brand new Blaze Orange Mini 1000 from the British Leyland dealer in Hereford. Approaching the age of 60, she needed a small reliable car that didn’t use much petrol and could cope with her fortnightly visits to Hereford where she would stock up with essentials from the local market. The distance from Credenhill to Hereford is just six miles.

She carried on with these fortnightly visits until she reached her eighties, at which point Mrs Pritchard was asked to stop driving. She slid into the passenger seat, the wheel being taken by her kindly neighbour, the fortnightly trips into town continuing unabated. Some years later, the neighbour also reached the end of the road (damn those stony-hearted bureaucrats) and as Mrs Pritchard was moving into a care home, the treasured Mini was passed to her grandson.

Remaining unused until 2011, this delightfully original Mini then joined a local private collection where it has been lightly exercised ever since, its current MOT expiring in January 2016. Although there is insufficient documentation to confirm the low odometer reading of 22,270 miles, anecdotal evidence and the overall condition of the car suggests it is correct.

You may be pleased to hear that Mrs Pritchard, at the age of 101, is still enjoying Herefordshire life although she cannot remember many details of her Mini ownership in the 1970s...

This entry comes from a small collection of cars entered by Pete Tomlinson whose aim was to amass all the cars he dreamed of owning as a young man. The collection is being sold to make way for a building project.

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