Mini MkI 1275

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That the Mini survived in production for over 40 years should not come as a surprise to anyone. Such was the brilliance of the original design that concepts introduced at its launch still form the basis for most small cars today.

Continually developed throughout its life, it received many incremental improvements such as wind-up windows, concealed door hinges and larger doors in the MkIII of 1969, a reversion to rubber cone suspension on the MkIV of 1976, front disc brakes on the MkV of 1984 and fuel-injection on the MkVI of 1990.

It was largely assumed that the Mini would cease production after the introduction of the Mini-Metro in 1980, however it soldiered on until 2000 supported by the Cooper models and a range of special editions which kept interest alive in the product.

This Morris Mini MkI was first registered in July 1963 and was fully restored by the previous owner about seven years ago. This included sourcing a new MkIII body shell with wind-up windows which was stripped to bare metal, fitted with new front wings, A-panels and front panel then etch primed, two packed primed and top coated in dark blue.

The rear lights were replaced with new early type lights and fill in panels welded into the back panel to replicate the early Mini arrangement. The bonnet was also altered to replicate the early Mini arrangement and a new grille and whiskers fitted, along with a set of Minilite-style alloys. The interior was refurbished with a new roof lining and a walnut dashboard.

The engine was replaced with a more powerful 1,275cc unit which is believed to been bored out to 1,340cc (although the V5C still records 848cc). The engine bay was tidied up with a combination of new and refurbished parts as required. A dual braking system was fitted for safer stopping with new disk brakes to the front hubs, new cylinders and shoes fitted to the rear hubs and new pipes and flexi-hoses throughout. A new sub-frame was also fitted along with new trailing arm pivots and bushes fitted to the rear trailing arms etc, the parts alone coming to some £2,300.

The vendor acquired the car in February 2010 when the mileage was showing as 1,622, a total which has now only risen to just under 1,900. He has also added a John Cooper leather interior which, in combination with the walnut dash, gives the cabin a most luxurious ambience. Said to be in generally good order throughout and to drive well with an MOT until June 2016, it comes with invoices charting the restoration and the original buff log book.

The icing on the cake is the original Worcestershire number plate, 178 LAB, which is transferable and no doubt has a value of its own – especially for a lab worker or a Labrador owner perhaps?