How does a sought after car like this Mini Cooper pop up, still without plates, 32 years after it was made?
Maybe I am being naïve, but I've never really understood how unregistered cars crop up after decades in the wilderness. Obviously, we all know there are fleets of unregistered cars laying around on airfields, but presumably they all get snapped up at some point. But how does a sought after car likepop up, still without plates, 32 years after it was made? According to the description, this one still has the transit wax covering its underside.
Alec Issigonis is obviously the main name you think of when it comes to Minis. His forward-thinking mind created the British 'people's car,' which was cheap, compact and yet oh-so practical. Except it was so well received that it wasn't just the hoi polloi who fell in love with it; it transcended classes and paygrades alike, becoming the car to be seen in throughout the sixties. All the Beatles had one - there's an irony in there I believe.
But there's another name indelibly linked to the Mini legend: John Cooper. The man from Surbiton, who changed the face of Formula One with his rear-engined cars, was quick to spot the racing potential of the new Mini. So he persuaded his old friend, Issigonis, that a hotted-up Mini could play David against the motorsport Goliaths of the day, and make a great fast road car, too.
So it turned out Cooper was right, and, of course, he was right about its motorsport potential as well. The Mini Cooper's low weight and ultra-nimble handling overcame the power advantages of its rivals, like the Ford Falcon, to great effect. It's winning ways include multiple Monte Carlo Rally and 1000 Lakes Rally wins, a brace of British and European Rally Championships, and many British Saloon Car Championships as well.
Bearing in mind the price of original Mini Coopers and the inflation that has occurred with rather less iconic machinery over the past few years, £38,000 doesn't seem like a lot for. After all, it's one of 1,650 and as original as it gets, with just 40 miles on the clock.
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