Cooper S 1275 MK1

Cars don’t come much more iconic than a MK1 Mini Cooper S!

This example is a rare find having had only 4 owners from new with the last owner having the car for 40 years.

During that time the car was garaged in a purpose made humidity-controlled box. We found the car tucked away in the back of a dry warehouse awaiting recommissioning form its long-term storage and secured the car direct from the owner.

The bodywork is as photographed, the only attention needed was to repaint the rear boot hinges.

Luckily the owner had removed and stored the original steel chrome plates bumpers, overriders, and nudge bars, replacing them with reproduction stainless steel items.

With the help of our chrome platers, these have been carefully stripped, repaired and re-chromed and are now fitted to the car.

The engine bay area was structurally good but as we wanted to overhaul the hydrolastic suspension (which requires the removing of both front and rear subframes, we decided to strip and restore the engine compartment).

The engine itself was rebuilt some years ago and the leak down and compression checks were all healthy. Nevertheless, we removed the cylinder head for a quick inspection and to replace the cylinder head gasket. At the same time, we inspected the clutch and generally checked and cleaned all components.

With the subframes removed, we were pleasantly surprised to find that they were the original OEM items and save for some light surface rust in excellent condition. We stripped, cleaned and powder coated both frames, together with preparing and painting the underside of the bodyshell to reflect the same standard as the upper body.

All bushes, bearings, braking, and suspension parts were either renewed or restored bringing this Austin Mini Cooper S Mark1 1275 back to full health.

The car has its original buff logbook together with period photos since 1982 showing the car was in excellent condition before it went through its sympathetic restoration.

We have MOT history from 1982 giving evidence that the 106,000 miles is genuine.