I started my Mechanics apprentiship in 1967 in NZ. Minis were all British ones wind up windows & wand gear lever. My sister had an Austin mini with a wavy grill & I had a Morris with a flat grill. A few Aussie ones came to NZ by way of private people & a some dealers may of bought a few in, I think you needed overseas funds. If you come accross a Aussie mini they were pretty flash stuff. ADR was unheard of so the plate wouldnt of mattered.People were putting V8s in Ford Prefects if you could get a Warrant of Fittness from the local garage you were away.

Aussie built Mini's were in NZ by 1966 and they were imported and supplied through the Austin and Morris dealer network. They were generally preferred because bigger than 850 engines were available and the wind-up windows were better. Percentage wise, I doubt they would have accounted for any more than 2 or 3% back in the 60's but that number would have increased to maybe 10% by the end of the decade. The non-remittance scheme mostly finished in 1966 and there was no longer a need for "overseas funds".

Regards
Al (who is old enough to remember and not old enough not to have forgotten !!)

The OZ GTs were exported new to NZ....
there is a lot of urban myth that sales in Australia had died off - so the last batches of them all got shipped off to NZ....
so many of the late build numbers are found on NZ cars (and some have 1973 stamped compliance plates)

I know how bad BMC records are. I am just trying to find some documentation or facts sheets trying to prove all this exporting fact and having an ADR plate or not. We all know this stuff probably happened just want to sort the fact from the myths.
Would a genuine Cooper S without a Comp Plate (not 69), be worth as much as one that does have one. Probably not. Most people would not pay premium prices without one. However if you could prove that your car was exported without one or had it removed by NZ legislation would this help in its potential value, and also help proving its authenticity.
In NZ no ADR plate does not affect the value of the vehicle, in Australia it significally lowers the value and greatly takes away its authenicity.

Hi Kaka,
I have no idea how you would do this but I wonder if it would be worthwhile enquiring in NZ about it. My own opinion is it is likely the ADR plate would have sped up compliancing in NZ, even though it maybe wasn't required, it may well have been fitted. I have seen the plate on other brands, like Oz assembled Holdens of around 1970.

Al

This is one of the reason why am asking, have seen Holden with the ADR plate and others without. Most new exportedvehicles had ther ADR plate removed from the NZ dealer back then or Road Authority, just try find some old writing or print. The holdens and such had three tags with one of those being a VIN tag which helped match the engine to the motor through GHH records. However the mini only have one tag without it , has no other tags to help back up the ID. I know that on early ADR/Comp plates on minis they did not have the engine no. on it.

Hi Kaka,
I have just spoken with our authority and they don't really have a clue but have given me an e-mail address to send an enquiry to. [email protected]

Perhaps your question could be something like "when did NZ require an ADR plate on cars imported from Australia?". This still won't answer what happened before that date, even if you get an answer. BTW, they said 3 to 5 days for a reply.

Regards
Al

Thanks for the link, just sent a line so I'll Suppose see what happens.

Referring back to the earlier question - Aussie Minis were definitely assembled in NZ. I remember buying one about 25 years ago and being surprised to see the glass was Pilkington and made in NZ.

In Donn Andersons book he refers on P39 that" the assembly of the Australian Mini K 1098 commenced in March 1971". The were made in the Petone plant here in Wellington.

I am fairly sure the Mini Deluxe 998 was made here too - I had a couple of them too. Not sure about the Clubman 1100 but I think some were. There is a book called "Assembly" which is a history of the NZ industry - might have been in that where I read about the Deluxe and Clubman.

The NZ K's even had the A panel Kangaroo sticker on them.

Graeme Farr

Hi Graeme,
That may well be the reason why the numbers of Aussie Mini's seemed to increase later on.

Regards
Al

Hi, this has gotten me a little curious. I have heard rumors for UK cars with wind-up windows from about 67-68, however officially they didn't get them until September 1969 when the MKIII model was indroduced. These were a full window and did not include a quarter window, but the pics I have seen of these supposed earlier UK cars did, similar to the Oz Mini.

The Oz built mini's had them earlier, from about 65 or 66 and these have always included the quarter flipper window.

The grills fitted to each of these cars are right for the period.

Could you shed a bit more light on these early UK cars with the wind-up windows?

_________________

Haven't had any luck with my enquiries with the NZ Transport, only references with new cars.
Looking forward to responses from NZ members as to whether or not there cars have ADR tags.

All imported new.

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1971 Clubman GT - Jet Red
1980 Mini 1000 - Bold As Brass
1967 Riley Elf - Red/White
2002 MINI Cooper - BRG/White
2005 MINI Cooper - BRG/White
2022 MINI Cooper SE - BRG/White

Thanks Clubman GT. Anyone else had there car new to NZ and does not have a ADR tag?