Asking the forum as a favour to a friend. Just wanted to get other peoples view of the value of a re-shelled Mk2 Cooper S if compared to an 'original' Cooper S of the same condition.

There is a one coming up for sale from a deceased estate. Has been in the family since the mid-70's and they wanted to get an idea of the value. Crashed in late 70's and completely rebuilt using an original Cooper S body. It has the correct 2/06 marking on the firewall but no body number on the rad cowling. It has all the spot welds and all the other Mk2 identifiers.
It was rebuilt by a well known Mini place in Sydney in the 70's. It carries the original compliance plate and it is fully registered under the original id plate. (please forget the legalities of this at the moment)

The owners have been very honest and will sell it as re-shelled. They have all the original history and paperwork.

So if it was lined up against an 'original' bodied Cooper S in the exact same condition what would the relative value of the re-shelled car be you think??...or more importantly what you would pay for it.

For the exercise if its a $30k original 'S' we are comparing to, what would you value the re-shelled car at??

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ex 1976 Mini 'S'
ex 70 Morris Cooper S Mk2 - ex Police
ex 68 Morris Cooper S Mk1
ex 70 Morris Cooper S Mk2
1970 Morris Cooper S Mk2 - '73 Bathurst replica
70 Morris Cooper S Mk2 - under resto

Pretty touchy subject but here's my 2c.

Cooper S shells are ordinary shells with bits added on the production line. If I were a collector a 'survivor car' that is one that managed to avoid reshelling and preferably rebuilding (nice patina) would be worth more.

However, this is like rocking horse poo. If you have a car that has traceable provenance (started life as a Cooper S, crashed and reshelled) then in my mind it's as good as 90% of the cars out there, except the 'survivors'.

If they have used a Cooper S shell I would put it closer to the price of an original car then a car that was re-shelled using a Mini K.

Because it has the compliance plate and the 2/06 stamp it should fetch almost the same as an original car.

If I had to put a number on it I would say 80-90%. But it all comes down to the buyer.

You may get people bidding low because they think it is a replica. You may get some people bidding high because they will think they can restamp the chassis number and hey presto its 100% original.

Well wouldn't it just be a Cooper S with anothers mechanicals?

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It must have a chassis number to be registered. Probably stamped with a police number somewhere and that can put people off.

Thanks for the replies. Yes it is a touchy subject now however it was done at the time completely open which is different from most others then.
I agree its down the the buyer and what they want.

It doesn't seem to have any police stampings or additional plate however i will find out more. The rego papers clearly show its registered as the original plate ID. Its a country car so maybe they didn't follow protocol back then and there??

Its an interesting point. Another friend has just restored an old Lotus racing car from the late 50's. Numerous owners, doesn't have an original motor only 50% 0f the original frame and mechanicals, spent years in a body shop getting it straight, been crashed a few times yet still pulls ridiculous money.

With this Mk2, apart from no stamp on the cowling, its no different from that that came off the production line.

Thanks guys i reckon 80% is the good advice and any thing over that is a bonus. But then the 'paid' price is whats its worth in the end.

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ex 1976 Mini 'S'
ex 70 Morris Cooper S Mk2 - ex Police
ex 68 Morris Cooper S Mk1
ex 70 Morris Cooper S Mk2
1970 Morris Cooper S Mk2 - '73 Bathurst replica
70 Morris Cooper S Mk2 - under resto

80% + $10 for a set of stamps = 100%

2/06 number on the firewall??
I thought that number belonged on the radiator shroud only....

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67 Deluxe
Dry suspension
1293cc, 11:1 comp, RE 282 camshaft, 45 Weber, extractors etc
4 synchro close ratio gbox
Cooper S brakes, no booster
Stealth box, as Doc says "goes harder and idles!"
RH tank cos I needed it crossing the Nullarbor etc..

In the past many States allowed reshelling while retaining the original identifiers, some until quite recently. So it is not necessarily correct to assume that anything has been done incorrectly or dodgy with this one, it is just not how it would probably be dealt with today. Though it does show the problems caused and questions raised about provenance in a cars future by doing it that way back then!

I could tell a few stories about the complications resulting from reshelling and merging of identities...

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Don't listen to what I am saying... just understand what I mean.

What about race cars like bathurst? Reckon many of those made it without the shell ever being redone?

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

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http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=93352

If I'm carrying on like a pork-chop, I'm having a great time.

If I go very quiet there's a very good chance I broke something.

I have a factory clubman reshell it has a pates and accessories number stamped behind the master cylinders

The Mk2 S has the 2/06 code. It was placed in the gutter above the wiper motor then it moved to behind the master cylinders in early 1970.

Well said...

Two shells worth of Cooper S for the price of one

As long as it is legal...I can't see it dropping that much in value...except in the eyes of the tyre kickers wanting to beat the price down

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"Show me the Mini!"

Reshelled a Cooper S into another Cooper S body??

So the compliance plate number doesnt match the body number on the shell?

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I worked in a panel shop in the 70's and we mush have done at least 10, maybe more, repairs using other bodys supplied by the manufacturers. It's a while now but I recall they didn't have chassis numbers and strangely they were mostly white shells. I remember clubman shells on racks at Mini Kingdom and thinking how cool it would be to build a car from a bare shell.