hey all, i have a morris 850 that i am restoring to concourse condition. i was just wondeing how many people out there have restored their 850s to the same standard and if there is any chance they could post some good pictures in this topic. it would be great to see what people have, all i ever here about these days is cooper this, turbo that.
surely some people have some amazing 850's in their sheds. lets see them

just wait to see Dorothy

yeah i have seen it and it is a fantastic car. thats the sort of thing i wanna see. some day i plan to get my car as good as that.

yeah not sure of many other immaculate restored 850s areound, i know that there
are some, but not a whole lot.

mine's pretty flash...

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The 850 sports at MDU was pretty spectacular, there is a really nice original 850 for sale on the notice board at Mini spares Padstow for $5,500.

Doogie

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I won Hay once, here's the pic to prove it..


Hay, it's not about the car, it's not about the venue, it's about the people that come here. Peter Dwyer, Mayor of Hay NSW.

The Mini Experience Restoration story has an 850 being restored, along side a GT. I believe it is being restored to standard condition....apparently.

yeah... concours condition is a whole lot better than "standard as it left the factory" condition...

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yea well lets just say that for starters I will be omitting the standard glue stains and spills, and factory rust from this resto.

Yeah there are many amazing 850 resto's out there, but the reason everyone cares more about 'cooper this and turbo that' is that simply it's more exciting. To some people a mini is a mini as Issigonis intended, which I dearly love, but like me who turned an 850 into a 1330 mini beast, cooper s and turbo's and supercharger (which i'm doing for a summer holiday project) is more fun and gives you a flying brick. But that isn't for everyone. I'd love to have both an 850 to drive on sunday's and a supercharged beast for blowing off ricers at the lights....at the moment I have niether.....

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

For all those out there who haven't driven an 850 speaking as someone who drives 850's and 1275's an 803cc A30 and MKIII 1275 MG Midget and who doesn't own a car newer than 1969 an 850 is just as exciting to drive just different.

For most its about the journey not how quickly we can bet the ricers in our 40 year old cars off at the lights.

The 850 takes skill to be driven in modern traffic and can perform very lively indeed if driven well.

The humble standard 850 will only become more highly prized because of people who can't help themselves.

Marcello good luck with your project some pictures would be good.

Cush your Astro is fabulous with all that bling

Steve

good on ya steve. i like your way of thinking. i had a real nice original mini minor and that was more fun to drive than my moke which is twice as fast. driving an 850 properly is a fun challege as you have to read the traffic and be so smooth to keep the speed. driving faster cars is fun to but they are two different things. i would love to have a super fast mini but i felt it would be better to save a perfect unrestored 850 from the crusher and give it a secound chance, there are enough hot bricks out there for now.

sorry steve i have not got an pictures of the car as complete but here is what i have for the moment, just a bunch of parts and a shell still in its original paint. that scratch down the drivers side was from when it was scratched in 1963 in a supermarket car park, 3 months after the lady purchased the car new. i bought it off her. all the parts are either off the car and reconditioned or genuine new old stock that i have tracked down.

wow!! that shell looks great - I'd be thinking about simply giving it a polish and putting it back together as it is!

I have a floor starter button I'm happy to donate to the resto if you give me credit, and you don't already have one

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thanks, the shell is in amazing condition. its never been hit. there is a section on the roof where i got out the polish and gave it bit of a shine. it came out nice. as for the donations, i would really appreciate it, providing it is working! i have a starter button but it aint too great. its so hard to find some parts. if any any one wants to donate parts, i would be more than willing, i have parts that may be of use to someone else too.

no worries, I'll bring it down to the mini day out, you bring yours and we'll compare - drop me a PM with some details

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?