The bidding has ended on this one, but can anyone tell me anything about this car? Its a pretty odd looking machine...

cheers


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 0546980095

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Its also on uniquecarsales.com.au. Went from 65k to 33k. $65,000 for a mini is ridiculous!

http://www.uniquecarsales.com.au/pls/un ... make_id=38

_________________

I recall looking at that one a couple of months ago and it doesn't 'ring' right, can't quite put my finger on it ATM, but Cooper S's finished in the UK in 1971 and the build date on this one is claimed to be (bulit by Morris - it was Leyland by then!)March 1974. The add also says it has a 1.0 litre engine, it has air conditioning, yet looking under the bonnet I don't see any A/C and it has a 1275 head. Hhhhmmmmmm.................

_________________

It appears to be a bitsa car: possibly a 74 shell but clearly had half a rover mayfair (89 model) thrown at it for donor parts. The engine and brakes may have been robbed from a genuine cooper S maybe?
Aircon: well most of it is there. Compressor, dryer, receiver but I can't see the condensor unless that's it hiding under the booster.

EDIT: had more of a think about it and here's my decision: The car was biult somewhere between 1972 and 1985. Since no cars of those years left the factory with twin tanks then somebody has fitted the tanks, brakes and engine from an S at a later point. Aircon in 80s minis in Japan was locally installed so somebody with money probably had that installed in 1989 at a similar time the japanese 'wooden crate' cooper kit came out: again fitted locally. Horrible interior trim is likely original, and the paddy hopkirk thing is possibly just a badge and nothing more.

I think its a Rover special edition.

3/74 might mean 3 rd car of 74 built (75 if it starts at 0? just guessing)

I think he has his wires crossed as to it being built in 74!

Info onn UK variants :

http://webspace.webring.com/people/lm/m ... list2.html

Could be:

Mini Cooper Monte Carlo Limited edition 1994 Rally looks pay tribute to Paddy Hopkirk

_________________
Now with 2 extra ports!

I think it just might be a 1275 of some description, and I think I can see the AC compressor beneath the alternator.

i think Supercooper and Harley are onto it. I get the 3/74 part being the model number of the run, but what is significant about 1974 on the basketball rubber commemorative badge?

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

I've narrowed it to between 1974 and 1980 of build date by the body number 'XK2S1"
Basically it meand when it left the factory it was a bog stock 848cc mini city.

It could be a 1275 engine, most likely would be, but can't see enough of the block to be sure and his description was a 1.0 ltr. By 1974, they weren't factory fitting 1275's to the roundie bodys, only to the 1275 GTs. Yes, when I blew up the pic (for some reason I can only get a thumbnail) I see some A/C bits. I actually suspect that it is later than 1974.

_________________

I reckon 3/74 is when the car was built. It has the right tail lights, body number, lack of side repeaters and single circuit brakes as well as some of the 70s style rocker switches and 70s single stalk on column.
Upon buying a paddy hopkirk pedal, somone felt special so went to a trophy store to have a badge made in that icky green and gold.
Some rich person in 1988 to 1992 probably had the cooper 'kit' and aircon fitted, and then another owner has gone the whole hog after that and changed the 848 to a 1275 engine for real go.

A bit late, and I'm certainly no expert on limited editions. But I saw this car 10 years ago, or at least one purporting to be the same thing. I saw it at a Mini show in the roof carpark of what was then Village Fair (now Garden Town) in Toowoomba. Back then, it had front and rear rally/bull bars on it. I talked the owner, but it was a long time ago, so I could be wrong in my recollections. But my thoughts were that he said it was built by John Cooper Garages, not by BL. I could easily be wrong, and it could be a bitsa, but, if it is a bitsa, there's at least 10 years of history of it being a bitsa, with the same stickers, etc.