1965 Mini Cooper S 1,071

The Mini Cooper needs no real introduction. Featuring highly, if not claiming top spot on every ‘iconic car through history’ list with its praise, popularity and successes all totally justified, made famous by the integrity of its engineering, charming looks, big screen provenance and giant-killing handling.

Racing car manufacturer John Cooper was already the guru on tuning BMC's A-Series engine, running the company's Formula Junior effort at the time and a test drive in a prototype Mini convinced him of its competition potential. John Cooper appealed to BMC Management, with Issigonis' concerns being disregarded and the two good friends eventually cooperating in creating what rapidly became, and still remains, a legendary little motor car. The ‘S’ featured larger disc brakes, a vacuum-assisted brake booster, offset steel wheels which had been widened to 4½ inches, more luxurious upholstery, a 120mph speedometer and discrete 'S' badges on the bonnet and boot. They were subtle upgrades with the real changes made to the adaptable A-series engine. Mechanically, the 1071cc engine featured a cast engine block, with a special nitride steel crankshaft and a freer flowing cylinder head that was more suitable for racing.

First launched in 1963, and only seeing a production run of just over 18 months with 4,000 cars produced, the Mini Cooper 1071 S managed to create a reputation and see competition success that was wildly disproportionate to the sales figures. It may have only pushed out 75bhp with 62lb/ft of torque, but when there’s only 686kg to pull around, it is fair to say it was a magic recipe for success. With the likes of Paddy Hopkirk, Timo Makinen and John Rhodes at the helm, most corners could be taken flat, culminating in a plethora of overall victories on roads, tracks and rallies.

The car presented here is a 1964 Morris Mini Cooper 1071cc S manufactured on 23rd June 1964 and supplied new to its first owner through The Morris Garages of Oxford. While it was originally Tweed Grey with an Old English White roof, it now wears Tartan Red with Black roof  paired with a Tartan Red/Gold Brocade-Grey interior. Interestingly, the car was one of the last off the line, the 54th last produced, and wasn’t registered until 1st January 1965.

Clearly cherished, maintained, and cared for, this wonderful Mini is absolutely on the button. The engine turns over at the first flick, with no coughing or spluttering, and drives with exactly the magic one has come to expect from these little Coops. The history file is fairly sparse, however, it does feature the Heritage Certificate showing it to still be matching numbers, a scan of the buff logbook and a selection of old MOTs.

Make no mistake, this is a superb little car. With only a few miles covered since its restoration, this 1071 Cooper S will make a useful and fun purchase, safe in the knowledge that all the hard work has been done.