I have fond memories of driving my various Minis over the years. Every car I have owned I have modified, sometimes a little addition here and there, occasionally major upgrades. My Minis always had to have a steering bracket. That lowered the steering wheel a bit closer in to your lap, so it was a bit less of a bus steering wheel. And a rear anti-roll bar, anything I could do to cancel out understeer.

I love the stats of the 1275 Cooper S. Weight 590kg – almost a half ton car. That is the typical weight of batteries in an electric car! Incidentally I recently saw a huge BMW i7 electric saloon. I looked it up and it weighs 2,700kg. Madness.

Anyway I digress. 590kg and 76 HP from the 1275 engine. 128HP per ton. Very good figures in 1965. And it feels alive in your hands like nothing modern that you can drive.

Due to Alec Issigonis’ amazing design, it cornered like a go kart but also gripped incredibly well. The 0.75g cornering figure may not mean much to most people but from a 1960’s 145 x 10 tyre it was amazing grip. The proof of that was Paddy Hopkirk’s 1964 Monte Carlo rally win in a 1071cc Cooper S. He embarrassed some very well funded factory cars in his little Mini.

This Cooper owned car was restored 5 years ago and has only driven 250 miles since. It gleams in Almond Green with an Old English White roof. So that is what the right Mini can be worth.

If you have any work that needs doing to your classic, contact us here.