The Morris Mini saw the light of day in the year 1959 and is still with us. The Mini was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis (who also designed the Morris Minor) and is considered to be one of the greatest concepts in motorcar history. The Mini is a front wheel drive car; that was not new those days, but the transverse-engine packaging was. The Mini is a very small car, only 305 cm. long (the VW Beetle is 100 cm. longer!), but the interior offers lots of space, enough for four persons, because of the clever concept. The Mini is equipped with a unique "hydrolastic" suspension and the Mini's wheels are located at the outer corners of the car giving the Mini a tremendous "road-holding" behaviour; like a go-cart.
The Mini was an invention of Sir Alec Issigonis for Morris. Morris merged with BMC in 1962 and Mini became a marque of its own in 1969. The Mini was produced as a two- door saloon and as a two- door estate (Countryman/ Traveller).

Based on the two- door saloon John Cooper (formula 500, formula 3 and formula 1 racing-car constructor and a friend of Sir Alec Issigonis) tuned the Mini's engine which resulted in the birth of the famous Mini Cooper. The Mini Cooper combined a light-weight compact car, excellent road holding and a powerfull engine. The combination of these factors resulted in a very competitive, "bomb-on-wheels", that was suitable for winning competitions...

The Mini Cooper has a great record of racing successes; it started with the victory in the Dutch "Tulpenrallye" with Pat Moss (Stirling Moss's sister) driving it. Many successes followed. The most remembered success was the victory in the Rallye of Monte Carlo with Paddy Hopkirk driving the "Works-Mini".

The presented Mini Cooper S is an original (Dutch) Mini Cooper S, produced in 1963, with a 1071 cc. engine. This car is fully converted to "Works-Mini" specifications.

Technical data

four-cylinder engine
 2 S.U. carburettors (type H4)
cylinder capacity: 1071 cc.
Capacity: 80 bhp. at the wheels.
top-speed: 180 km/h. (112.5 mph) at 7500 rpm.
brakes: servo disc brakes front, drums rear.
gearbox: close-ratio, four speed