Lot No: 317
Believed to be the earliest surviving Australian
1965 Morris Mini Cooper S Mark 1
Chassis no. YKG2S2/505
Engine no. 9FSAY45885 (see text)
Considered by automobile historians to be one of the most important and influential designs ever, the Austin/Morris Mini was in production for 40 years and today remains the most enduring icon of the British motor industry. To many though - its designer Alec Issigonis included - the notion that the Mini might have a future as anything other than basic transport was anathema, and the idea of a high-performance version was laughable. One man though, saw it quite differently. Racing car manufacturer John Cooper already knew quite a bit about tuning BMC's A-Series engine - he was running the company's Formula Junior effort at the time - and a test drive in a prototype Mini convinced him of the car's competition potential. The result, launched in September 1961, was the Mini Cooper, a car that offered a size/price/performance package that was