Classics left to die/rotting pics - Vol 2

[MarshPhantom]

Crosswise said:

P5BNij said:

This Mk1 Cooper S with some tasteful period bits was saved recently and went for around £12.5k...

No one would ever believe they'd be worth that 20 years ago!

Or now.

[P5BNij]

Crosswise said:

P5BNij said:

This Mk1 Cooper S with some tasteful period bits was saved recently and went for around £12.5k...

No one would ever believe they'd be worth that 20 years ago! I bought a 69 Cooper in 2007 which was complete, numbers matching, largely original and a good shell, but in need of restoration and paid about £1000 for it. I spent a long time considering what I'd done, but even though it's still unrestored, it's gone up about 5 times in value. My only regret is that I didn't buy an "S" as now they're out of reach, like most 60s classics I'd actually want to drive.

Madness isn't it? I bought a '65 Mk1 S in 2008 for £10k and sold it two years later for £15k, it was a 'known' unrestored car and I wish I'd kept it. As luck would have it I stumbled upon a '68 Mk2 S in 2011 and still have it now, having spent quite a lump on it since then I'll be keeping it. It's still not 'finished' yet as the engine bay needs sorting out but a mate in the Mini Cooper Register has said I should up the insurance value again, he's just upped his Mk2 S to £25k agreed value. 2017 will be the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Mk2 so the MCR day at Beaulieu will have as many on display as possible, including mine hopefully. I've had a pair of '69 Mk2 Coopers as well, one of which I had for eleven years and used it almost daily, I was going to restore it but someone made me a good offer at the time so I let it go. I sold the other one to a mate to make way for the Mk2 S, he's just finished restoring it, he says it was a painful experience but worth it in the end.

[Chipchap]

ATTAK Z said:

Humber Sceptre Mkl front





Humber Sceptre Mk l Rear

BUS 614B was my Mk1 in some sort of gold colour. 1600cc uprated to a 120 engine during my brief custody. Think I paid £5 for it in 1974. Rural Scotland was fun as a youngster of 16 [no licence etc]

[AMG Merc]

Chipchap said:

BUS 614B was my Mk1 in some sort of gold colour. 1600cc uprated to a 120 engine during my brief custody. Think I paid £5 for it in 1974. Rural Scotland was fun as a youngster of 16 [no licence etc]

And you would have more or less filled the tank for another fiver too

[RichB]

Chipchap said:

BUS 614B was my Mk1 in some sort of gold colour. 1600cc uprated to a 120 engine during my brief custody. Think I paid £5 for it in 1974. Rural Scotland was fun as a youngster of 16 [no licence etc]

You did blooming well! My first car in 1973 was an MG ZB Magnette for which I paid £65 and insurance was £30.

[ncbbmw]

AMG Merc said:

Chipchap said:

BUS 614B was my Mk1 in some sort of gold colour. 1600cc uprated to a 120 engine during my brief custody. Think I paid £5 for it in 1974. Rural Scotland was fun as a youngster of 16 [no licence etc]

And you would have more or less filled the tank for another fiver too

In 1975 my weekend Job was Petrol Pump attendant, 4* was 74p per gallon, 4g of 4* at £2.96 was a big seller, however many would buy a quids worth.

You could get 5* then. Those were the days..

One Saturday evening a chap pulled up on the forecourt in a large car painted matt black with lots of plastic bits stuck on it, a quick look and we saw he got 2 flat tyres on the off side...

Just before the forecourt entrance there was a central reservation and as someone turned left into the next door car park he pulled around them and clouted the kerbs wiping out both tyres.

Turned out to be a prototype Rover Sd1 he was using for the weekend, not having the correct size tyres he had to leave it until the Monday when they could get someone to come and fetch it, he insisted we locked it away out of sight in the workshop and not to touch it..

As promised we didn't touch or play with it...

For at least 10 minutes after he'd left

[Crosswise]

P5BNij said:

Madness isn't it? I bought a '65 Mk1 S in 2008 for £10k and sold it two years later for £15k, it was a 'known' unrestored car and I wish I'd kept it. As luck would have it I stumbled upon a '68 Mk2 S in 2011 and still have it now, having spent quite a lump on it since then I'll be keeping it. It's still not 'finished' yet as the engine bay needs sorting out but a mate in the Mini Cooper Register has said I should up the insurance value again, he's just upped his Mk2 S to £25k agreed value. 2017 will be the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Mk2 so the MCR day at Beaulieu will have as many on display as possible, including mine hopefully. I've had a pair of '69 Mk2 Coopers as well, one of which I had for eleven years and used it almost daily, I was going to restore it but someone made me a good offer at the time so I let it go. I sold the other one to a mate to make way for the Mk2 S, he's just finished restoring it, he says it was a painful experience but worth it in the end.

I doubt I'll buy another Mini so the value of them isn't too much of an issue in that respect, the impact it has had on prices of parts that are unavailable new is a problem though. I'm restoring a 63 Super Deluxe which I bought for very little money, but there is so much that is missing that to try and return it to original would be a major false economy. I'd have to pay more for the correct rear view mirror than I paid for the car for example so I've decided not to worry too much about it. If it was a 65 things would be much easier! My current issue is I need to repair both ends of the bulkhead panel and what's available isn't even close to the Mk1 pressing. Anyway, I could go on all day, so I'll stop!

[DickyC]

Snip for competent handyman.

[AMG Merc]

DickyC said:

Snip for competent handyman.

It'll be ready Tuesday Guv.

[P5BNij]

Crosswise said:

P5BNij said:

Madness isn't it? I bought a '65 Mk1 S in 2008 for £10k and sold it two years later for £15k, it was a 'known' unrestored car and I wish I'd kept it. As luck would have it I stumbled upon a '68 Mk2 S in 2011 and still have it now, having spent quite a lump on it since then I'll be keeping it. It's still not 'finished' yet as the engine bay needs sorting out but a mate in the Mini Cooper Register has said I should up the insurance value again, he's just upped his Mk2 S to £25k agreed value. 2017 will be the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Mk2 so the MCR day at Beaulieu will have as many on display as possible, including mine hopefully. I've had a pair of '69 Mk2 Coopers as well, one of which I had for eleven years and used it almost daily, I was going to restore it but someone made me a good offer at the time so I let it go. I sold the other one to a mate to make way for the Mk2 S, he's just finished restoring it, he says it was a painful experience but worth it in the end.

I doubt I'll buy another Mini so the value of them isn't too much of an issue in that respect, the impact it has had on prices of parts that are unavailable new is a problem though. I'm restoring a 63 Super Deluxe which I bought for very little money, but there is so much that is missing that to try and return it to original would be a major false economy. I'd have to pay more for the correct rear view mirror than I paid for the car for example so I've decided not to worry too much about it. If it was a 65 things would be much easier! My current issue is I need to repair both ends of the bulkhead panel and what's available isn't even close to the Mk1 pressing. Anyway, I could go on all day, so I'll stop!

I'm not surprised at any of that, cosmetically the early Supers were pretty much the same as the Cooper and Cooper S with the same brightwork and two tone interiors etc. It would be handy if the new Heritage Mk1 shell was up to the mark but sadly it's a bit of a compromise in many respects.

As pleased as I am with my S I still hanker after a genuine Radford or Minisprint, but the prices have gone through the roof now. Might just as well carry on dreaming about '60s and '70s Italian exotica...!

[Iva Barchetta]

DickyC said:

Snip for competent handyman.

Is that remains of a Land Rover ?

[hidetheelephants]

Iva Barchetta said:

DickyC said:

Snip for competent handyman.

Is that remains of a Land Rover ?

Series 2A at a guess, short wheelbase; one owner, never raced or rallied.

[finlo]

hidetheelephants said:

Series 2A at a guess, short wheelbase; one owner, never raced or rallied.

Appears to have discs all round too.

[hidetheelephants]

finlo said:

hidetheelephants said:

Series 2A at a guess, short wheelbase; one owner, never raced or rallied.

Appears to have discs all round too.

Egg on face! I didn't even clock the fancy tubular(galvy too!)damper towers.

[rufusgti]

P5BNij said:

This Mk1 Cooper S with some tasteful period bits was saved recently and went for around £12.5k...

Any ideas where that was saved. It's just I know of a place that last time I was in, which was 5 years ago. There were 5 Mini Cooper s with the twin tanks etc stacked up on each other. They were starting to be worth something even then but he assured me they weren't for sale. I often wonder if they're still there. The ones at the top were being rained on by an open section of the barn roof though.

[P5BNij]

rufusgti said:

P5BNij said:

This Mk1 Cooper S with some tasteful period bits was saved recently and went for around £12.5k...

Any ideas where that was saved. It's just I know of a place that last time I was in, which was 5 years ago. There were 5 Mini Cooper s with the twin tanks etc stacked up on each other. They were starting to be worth something even then but he assured me they weren't for sale. I often wonder if they're still there. The ones at the top were being rained on by an open section of the barn roof though.

Don't know where it was found but it had been there since 1980 apparently, in the dry from then until 2002 then left outside with a tarp over it. Only other info is that it was originally almond green with a white roof but was repainted orange with a black roof then all over black in the '70s, and the winning bid for it was £12,600. Sounds a lot I know, but it's another one saved - once they're gone they're gone. I dare say this example is still in its original shell too, the vast majority of those you see at shows have been reshelled. Funny how everyone thinks the Mk1 S is the rarest of the lot though, they actually built about 14,000 all told across all three engine sizes between 1963 and 67, but the 'less desirable' Mk2 S only managed 6,329 between 1967 and 70.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

ATTAK Z said:

restoman said:

RichB said:

Having pointed out that there's actually three cars not just two I've rather lost track of the argument

That said whoever is in the Super Minx camp the give away is the front indicator shape on the wing laying in the bottom left corner of the picture.

The front wing shape/ indicator position could be Super Minx or Mk2 Sceptre HOWEVER . . . . the rocker cover is steel and the head is iron and not alloy and therefore it's a Super Minx.

Thanks

Adding nothing to the debate...but just a nostalgic excuse. I learned to drive in this:

[TonyRPH]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Adding nothing to the debate...but just a nostalgic excuse. I learned to drive in this:

I had to chuckle at those oil leaks all over the driveway. You don't see that these days!

[RichB]

TonyRPH said:

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Adding nothing to the debate...but just a nostalgic excuse. I learned to drive in this:

I had to chuckle at those oil leaks all over the driveway. You don't see that these days!

You do at my house and I'm always being told about it!

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

RichB said:

TonyRPH said:

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Adding nothing to the debate...but just a nostalgic excuse. I learned to drive in this:

I had to chuckle at those oil leaks all over the driveway. You don't see that these days!

You do at my house and I'm always being told about it!

..and mine!

That same scene has a gazillion more cars parked in the background these days though