innocenti Minis a brief history please
Discussion
as per the title really. . .being offered a resto project and im tempted but don't know much about these minis. . .can anyone enlighten me, are they only left hand drive, I know the dash is often different to a UK car, well from what I have seen . . .please see this as an opportunity to complete my knowledge.
I don't have a reg number as yet to offer, but it has concealed door hinges, and the current owner has had it for a 'long time'
I don't have a reg number as yet to offer, but it has concealed door hinges, and the current owner has had it for a 'long time'
The Innocenti Mini &Mini-Cooper was produced from 1965 until 1975.
early cars were 998 cc, but later on the Mini-Cooper 1300 was introduced.
All were left-hand-drive, so any which are RHD have been converted and are non-original so have less value.
The instrument panels are superbly styled.
The one which is most desirable is the Innocenti Mini-Cooper 1300 Export. It had a super interior and the colours were different from the UK Coopers.
I had a 1973 1300 Export and it was superb. The engine spec is basically the same as a UK Cooper 'S', but with a non-'S' block & crank. It had the same cam, head & twin carbs. This was my car:
early cars were 998 cc, but later on the Mini-Cooper 1300 was introduced.
All were left-hand-drive, so any which are RHD have been converted and are non-original so have less value.
The instrument panels are superbly styled.
The one which is most desirable is the Innocenti Mini-Cooper 1300 Export. It had a super interior and the colours were different from the UK Coopers.
I had a 1973 1300 Export and it was superb. The engine spec is basically the same as a UK Cooper 'S', but with a non-'S' block & crank. It had the same cam, head & twin carbs. This was my car:
It is now sold and I'm doing a 1964 850. But the Innos is a super car. I had to find some of the special parts for mine including front door bins, a boot lid, a RH rear light unit, a rear seat set, a header tank, a full carpet set, front seat covers, side repeater units and a few other parts.
Then I had to identify the correct paint code for a colour called 'bianco aviore' to re-paint the roof in the correct colour.
But find them I did and the car was superb with the only poor thing being the steering wheel which had some marks in the leather rim.
I did a re-build of engine, gearbox & suspension.
It was super to drive with around 75 bhp and nice manners in traffic.
When I got it, it was RHD, but I fitted a new rack, re-ran brake pipes and converted it to the correct LHD which added enormously to the value.
Then I had to identify the correct paint code for a colour called 'bianco aviore' to re-paint the roof in the correct colour.
But find them I did and the car was superb with the only poor thing being the steering wheel which had some marks in the leather rim.
I did a re-build of engine, gearbox & suspension.
It was super to drive with around 75 bhp and nice manners in traffic.
When I got it, it was RHD, but I fitted a new rack, re-ran brake pipes and converted it to the correct LHD which added enormously to the value.
Cooperman said:
Thank you. My Grandson & I did put a lot of work into it and I sold it a year ago for over £10,000.
Here is another shot of it with my 1964 Cooper 'S' rally car:
they are in your blood it seems !Here is another shot of it with my 1964 Cooper 'S' rally car:
Nice pic of the two cars. . .I notice on the Innocenti i am seeing later it has brackets for spot lamps which look identical to your car, was this an option or standard fit ?
The brackets on the Innocenti are 40 mm wide x 5 mm thick aluminium and were shaped using a heat torch, then polished and fitted to the front panel & bumper using M5 Rivnuts.Lamps are the classic Lucas 5" for & spot.
The Cooper 'S' brackets are 1.5 mm steel and are there just to support the lamp bar which is easy to remove. The reason I use thin steel for the brackets is because if/when the car goes off the road on a rally and hit something, those brackets will bend before the front panel is damaged. The lamps are steadied by opened up Jubilee clips bolted to the top of the front panel with M4 Rivnuts and pan head screws.
It works as when I hit a 5-bar steel gate head-on during an historic rally I broke some glass, bent the lamp brackets but suffered little other damage. Lamps are Cibie Super-Oscars with 100 watt bulbs.
The Cooper 'S' brackets are 1.5 mm steel and are there just to support the lamp bar which is easy to remove. The reason I use thin steel for the brackets is because if/when the car goes off the road on a rally and hit something, those brackets will bend before the front panel is damaged. The lamps are steadied by opened up Jubilee clips bolted to the top of the front panel with M4 Rivnuts and pan head screws.
It works as when I hit a 5-bar steel gate head-on during an historic rally I broke some glass, bent the lamp brackets but suffered little other damage. Lamps are Cibie Super-Oscars with 100 watt bulbs.
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