Opinion wanted
Discussion
I'm wondering what a completely restored and rust-free 1966 Mk. 1 shell with boot, bonnet & doors is worth.
I'm just finishing the full resto of such a shell which i wsa going to complete either as a 1966 Mk. 1850, or build into a Cooper 'S' replica as I have a load of spare 'S' bits.
However, I've been offered a 1973 Innocenti at a sensible price and I've always wanted one, but I don't have space for another Mini and think I might sell the complete shell. It will be in grey primer with a 'stonechip' finished underside. it has new wings, a-panels (inner & outer) new outer and inner sills and new boot-floor flange and rear valence. So,what's it worth?
I'm just finishing the full resto of such a shell which i wsa going to complete either as a 1966 Mk. 1850, or build into a Cooper 'S' replica as I have a load of spare 'S' bits.
However, I've been offered a 1973 Innocenti at a sensible price and I've always wanted one, but I don't have space for another Mini and think I might sell the complete shell. It will be in grey primer with a 'stonechip' finished underside. it has new wings, a-panels (inner & outer) new outer and inner sills and new boot-floor flange and rear valence. So,what's it worth?
pete, the trouble is that whislt we all know what its costs in panels and time to do a shell correctly, getting the money its worth is another problem all together!
id say a good rust free mk1 shell is 1 - 2 grand depending how good 'good' is and what year shell it is.
for the right person of course its worth strong money, its just the 99 idiots who want to give you 100 quid for it that you have to deal with first.........
ive just sold a sold usable mk1 shell thats been a race car, with flip front, grp doors, bonnet and boot and the rear converted to beam axel (no boot floor, arches etc) for 400 quid. it had a cage and the lad wanted it for a track car, he was delighted with it.
id say a good rust free mk1 shell is 1 - 2 grand depending how good 'good' is and what year shell it is.
for the right person of course its worth strong money, its just the 99 idiots who want to give you 100 quid for it that you have to deal with first.........
ive just sold a sold usable mk1 shell thats been a race car, with flip front, grp doors, bonnet and boot and the rear converted to beam axel (no boot floor, arches etc) for 400 quid. it had a cage and the lad wanted it for a track car, he was delighted with it.
Rich, this is one I've been doing for myself and it's as near 'absolutely right' as I can make it. It's even got the 'narrow' 1966 sills. It has absolutely no rust whatsoever and just needs final surfacing and painting before re-assembly can begin. The last Mk. 1 shell i had done commercially back in 1994 cost me £5000 including painting and this just needs painting.
I guess i would take around £2500 for it, but not much less as Mk.1's are now very rare. When you think what you pay for the 'oh, so average' 'Heritage' shell with doors , bonnet & boot.
I guess i would take around £2500 for it, but not much less as Mk.1's are now very rare. When you think what you pay for the 'oh, so average' 'Heritage' shell with doors , bonnet & boot.
fpsasm said:
dont do a cooper 'S' replica..
if u want a cooper.. get a cooper... dont ruin a classic..
..idont mind engine tunes... but dont turn it into something it isnt..
A lot of competition cars are built from 850 cars, despite their being entered as Cooper 'S's. if u want a cooper.. get a cooper... dont ruin a classic..
..idont mind engine tunes... but dont turn it into something it isnt..
Remember, the bodyshell is just a part number and all shells are the same, despite what others may try to tell us. An 'S' has a couple of extra bits, like the boot board brackets, but that sort of minor difference is all there is.
I'm not going to do it, but I do have a spare Cooper 'S' block, crank and rods which I could re-build back to 1275. I also have a stack of genuine 'S' parts acquired over the years, so if I chose to build another Historic Rally Cooper 'S' I would have all the basics I would need. Once finished, everything on it would be as a Cooper 'S' and that's how it would be entered and scrutineered on events with no eligibility issues. The V5 would list it as a Mini Minor with a 1275 engine.
If I do sell this super shell, I guess it could well go to someone who has a Cooper 'S' V5 and, maybe, a load of bits and a rotten shell. It would then end up as a 'genuine Cooper 'S' so far as everyone is concerned. My own Cooper 'S' was re-shelled in 1994 into what was a 1966 shell from an 850, but it is considered genuine and valued as such.
In the 60's many competition Minis were built up from 850's. If I destroyed my shell I would use any good Mk. 1 shell I could find to repair it and rebuild it into full Cooper 'S' spec..
Cooperman said:
A lot of competition cars are built from 850 cars, despite their being entered as Cooper 'S's.
Remember, the bodyshell is just a part number and all shells are the same, despite what others may try to tell us. An 'S' has a couple of extra bits, like the boot board brackets, but that sort of minor difference is all there is.
I'm not going to do it, but I do have a spare Cooper 'S' block, crank and rods which I could re-build back to 1275. I also have a stack of genuine 'S' parts acquired over the years, so if I chose to build another Historic Rally Cooper 'S' I would have all the basics I would need. Once finished, everything on it would be as a Cooper 'S' and that's how it would be entered and scrutineered on events with no eligibility issues. The V5 would list it as a Mini Minor with a 1275 engine.
If I do sell this super shell, I guess it could well go to someone who has a Cooper 'S' V5 and, maybe, a load of bits and a rotten shell. It would then end up as a 'genuine Cooper 'S' so far as everyone is concerned. My own Cooper 'S' was re-shelled in 1994 into what was a 1966 shell from an 850, but it is considered genuine and valued as such.
In the 60's many competition Minis were built up from 850's. If I destroyed my shell I would use any good Mk. 1 shell I could find to repair it and rebuild it into full Cooper 'S' spec..
Let's be honest here, Competition department chopped and changed shells, identities and brands depending on how the mood took them. Cars became damaged and were reshelled using new, old or repaired shells as required, often in a hurry, and I have no doubt that sometimes parts were swapped between cars at the same event !! Remember, the bodyshell is just a part number and all shells are the same, despite what others may try to tell us. An 'S' has a couple of extra bits, like the boot board brackets, but that sort of minor difference is all there is.
I'm not going to do it, but I do have a spare Cooper 'S' block, crank and rods which I could re-build back to 1275. I also have a stack of genuine 'S' parts acquired over the years, so if I chose to build another Historic Rally Cooper 'S' I would have all the basics I would need. Once finished, everything on it would be as a Cooper 'S' and that's how it would be entered and scrutineered on events with no eligibility issues. The V5 would list it as a Mini Minor with a 1275 engine.
If I do sell this super shell, I guess it could well go to someone who has a Cooper 'S' V5 and, maybe, a load of bits and a rotten shell. It would then end up as a 'genuine Cooper 'S' so far as everyone is concerned. My own Cooper 'S' was re-shelled in 1994 into what was a 1966 shell from an 850, but it is considered genuine and valued as such.
In the 60's many competition Minis were built up from 850's. If I destroyed my shell I would use any good Mk. 1 shell I could find to repair it and rebuild it into full Cooper 'S' spec..
When I see a car advertised as a "genunine ex-works" car I think "which bits ??" lol !! To my mind they were a lot like grandpa's axe, it's had five handles and three heads but it's still grandpa's axe !!
At the end of the day it's your car to do with as you please. If it's a MK1 shell with lots of genuine MK1 Cooper S bits on it built to the original specification of a MK1 Cooper S, then it is, for all intents and purposes a MK1 Cooper S whether the log book says so or not. Even if you have the provenence, history and documents with all matching numbers and the original body shell then that's great, but I bet that original shell has had new wings, A-panels, full length floors and sills etc, the engine has been rebored, had a different cam etc etc. so what's the difference between this and, in the nicest possible way, a bitsa built from composite parts ??
Just to disprove my own theory there was recently advertised one of the original ex-works Healey 3000 rally cars for auction. It had all of it's competition provenance including details of the events conducted and the two "sympathetic" light restorations since it had been in private ownership. This was one of two or three cars built in 1956 or something, driven by the Morley brothers, Pat Moss etc. Auction reserve was £250K and I didn't ever dare look to see what it sold for !!
Phil.
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