Buying a Genuine Mini Cooper
This article is aimed at those wishing to buy the original Mini Cooper, and does not relate to the Mini range produced by BMW since the year 2000.
The Mini was introduced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and produced by it and its successors until the end of production in the year 2000. The Mini Cooper was essentially designed as a sporting rally version of the standard Mini.
The Mini revolutionised the production of small cars, introducing a transversally mounted engine to save space and front wheel drive for small-car performance. The Mini Cooper revolutionised rallying by incorporating all the power and versatility of the larger car into a tiny space. The first Mini Cooper rolled off the production line in 1961, just two years after the appearance of the Mark I Mini.
The 1961 Mini Cooper, with its Austin (from the BMC stable) badge, had a four stroke, four cylinder inline engine of 997cc capacity (versus the Mark I Mini’s 850cc).
The two-door salon’s dimensions were 3048mm (6ft) length, 1397mm (4’ 7”) width and 1346mm (4’ 5” height). The larger engine capacity, together with the Cooper’s twin carburettors helped the car to achieve a top speed of 135kph (84 mph) and an acceleration of 0-60mph in 17.2 seconds. Braking was improved by the replacement of brake shoes with discs on the front wheels. The fuel capacity remained identical with the original Mini with a tank capacity of just 25 litres
The Cooper specification came from the engineering of John Cooper, who had successfully built track racing cars for some years, with success in Formula I motor racing and who had fallen in love with the new Mini concept and wanted to shape it into a sporting icon. In 1963, the Cooper S was born.
The Cooper S engine size was upped to a powerful 1071cc capacity and power assistance was added to the brakes. The 0-60 time was now reduced to just 13.0 seconds, and the car immediately achieved success in the Monte Carlo Rally, competing with much larger sized and more conventional rally models.
More than 120,000 Mini Coopers were produced between 1961 and 1971, and several remain available. But there are also many fakes, and you should be aware of what to look for if you want to own the real thing. Firstly the years of manufacture were as follows:
Mark 1 Mini Cooper – October 1961-January 1964
Chassis Numbers for Austin badged Cooper start with C-A2S7 and Morris badged Coopers start with K-A2S4. Engines are all prefixed 9F. – 24,860 models produced
Mark 2 Mini Cooper – January 1964-October 1967
Chassis Numbers are prefixed as for the previous model, but all engine numbers commence with 9FA – 64,224 models produced.
1071cc Cooper S – March 1963-August 1964
Chassis Numbers for Austin badged Cooper S start with C-A2S7 and Morris badged Cooper S start with K-A2S4 (as for the Mini Cooper ) Engines prefixed 9FSAH – 4031 models produced.
970cc Cooper S – March 1964-January 1965
Chassis Numbers as for previous Cooper S, but engine numbers commence with 9FSAX – Only 963 models of this type were produced.
1275cc Cooper S – March 1964 – July 1971
From 1964-1967 (Mk I) Chassis Numbers same as 1071cc model
From October 1967 to March 1970 (Mk II) Chassis numbers are prefixed C-A388 (Austin) or K-A2S6 (Morris)
From March 1970- July 1971 (Mk III) Chassis numbers commence B-20-D
1275cc engines have the prefix 9FSAY.
- The fuel tank of the Mini Cooper is larger than that of the standard Mini, with a capacity of 34 litres (7.5 gallons)
- The Mini Cooper steering wheel has a leather covered rim and a Cooper badge in the centre.
- The 1275 Cooper S has two fuel tanks, one filler cap on each side at the rear.
Because of the high price fetched by this highly collectible motoring icon, the prospective buyer is encouraged to do much research, and particularly to join one of the many Mini appreciation societies before embarking on buying what could well turn out to be a standard Mini dressed up as a Cooper or a Cooper dressed up as a Cooper S or special edition.
Good Luck.
