>> www.miniworld.co.uk/news/258-bonhams-to-auction-rare-1959-mini
>>
If you view the lots, the cars start at about lot no. 300. Some incredible prices made!
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>> >> www.miniworld.co.uk/news/258-bonhams-to-auction-rare-1959-mini
"Apart from these minor points the car is very original." Is that really how they were when new?
:-)
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It's been "unmolested".
That means it's been shut in a leaking shed for 50 years and vandals called damp and oxygen have been allowed in to work it over a bit.
There is an unmolested Morris 1100 in an abandoned orchard near us. It is so original that the roof has fallen in and the two sides have collapsed. The rear light clusters are lying on the ground where they have fallen, the engine block has detached and sunk into the ground, and there is a tree growing through the remains.
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There are many parts unique to 1959 Minis that were later changed as alternatives were made as design faults were remedied or production processes were simplified. A few examples are: floorpans, master cylinders, radius arms, handbrake quadrants, air filter housing and window catches.
I had one. It leaked, rusted and the rear radius arms wore out due to water ingress.
They were carp.
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>> They were carp.
>>
Carp by modern standards. Back then the lifespan of every vehicle made was determined by when rust became terminal.
The concept of the bodywork and suspension being likely to outlast the economical repair life of the mechanical components is a fairly new thing.
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On the TV news item I saw
>>... floorpans
- there was a tea plate sized hole in the floor by the drivers door
>>and window catches.
It was shown that the standard feature was the the catch detached from the glass when it was used ( and it was then demonstrated that a hand on each side of the pane was required to slide it.)
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They WERE carp.
And the windows did not work as above. And the rubber banjo joints failed so the drive shafts stopped turning the wheels.. And they leaked oil. And the subframe rusted. As did the exhaust. And water collected in the floor. And the electrics were prone to instant failure (LUCAS: Prince of Darkness). The brakes needed adjustment every 2,000 miles and the Dunlop tyres were bald in 8k miles..
Even by the standards of 1959 they were unreliable badly built rubbish..
Anyone tried to change a thermostat by pass hose before they introduced the bellows one? HORRIBLE...
Last edited by: madf on Tue 1 May 12 at 14:02
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"Even by the standards of 1959 they were unreliable badly built rubbish.. "
Perhaps not the best built car in the world but a revolution in car design and pricing. For £495 you could buy a brand new car that was so much better to drive than any of its competitors. Hardly rubbish.
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>>Anyone tried to change a thermostat by pass hose before they introduced the bellows one? HORRIBLE...
You can't hold that against just Minis, it was all A series.
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40 grand for half a ton of rusty scrap....blimey didnt know scrap prices had risen so much
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I liked the orginial mini had one for a year.Not for this price do.
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Not just Minis but most cars used to get bad rust quite quickly back then. Some of them were already starting to rust when delivered after standing in a damp field for a few months.
Why are there so few 1930s Lancia Aprilias? That was a fabulous small four-seater with that marvellous V4 engine, double wishbone independent suspension all round, big finned brakes and a rear transaxle with a crash box... I almost weep with longing for one. I wouldn't mind still having my own first jalopy, a Light 15 Citroen, either. But the tinworm killed most of those long ago.
It was a real labour of love to protect cars against dirt, water and salt, and virtually no one did it. Just a few, and you see these perfect original fifties jalopies bowling around sometimes, but very, very rarely. Few restored examples will withstand a close inspection by a car person with an eye.
This Mini in the OP is so valuable because it is a very early example, one of the first couple of dozen to be made, completely unmolested except by the elements. Someone, perhaps a museum, perhaps wants to restore it even more expensively as an exhibit.
The Mini was a driving revelation in its day, in this country anyway. No wonder it sold so well despite its well-known flaws, bewailed at the time by its designer Alex Issigonis but imposed by the lumpish suits at Austin Morris.
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I was employed by a small company in Rotterdam.We used to distribute engine parts and motors pulleys etc from a company in Bradford called Crofts.I was 16 first of many jobs..;)
We had one of the early minis great little car..
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>> Not just Minis but most cars used to get bad rust quite quickly back then.
>>
The Australian built one that I owned didn't rust but the red paint faded in the sun. :-)
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>> If you view the lots, the cars start at about lot no. 300. Some incredible prices made!
www.bonhams.com/auctions/20141/lot/320/
I saw this very car on an open trailer behind a fairly aged Discovery today, coming out of Leicester Forest East services in the rain. 88 years old, cost £163,900 and they haven't even kept it dry.
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Tue 1 May 12 at 19:09
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I wish I had kept my 1972 Chrysler 180 that I scrapped in 1980. Not much to touch that for rust, and it might have been worth a bob or two now.
:)
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>> I wish I had kept my 1972 Chrysler 180 ... it might have been worth a bob or two now.
:)
It seems that any BL Mini is worth at least a couple of grand. I had 3 of them, none costing more than £200 :(
I once sold one of the first 1981 XR3s for £300 as well, that'll have gone up a bit by now!
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I paid £18.50 (the 50p isn't a typo, BTW) for a mini in 1975, and sold it as an MOT failure a couple of years later for £10.
That one I really should have kept.
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IMO it's overpriced despite its historic early production status. It's the sort of money I would expect a completely standard concours condition unmolested example to fetch. This one needs so much restoration that it won't in fact be that "original" when completed.
I loved my Minis, had 4 of them in various states of tune. But everything Madf says is true plus more. They were hard enough to keep on the road back then, let alone now! One of mine reached 100,000 miles which was seen back then as a fairly major achievement, but it was shot to pieces by then mechanically, had minimal oil pressure, gearbox was fairly well worn, had to keep my knee on the lever to keep it in gear! It also had a major head overhaul, new clutch, new water pump, new coil, new radiator, new dynamo, new driveshafts, new wheel bearings, new UJs, new wiper motors etc etc!! All this was par for the course back then! And of course the rust, rust everywhere. I sometimes look at a nice one nostalgically, but time moves on and I wouldn't wish to run one again. I drove a 1970s one about 5 years ago, couldn't believe how awful it was!
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The first Mrs P had a couple of them, rusted from new, especially the 1985 one she had - horrid. She had an amusingly named "Mary Quant" version - Quant's body was in better order by a country mile....horrible thing..
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Its an iconic car, a revelation, set design standards, the early ones are phenomenally space efficient, nothing in the world handled better for near on 20 years.
That one tho, is dead. Its a shed. no way is it worth all that wonga.
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"That one tho, is dead. Its a shed. no way is it worth all that wonga."
Logically, no it isn't. But the First and Only Law of Economics (i.e. all I know about economics) is that the 'right price' is what some other poor sap will pay.
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Thanks Baz
We had a series of Minis and Mini estates as very cheap transport when we were young, married and after buying a house had no money.
I can honestly say they were fun to drive but until the late 1970s facelifts and better ignition shielding and rubber mounted subframes: hopelessly unreliable. I did all my own repairs incl engine rebuilds, rear subframe mounting points replacing , clutches, driveshafts etc etc etc.
The build quality was rubbish: I saw one on Longbridge fully assembled and running: the gap between the rear subframe and the rear bulkhead mounting point was approx. 5 cms: air: no bolts . And that went all the way through final body inspection, painting and final assembly.
Our last Mini estate (1978 vintage) lasted 12 years but only because it had been heavily waxoiled by me.. in all the places I had learned of by bitter experience. BL NEVER improved that in 30 years...
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>> I wish I had kept my 1972 Chrysler 180 that I scrapped in 1980. Not
>> much to touch that for rust, and it might have been worth a bob or
>> two now.
>> :)
Er? No.
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The Mini didn't just rust but had other flaws. Many compromises had to be made to squeeze everything in and make it work. The gearbox wasn't good and suffered from sharing the engine oil. Minis sounded like Jeeps with their many gears in constant mesh lubricated by degraded engine oil. And most of the engines were long-stroke as well as only having three main bearings. The only square or slightly oversquare variant was the best one, the 1071cc S. But frequent oil changes and frequent rebuilding were what they tended to need.
Even before you consider the admittedly brilliant Moulton rubber CVs and rubber suspension, chapeau! but they didn't last for ever either. Indeed late high-output Minis and mini-based specials had proper CVs, special parts at a price.
There were quite a few Mini-based specials and kit cars.Most were plastic but the Mini sub-frames at either end still rusted. A friend owned one of the very rare professionally built mid-engined Unipower GTs. That had the 1071 engine, well tweaked, and had been timed at over 120. But although its low frontal area meant it could wind up to terrific speeds and be economical too, the aerodynamics of those days made it a busy drive at speeds over 80 or so. Some drivers were scared of it although the makers, and my friend, affected an air of relaxed ease, not entirely convincingly at 100 plus on a bumpy old A1 in a light rain shower.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Wed 2 May 12 at 00:34
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>> Er? No.
>> :)
You missed the smiley...
Actually, I spotted a 180 about a year ago in a local car park and it was in remarkably good condition. Probably the first I'd seen in twenty years, as they had a very short lifespan.
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It has just sold for a smidge over £40,000!! tinyurl.com/82xn77n
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An lot of £££s for an old rotten Mini - Duncan
