33 replies to this topic

[ChrisL]

looks like a monster rebuild then!!! best start a rebuild thread.

Bought the car today, its a 1962 997 Austin Cooper, Almond green with a white roof.

[rimmer1993]

looks like a monster rebuild then!!! best start a rebuild thread.

Bought the car today, its a 1962 997 Austin Cooper, Almond green with a white roof.

Get some pictures up and a project thread

[taffy1967]

Unfortnately that's not legal, at least not if you are in the UK.

No VIN number was stamped into a 1960's Mk1 bodyshell so why or how is anyone going to prove he used panels or otherwise? and why should anyone care if it is done with careful attention to detail, to restore and save such a rare car from oblivion. An awful lot of Mk1 Mini Cooper & S out there have been lovingly rebuilt or restored over the last 40 odd years around an ex-'one old lady owner Mk1 850 Auto shell' for instance, whether due to accident damage in competition or the ravages of rust............including the BMC Competition Dept. for most of the Ex-works Minis who regularly swapped shells, Chassis plates and Austin/Morris identities from one rally to another! Perhaps we should encourage the owners of such Minis to hand them all over to Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson so they can be crushed along with all the other Classic Minis that have disappeared into their scrappage scheme and just retain the few that can somehow prove they still have their original shell?

The BMC department generally used "new shells" when the cars got wrecked which is not against the law.

Just because lots of people have reshelled coopers into granies specials does not make it legal.
Morally the issue comes when you sell it on as you are not selling a "one owner Cooper" you are selling a Bitza. Therfore the values ar dramatically different.

God knows how many rare early 1960's Mini Supers were used to create mint MK1 Mini Coopers, as both models were visually identical, both on the inside and out. So that was a very easy way to re-shell an early Cooper.

To be honest this practice of using good MK1's to create good Mini Coopers is still happening as I know of one in my local area. Sad to see such a lovely looking 1967 MK1 Mini Super Deluxe get stripped for it's shell.

But good luck to them and for me it's only if people then try passing the cars off as genuine originals etc to get as much cash that annoys me.

[Dan]

It’s got to be better to restore a Mk1 Mini with a Mk1 shell as opposed to using a new Mk 4 shell which is perfectly legal.

No it isn't. A re-shell can only be done using a shell of 'original specification', as such a new Mk4 shell can only be used to re-shell a Mk4 Mini.

There is another way to resurrect a long dead early car by using second hand parts without getting a Q plate, but you have to prove that the specific car is worthy of saving and prove that you are creating a replica of it. It's called a reconstructed classic (and has to be re-registered as such) and is kind of similar to a listed building.