Volume XIII · AutoIndex Editions
Classic Mini · Mini-Minor to Rover Cooper
The Collector's Companion · 1959–2000
47 pages · PDF download
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Forty-one years and more than five million cars — the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor, the Cooper and Cooper S that won the Monte Carlo Rally, the Elf, Hornet, estates and Moke, the 1275 GT and the Rover Coopers. Eight dossiers, and the identity checks that separate a genuine Cooper S from the many cars built to look like one.
The dossiers
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The original Mini (1959–1970) — the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor, about 1,190,000 Mk1s and 429,000 Mk2s, and the details that mark an early car
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Mini Cooper (1961–1969) — the 997 and 998 cc twin-carburettor cars with front disc brakes: about 64,000 Mk1s and 16,000 Mk2s, and no Mk3
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Cooper S Mk1 (1963–1967) — 4,030 1071 S, 963 970 S and the 1275 S: the car of the 1964, 1965 and 1967 Monte Carlo wins
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Cooper S Mk2 and Mk3 (1967–1971) — about 6,300 and 1,570 built; the last factory Cooper S of the era
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Elf, Hornet, Traveller and Countryman (1960–1969) — the booted Riley and Wolseley Minis and the wood-framed estates
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Mini Moke (1964–1968) — 14,518 built in Britain before production moved to Australia and Portugal
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Clubman and 1275 GT (1969–1980) — British Leyland's longer-nosed Minis; 110,673 1275 GTs, the Cooper's replacement
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The later Minis and the Rover Cooper (1980–2000) — the special editions, the Cooper revival of 1990 and the last car of 4 October 2000
The era
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The Issigonis doctrine: a transverse engine, the gearbox in the sump, ten-inch wheels and Moulton's rubber suspension
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Monte Carlo, the circuits and the screen: the rally record, the 1966 disqualification and The Italian Job
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BMC, British Leyland and Rover: how the Mini outlived the car meant to replace it
Buying & ownership
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Genuine, replica or tribute: heritage certificates, identity numbers and what the market pays for each
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The rust map: subframes and their mountings, sills, floors, A-panels and the boot floor
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Original shells and matching numbers: why they set the top of every band
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Running costs and parts supply: why the Mini is one of the cheapest classics to keep
About AutoIndex Editions
AutoIndex Editions are long-form collector references written from the perspective of the market — production data, ownership economics, configuration premiums and the market view — rather than as general appreciations. Each guide is a one-time purchase: a PDF you own, formatted for screen and print.
AutoIndex provides market information, not financial advice; values can fall as well as rise. Marque names are used for identification only; AutoIndex is independent of all manufacturers.