1965 Austin Mini Competition Saloon to 'Cooper S' Specification

• Highly successful Historic saloon racer
• Present ownership since 2014
• Raced in various Historic series
• Rebuilt in 2019 including a new bodyshell (bills available)
• Swiftune 1,291cc engine

Launched in September 1961, the Mini Cooper was endowed with prodigious roadholding and an excellent power-to-weight ratio that enabled it to compete successfully with larger-capacity rivals; on tight, twisting circuits the car was often a candidate for outright victory. Indeed, Warwick Banks won the European Saloon Car Championship outright in 1964 driving Ken Tyrell's Mini Cooper. Spectators everywhere delighted in the spectacular, sideways cornering style adopted by the car's main protagonists, and the Mini's supreme driveability and user-friendliness have kept it in the forefront of Historic saloon car racing ever since.

Badged as a Morris, this well-known Austin Mini competition saloon has been raced very successfully in various historic series, achieving many class wins and overall victories. Our vendor purchased the car at Bonhams' Oxford sale in December 2014 (Lot 342). Raced by the previous owner at Brands Hatch on 7th September that year, 'COB 893C' won its class, came 2nd overall and set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 58.7s (anything under 1 minute in a FIA-specification Mini is pretty good). This time would have put the car on the front row of the grid for the all-Mini race at the Mini Festival in May 2014.

Immediately prior to its sale in 2014, the car had been refurbished and upgraded by Gerald Dale Motorsport, while the desirable Swiftune 1,291cc engine had done only the Brands Hatch race since being rebuilt. The exhaust system is a Maniflow and the shocks are Koni.

Following its purchase in 2014, the Mini remained unused until 2016 and was then raced until 2019 having contested lots of CSCC and Equipe races and competed for one year with the Masters across Europe. In 2019 a rebuild was carried out with renowned Mini man Bill Sollis making the bodyshell, lightweight bespoke roll cage from Andy Robinson, subframe and a new Swiftune engine (only used for one season) all being renewed. (The car had suffered one crash - at Donington - but that was prior to the restoration.) The car has been stored as part of a collection since 2023. There are numerous related bills on file together with photographs taken pre-restoration. Additional paperwork includes a V5C registration document, roll cage certificate, engine capacity certificate, and the all-important FIA papers. The car also comes with two sets of 'rose petal' wheels shod with Dunlop L-section tyres.