Minis For Sale on BAT

Started by MiniDave, January 08, 2015, 01:41:54 PM

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BruceK

Quote from: MiniDave on November 10, 2017, 02:34:08 PM
Isn't your Infiniti an auto trans?
What Infiniti?

Oh... you mean my wife's car.   ;D 

Yup, that's a fancy-ass 7-speed automatic that takes what seems like several long seconds to kickdown in a passing situation.    It's definitely tuned for cruising.  But it does turn a low 2,800 rpm at 80mph IIRC.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

wife's car.......OK....... ;D

I am all for personal choice, but I don't understand people who say they "hate" this or that car because of the headlights or something.......oh well.

Although I can genuinely say I hate the front end of the new Lexus - period!   ;D

I fully understand that some auto trans are not very "sporty", but I really like the one in my MINI and don't condemn them all for the sins of one, and most modern auto transmissions are extremely good, and actually quicker than their stick counterparts - and get better fuel mileage. In most driving situations today an auto is the right choice, when you're driving the Dragon maybe a stick is more fun, but going down the interstate - does it really matter?

That's part of why my hot rod Eco-Mini will have a 6 speed automatic.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Another Mini has just popped up on BAT.  This one is an true Mk. I Cooper S and it falls somewhere between original and restored.  Well, it's closer to original except that it has been repainted.  But the original interior is pretty well worn and the engine compartment looks like the engine compartment of the 52 year old car that it is.  And there is a photo showing some rust at the bottom of a door. Rust on a Mini never makes anybody feed good.  Plus, somebody has overtightened a door hinge causing the body to deform.   

So those people that favor the current fad (?) of o-r-i-g-i-n-a-l  won't be totally happy with it, and other people who would like an old car to look as close as possible to factory-fresh (is that an older fad?) won't be happy either.

This Mini has just come out of long-term storage and it runs, but it's not really clear how much mechanical work, if any, may be needed.  Right now, there are no underbody photos (how is it that BAT accepts cars for auction without such photos?) and that in some ways could be telling.  It's only 1 day into the auction and things can take strange turns with the commenting audience on BAT -- especially since the issue of rust is unknown.  But since it's real Cooper S, and a Mk. I at that, I think this car will attract a lot of attention.  Let's say it's not "too" rusty - it could go for $30K or more.  Hard to guess until the mystery of the possible rust issues is addressed.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1965-austin-mini-cooper-s-2/

1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

#428
Remember the white one that started the stupidity on BaT - went for like $54K.....didn't run, needed body work, interior, engine o'haul etc etc etc?

This one says the sills were replaced when it was painted. Did these come from the factory with 7'5" discs? I thought they had 7", my '62 did anyway. Maybe that's just BaT incorrect info again.......

I wonder if this one will stay here or go back to Europe?

After one day......current bid $16,500.    8.gif

BTW, I thought I recognized the address, and the seller - this is Mike Bernard - the last car he sold on BaT was the red Mini I was supposed to bring to Ca for Mike Malamut. That car was a  much nicer car and sold for about what this one is bid now.

I also wonder if this one will drag the price of the automatic up with it?
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

Dave,

One of the differences between the Cooper and Cooper-S was the disk brake size.  The Cooper models had the 7" disks and the Cooper-S models had the larger 7.5" disks.


MiniDave

Early Cooper S had 7" discs, mine did anyway........
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Quote from: MiniDave on November 11, 2017, 10:46:22 AM
Early Cooper S had 7" discs, mine did anyway........
Dave is it possible you are not remembering it correctly?   If your car had 7" disc brakes and was a 1962 model, it must have been a 997 Mini Cooper - or a bitsa Mini.  It could not have been a 1962 Cooper S.   

The S model of the Cooper line was not introduced until March of 1963 when the 1071 S was launched.  A full year later, in March of 1964, two new Cooper S models were launched, the 1275 S and the 970 S which was basically built for 'under 1 liter' racing homologation.  And just 5 months later, in August 1964, the 1071 S was discontinued.   The run of the 970 S was even shorter - it lasted just 9 months because it was dropped in January 1965. 

And in the non-S Cooper world, the 997 Cooper was replaced by the 998 Cooper in January 1964.  Just 1cc bigger, but with an entirely different bore and stroke.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

Mine was a German export 1071 Cooper S, with the 7" discs and dry suspension.....it was titled as a '62, that's all I know.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

A tale of two Minis on BAT.

Bidding (and comments) on the automatic Mini on BAT have kinda of stalled after some not-so-favorable discussions of issues with automatic Minis.  The seller is not doing himself any favors by not yet posting photos of the free engine with manual transmission (which is sort of the solution those who don't want an automatic Mini will look for).   I get the feeling the seller has given up and is just waiting for the auction to end at RNM.

The Cooper S, even with some additional rust disclosed, jumped quickly up into the low $20Ks now and there seems to be some interest from the UK - which nearly always means big £££ for Mk. I cars.  But the rebuilt engine with no ID numbers can hurt it in the eyes of the purists.   

I'm getting popcorn ready...
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

If they have the original numbers via Heritage Certificate, what's to stop someone from having a plate made up and riveting it on to this engine? The plates and rivets are readily available and it's easy to get one embossed (instead of stamped) the same way the factory did it.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

gr8kornholio

If the plate is missing is there another way to determine it's the original engine?
I am the GR8KORNHOLIO! Are you threatening me?

Saussie Aussie 1965 Australian MK1 Mini.
"Beavis" - 07 MY/MY MCS, B/MY Konig Daylites, JCW sideskirts, TSW springs, TSW lower rear control arms -- Exploring the country with new friends since 11/09.

BruceK

Quote from: gr8kornholio on November 13, 2017, 02:08:07 PM
If the plate is missing is there another way to determine it's the original engine?

Not that I know of.  The truth is that a Cooper S engine sitting in a mostly original Cooper S car is almost surely the one it was built with.  Both of those items are pretty rare and valuable and they are not often separated. 

In my experience once an engine is disassembled and dropped in the tank to "boil it out" before a rebuild the flimsy aluminum engine tag just falls apart.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

Dead right, it just melts it away. If they didn't save it ahead of time it's lost.....so make up a new one and off you go. I know people insist that it have the engine that came with the car, but over the decades many were changed out when they needed to be rebuilt.....at this point in time how would anyone know?

As long as it has the "right" engine, how would anyone ever know? Much ado about nothing IMHO.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Quote from: BruceK on November 10, 2017, 10:03:13 AM
Another Mini on BAT. 

This one is an automatic Mini (the first such one on BAT?) and while it looks like a very nice car with no major flaws, that transmission means for many people this is nothing more than just a rolling Mini bodyshell which will definitely need a different powerplant. 

Unless...  there is a very small market of people out there who'd love an automatic Mini and will consider the car ideal just as it is?   Does such a group exist?   People who can't/won't drive a manual transmission and always wanted a Mini?

My crazy guess is this will be bid up to perhaps $8-$10K.  Unless somebody just has to have it and it could go higher. 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1982-mini-hle/


Just sold for $8,500.     I wonder if it will stay an automatic or receive a transplant?
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

#439
Seems like a fair price for it - nice car to build on if they decide too. Most people use their cars so little that to me the auto is not a hindrance - if all you're doing is running around town and going to local car shows - why bother changing it?

Did you see the new one today?

The almond green Cooper S should be interesting - I swear I saw a lot of blue smoke out the tail pipe on one of the vids he posted.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Deja vu all over again.

This Mk. I Mini went Reserve Not Met at under $10K about 7 months ago on BAT.   Now it's had a few updates since then and it is being listed again.   

It is very much a bitsa Mini, it looks pretty nice in a rarely-seen color.  But the underside is kind of beat up. 

BAT is listing it as a "1962 Austin Mini Cooper Mk1 1275cc" but without a real VIN nobody really can tell what it started life as.  A full front skirt points to it being an early Mk. I - if that panel is original to the car.   

Since it's a Mk. I, that adds some intrinsic value as does having a 1275 engine and upgraded disc brakes.  My wild guess is this will be bid for $13K - $15K  - no idea if it will be RNM again though...


https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1962-austin-mini-cooper-5/





1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

gr8kornholio

Idk, I think it looked better before. It's just been boy racered up and served back up for sale. Wonder what he got it for after RNM.
I am the GR8KORNHOLIO! Are you threatening me?

Saussie Aussie 1965 Australian MK1 Mini.
"Beavis" - 07 MY/MY MCS, B/MY Konig Daylites, JCW sideskirts, TSW springs, TSW lower rear control arms -- Exploring the country with new friends since 11/09.

MiniDave

#442
Well, today's the day to see what Mike Bernard's Cooper S goes for......it's at $23,500 as of 9am. and getting a lot of positive comments from the cognoscenti.....my comment about the blue smoke was brushed aside as nothing more than valve stem seals, although to me that means at least a valve job - cause if you're going to fix those you might as well put the hardened seats in and so on. He says it has really good compression so he may be right about the stem seals - looked like more than that to me tho.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Yeah, that auction seems to have a little momentum now after stalling for five days.  I think it could go for the mid-30s to the low 40s.   The paint looks way off to me – it does not look like proper Almond Green when it was repainted.  And the rust issue seems to be confined to where the bottom of a seat tube beat up the floor.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

BruceK

Quote from: BruceK on November 17, 2017, 08:50:52 AM
Yeah, that auction seems to have a little momentum now after stalling for five days.  I think it could go for the mid-30s to the low 40s.   The paint looks way off to me – it does not look like proper Almond Green when it was repainted.  And the rust issue seems to be confined to where the bottom of a seat tube beat up the floor.

And it's gone!   It was at $23K and then there was a whole lot of last minute bidding (is there really any other kind of bidding?) with the bids jumping rapidly. 

This Mk. I Cooper S sold for $43,000.   At the high end of the range right where I thought it would be. 
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

Well, at least it runs, unlike that white one that went for $54K......still.........
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Quote from: MiniDave on November 17, 2017, 02:06:30 PM
Well, at least it runs, unlike that white one that went for $54K......still.........


Yeah, that non-running one was crazy.   So what do you think this one was worth?
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

As nice as it was, it still needed a lot of work, I have a hard time justifying any of these cars over $15-20K. Clearly the market disagrees with my thinking...... ::) ;D
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Quote from: MiniDave on November 17, 2017, 03:00:07 PM
As nice as it was, it still needed a lot of work, I have a hard time justifying any of these cars over $15-20K. Clearly the market disagrees with my thinking...... ::) ;D

It is kinda crazy.   Like the prices for air-cooled 911s over the past several years.   

Its the magic and allure of a genuine vaunted Cooper S model.  A pragmatic person knows that a bitsa Mini with a 1275 and disc brakes can be made just as 'good' as Cooper S (and could easily be better) but the Cooper S mystique easily doubles the value over a similar Mini without the pedigree.  Doesn't necessarily make sense, but so many things in the world don't make sense either -- this is just one that we can watch. 

Hey, aren't you a Rolex owner?   How does the value of them make any sense?
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

Audi gave me mine - well they gave me a Sub Mariner and I paid the difference to get the Oyster. At the time it was part of my "uniform" as a general manager of a Porsche dealership.....along with my YSL 3 piece suit.

But I get your point.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad