LONDON.- This time-warp 56-year-old Mini 850 Super De Luxe goes on sale with
H&H Classics in Buxton on April 10 at ‘No Reserve’. It is one of dozens of classic cars that will go under the hammer at The Pavilion Gardens, Buxton.
Bought by a midwife from Aberdeen as a retirement present for herself, she drove it for just one year and sadly died, the car then remained in storage until 1982.
It was then bequeathed to her brother-in-law who used it for a year before putting it up for auction at the Grampian Motor Museum in September 1983, where the present owner bought it.
Roger Nowell, of the H&H Classics Sales team says: “If you have always wanted a classic early Mini, this example is pretty hard to beat.”
The Mini was born out of conflict. With the after effects of the 1956-1957 Suez Crisis being felt worldwide, and its impact on fuel which went back on rationing, the automotive industrialist, Leonard Lord, commissioned Alec Issigonis to work on a radical small car project.
His response was the now legendary Mini which featured an ingenious transverse-mounted powertrain (with engine sat atop of the gearbox), all-round independent 'rubber cone' suspension, front-wheel drive and compact rack and pinion steering. The newcomer was a packaging masterpiece and not surprisingly turned out to be one of the most influential automotive designs ever conceived.
Now this little gem goes on sale once again, this time with H&H Classics at their next Buxton sale on April 10 at ‘No Reserve’.
This charming Mini is described by the vendor as having excellent bodywork, engine, electrics, gearbox and interior trim.
Registration No:XSA 693 and Chassis No:A-A2S7S-387939A has only 7,700 warranted miles from new and boasts a superb history file, all handbooks, price list, colour chart, sales brochure as well as Mots from 1983 and 1984, tax disc from 1984 and the original Aberdeen registration number.
It still has a spare key in the original leather cover and still sports the Conway plastic protective seat covers from new. There are invoices on file for £5,000 of work carried out in 2009 on the car. It comes with a selection of spares.
