Description

1987 Austin Mini MkV Advantage

Restored by our enthusiast vendor; £2102 rebuilt 850cc engine from Maynard Engines Ltd in January 2021

Dating from August 1987 this Austin/Rover era Mini MkV is in Advantage spec and is powered (originally) by the venerable 998cc A-series four-cylinder petrol engine driving the front wheels via four-speed manual transmission.

The car was found languishing in a garden in Gloucester by our vendor in 2020 who subsequently recovered it and spent the next year painstakingly stripping and restoring the car with, we gather about £1,000 spent on welding to the body (no invoices on file) with as we understand, a reconditioned 850cc engine from Maynard Engines Ltd in January 2021 at a documented cost of £2,102 and gearbox repair by Geartech Ltd at a cost of £582 in December 2020. He also fitted a new SU HS2 carb costing £165. The file also includes the V5C which reveals 12 former keepers to the current, our vendor.

The car was repainted green with Union flag roof (although Experian lists an earlier colour change from its original white to green in July 2012) and it comes fitted with Minilite style wheels shod in Yokohama tyres. Inside, we find a carbon effect dash, black cloth and vinyl seats piped red and after-market steering wheel. Its evident there are still a few small jobs to do, including fitting the dash air vents properly, fitting a speedo cable and some door locks.

Driven to us and running when it arrived, we have since been unable to coax it into life but it rolled around readily for the photos and would no doubt run with some further encouragement and tinkering.  The current MOT espired in March this year, which recorded eight advisories (enter the reg online at check-mot.service.gov.uk) at the time of test, at which time the car had covered 88,505 miles.  The car looks to have had a replacement speedo fitted since as part of its restoration work which shows 4,195 miles, although the vendor thinks he has only done c.400 miles completion.

Our vendor has spent, he thinks, c£11,250 on the car, driven by enthusiasm and the car represents his vision and hard work and is on offer at a fraction of that cost. Being an old Mini, there will always be something to do, but you can rest assured the hard work has been done and the rest should be straight-forward supported by a very active owner’s club and massive parts supply.

For more information contact - will.daniels@brightwells.com