Fantastic fun!!
1973 Innocenti Mini 1300cc
With everything from major rallying and saloon car racing success to being the outright star of films such as The Italian Job, he Mini is a true icon of the 20th Century, ot just as transportation, ut as pop-art and contemporary design. But fifty years ago, o many, ts designer Sir Alec Issigonis included, he notion that the Mini might have a future as anything other than basic transport was ridiculous and the idea of a high-performance version was laughable. One man though, aw it quite differently. Racing car manufacturer John Cooper already knew quite a bit about tuning BMC's A-Series engine - he was running the company's Formula Junior effort at the time - and a test drive in a prototype Mini convinced him of the car's competition potential. The result, aunched in September 1961, as the Mini Cooper, car that offered a size/price/performance package that was nothing short of miraculous.
Italian manufacturer Innocenti, nder ownership of British Leyland, anufactured the classic Mini under license from the mid 1960s to 1975. Arguably a more stylish version of the British car, t was exquisitely built and sported 1300cc power, aking for a quick truly European sports coupe.
The example on offer here, as imported from Southern Italy a year or so ago and shows only 70,000 km (less than 44,000 miles) from new. Starting with a clean, ust-free shell, he car was fully restored. Repainted in stylish black with an old English white roof, he car shows really well with the Minilite-style wheels. Glass is all excellent, nd chrome trim and brightwork shows well. The interior is sporty and as stylish as the exterior. White seats and panels contrast well with black dash and bright red carpet. And brand new dark red seatbelts set the whole thing off beautifully.
Mechanically, he car is excellent throughout. The car starts easily and idles well, resh from a full service to ready it for sale. It has fantastic and responsive power, unning through an excellent 4-speed manual ‘box with excellent clutch action. It accelerates well by modern eco-box standards and will happily cruise at freeway speeds. Brakes are excellent, ulling the car up in a perfect straight line; steering is taut and has the great feel of a good classic Mini, hile the suspension is excellent, ll representative of the massive success of these little power-houses in rallying and racing.
The car is simply a blast to drive! It feels bright and eager to run, nd I would genuinely drive it anywhere without consideration and have great fun doing it!
This is a great opportunity to buy a turn-key icon of British/Italian motoring and enduring symbol of "la dolce vita", hich seats four comfortably and garners attention, aves and cheers wherever it goes. Not to mention, hat it is a piece of cake to park and about as cheap to run as you can get!!