American Pickers - Series 16. Episode 13, History Channel last night.
A 1968 MK2 Mini Cooper S, 36,000 miles, found in Detroit with rust in front wings and sills, bought by the American Pickers for $5000 from guy who owned it from new and bought it in UK on his way back from serving in Vietnam.
Originally white, modified in UK when new with a Weber carb and Tilling Winding windows fitted.
I'm glad he didn't try and grind the guy down on price, $5K was a steal already. I will say though, it had considerably more rust than normal for a car in the U.S. It wouldn't have brought a tremendous amount over here (certainly not more than $8-10K, I think). The accessories on it were great though, LL steering wheel, Sebring mirrors mounted on the fenders and all sorts of trick stuff.
The seller in the episode was the son of a famous Detroit auto designer who worked for General Motors. He also had a Series 1 E-Type (a '64 by the looks of it), with a swapped out Chevy small block engine and he wouldn't sell it. The guy went on and on about how it's much better than the original Jaguar engine and all the purists who want the original engine don't know what they're talking about.
Mmmm... a nice find in silver/black is it ??!!....a colour combo rarely seen in the 60,s......be nice to see some more pics of it.....with all its period extras.. nice !!! foxy52.
Watched that last night too, a good project for someone , they do seem to operate on only paying 50% to 60% of what something is worth, which seems like a good business model if it always pans out, I bet the TV money helps though , especially when you look at what OCC (American Choppers) is now doing as they blew all their money, asking for crowd funding (or as they are putting it become a Patron) to do the show and be able to direct message them
If searching for this episode in UK it seems Sky are listing it wrongly as Series 11 episode 13, whereas Virgin TV have it listed correctly as Series 16, episode 13.
Risks and Rewards
TV Episode
In Detroit, Frank takes a big risk on one of the greatest pieces he's ever seen; Mike acquires a Purple Heart along with a very special mission.
Show: American Pickers Season number: 16
Episode number: 13
Air date: 26 December 2016 (USA) http://www.history.com/shows/american-p ... episode-13
Pete wrote:That's £4K over here. Quite a rarity the Mk2 in the U.S?
They are quite rare in the U.S. since Minis stopped importing in 1967 at the end of the Mk1 production.
That said, I've seen more than a handful of Mk2s here, but I'd guess they were all private import, or like the example on the show, imported by a serviceman.
That's certainly not the first time i've heard of a serviceman taking a Mini back to the U.S. My old Surf Blue Mk1 S 'MEG 977F' went to California in the early 70s (as my Radford did) with a student returning home and probably saved it from a life of rust , having it's trim painted black and no doubt a reshell!
Pete wrote:That's certainly not the first time i've heard of a serviceman taking a Mini back to the U.S. My old Surf Blue Mk1 S 'MEG 977F' went to California in the early 70s (as my Radford did) with a student returning home and probably saved it from a life of rust , having it's trim painted black and no doubt a reshell!
Ron Graham below was a regular at Beaulieu and the UK Mini show scene while stationed over here with the USAF in the 1980's and early '90's.
He had owned 9 early Mini's in the US (the first in 1967 while at High School), until he joined the USAF in 1977 so he could go to England where he was stationed twice for a total of 10 years. When he retired in 1994 he took 7 Minis back to the US including the CCC CliveTrickey Mini Se7en/Miglia (KTR223E) which I think he still owns. viewtopic.php?f=5&p=84973#p84973
Last edited by mab01uk on Thu Feb 09, 2017 7:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Not to go too far off track here but I have always found this classified ad from a U.S. BMC dealer interesting in relationship with Mk 2 S cars in the States.
Competition Press & Autoweek
March 2 1968
Makes me wonder how this was possible and how many Mk 2 cars were laying around dealership lots at this time in 1968.
This particular dealer was also a very strong and successful competitor with Mini's in SCCA C-Sedan racing in the 1960's and early 1970's.
One of the answers says it was a name used by Ford so if true there was never any chance of them being fitted to Mini Coopers anyway.
Another reply you will note as you go down the page refers to 'the flux dynometer interlock'. A what?!!! Was Professor Stanley Unwin somehow involved in any of this?!!
Footnote: For non Brits not aware of who Professor Stanley Unwin was, have a look at him in action!
I seem to remember an Island Blue Mk2 S being advertised in the US a number of years ago claiming to be one of the very last M2s. I can't ever remember seeing a Mk2 998 in the U.S?
Thermactor is Ford's trademark name for an exhaust gas reactor. It is basically just an air pump that directs fresh air into the superheated exhaust stream near the exhaust valve to assure all unburned fuel (gasoline) and all partially-burned (carbon monoxide) fuel is combusted before leaving the tailpipe.
Thermactor became mandatory in 1966 on some FE cars sold in California and New York due to the progressive automobile pollution control laws of those States. The California and New York engines which required Thermactor usually had performance cams, such as the 390GT and 428PI cams, as these cams had a valve overlap large enough to permit raw fuel to pass straight through to the exhaust without being burned, and richer-jetted carbs which promoted the generation of carbom monoxide, creating unsatisfactory emissions levels. The Thermactor pump injected a tiny amount of air into the exhaust ports to promote complete combustion of the unburned fuel, as well as combust carbon monoxide which results from the rich fuel-air mixture. Some counties of California actually required Thermactor on all FE cars sold in 1966 and 1967 due to particularly bad air pollution issues. When not mandatory, Thermactor was a $46.00 option available on every FE sold in the US, and was priced "at cost", not at a profit for Ford, so you will occasionally find Thermactor equipped FEs in unexpected circumstances, and it will be listed on the window sticker.
In 1968, the California and New York emissions laws were basically adopted by the Feds, making Thermactor mandatory on all performance-cammed FE cars sold in the 50 states. This is why the 427 inherited the hydraulic cam and Thermactor for 1968, since it was the only way it would pass emissions, and 500 hydraulic 1968 427s were needed for NASCAR homologation rules. Note that 427-4V Fairlanes failed California emissions laws in 1966 and 1967, but a loophole in the law exempted twin-carb V-8s from emissions regulations, so 427-8V Fairlanes were legal for sale in California. This loophole also applied to 1967 Shelby Mustangs sold in California, which could run a solid cammed 428 without emissions controls if twin carbs were part of the package (I don't know what cam these Shelby's used, but twin carbs opened up the options).
As the 1970s arrived, pollution laws strengthened and Thermactor was required on more FE cars, and soon on FE trucks, too. Note that Ford sometimes offered the same 390 engine with or without Thermactor. The Thermactor-equipped 390s always got richer carb jetting than the equivalent non-thermactor 390s, so performance may have been a bit better with Thermactor.
I figured the thermactor pump would be what we refer to as a smog pump.
All to do with emissions control equipment. These were put on Sprites and Midgets at this time.
Performance minded people did not have a favorable view of this, I think most of it was quickly removed.
Our 12g1316 heads with the 4 extra holes are from this equipment.
I cannot recall seeing any Mk2 998 Cooper cars over here.
I know Kjell Qvale in San Francisco had one of the last Mk2 S cars, I think it was a 1970, it still exists. He was one of the largest B.M.C. importers in the country so he would have had some influence.
Johnny wrote:Not to go too far off track here but I have always found this classified ad from a U.S. BMC dealer interesting in relationship with Mk 2 S cars in the States.
Competition Press & Autoweek
March 2 1968
Makes me wonder how this was possible and how many Mk 2 cars were laying around dealership lots at this time in 1968.
This particular dealer was also a very strong and successful competitor with Mini's in SCCA C-Sedan racing in the 1960's and early 1970's.
That would have been just down the road from where I grew up in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Wonder if that is where my father got the woody?
Johnny wrote:
I know Kjell Qvale in San Francisco had one of the last Mk2 S cars, I think it was a 1970, it still exists. He was one of the largest B.M.C. importers in the country so he would have had some influence.
I'm quite sure that Kjell sold my Mk1 S when it was new, imported into to San Francisco by 'British Motor Car Distributors"
If I had to guess, I would say that the 1968 cars listed in the advertisement were built in 1967 and legally imported to the U.S. by build date. Different states used different methods to register cars. Washington, at that time for instance, would register such a car by the year in which it was sold. Both of the last two Cooper S Minis sold in Seattle were built in 1967, legally imported into the U.S. and, when sold, were registered as 1968s.
I remember back in the olde days, pre-Interent days, when I was much younger and knew everything there was to know about Minis. Those were also the days when the 1968 models of American cars would come out in September or October of 1967. The model date was driven by the manufacturer, regardless of when the cars were actually made.
Add that all together and it was easy for me to know that all MK II Minis were 1968 models. Then I ran into someone from California who insisted he had a 1967 Mk II Cooper S. We discussed that for a while, both of us knowing we were right and the other guy was wrong.
mab01, I thought I recognized that photo of Ron Graham. I took that in 2001 during my Wolseley Across America trip in the Wolseley 1000 named EG. I stayed one night at the Graham's.
Do you have a way of contacting him?
, they do seem to operate on only paying 50% to 60% of what something is worth, which seems like a good business model if it always pans out, I bet the TV money helps though 
