American 65 Cooper S mostly original unrestored

[graham in aus]

This is an interesting car! Great find

I see the body number tag still on the front panel, suggesting original? vertical stiffener cause it's a 65 right? So no diagonal.

Vertical oil cooler as per engine shots.

Ref the heater tube, I'd say one single pipe to heater, reducer came later mkII? 69?

How about some shots of the sun visors? Swingers maybe, or was that just 64

How did I do then boffins??

[graham in aus]

Oh Oh and another thing....

Rubber couplings not H/Spicers and how strange does the L/H drive master Cylinders look, I thought they were the wrong way round at first!

Great car for reference this!

[Gray]

Is the lip that the bumper bolts to solid or has it cut outs for the overriders? seems a late 64 early 65 trait.

[LDR209H]

It just gets better (apart from the Britax replica paint !). Well done and enjoy. Us Brits get (maybe) 1 moment like this,you've already had 3 - IT'S NOT FAIR !!<sob>

[Johnny]

As for the bumper lip, it is solid no cut outs for the overriders.

I got some pictures of the sun visors, they do swing out, nice feature, but seems very fragile.





I did some more undercoating removal tonight. This stuff is so thick, if you tried to stab it multiple times with a screw driver you would get nowhere.
I picked up a tool for $20 from my local Harbor Freight, a cheap tool store. It is called a compact needle scaler, it's air powered. You may have heard of it. It is great for removing undercoating. I was trying to avoid chemicals and heat. I put about 45 mins in the right side wheel well. I was putting scratches in the primer underneath but figured out a way to loosen it up and pull it off in large pieces with out scratching the primer so much. More so on the right side of the picture. Not that it matters if I save the original primer or not, it's going to get primed over anyway.



I was working in the inner hinge support areas.


Hey I never thought of the Britax paint, maybe thats what he was going for.

It really is amazing how may late Mk1 Cooper S cars are in the states. It seems like every Mini Fan at our meets has at least one 67 Cooper S at home. I wonder if the BMC was pushing surplus over hear before we got cut out at the end of 67.

[ricardo]

The stuct behind the grille should be vertical as this is a pre-66 car where no oil cooler was fitted as standard from the factory.
The air hose should be one piece, the 2 piece type came in 66 (April, if I remember correctly).

[Simon776]

The black paint in the grille aperture and on the vertical stiffener could well be original.

[Johnny]

I was happy to see my Heritage Certificate in the mail today.

It confirms the car as an Austin Cooper S 1275

Date of Build 8 August 1965
Date of Despatch 9 September 1965
Destination Fortworth, USA

Factory Equipment Fresh air heater, Extra fuel tank

I was suprised to see the Fortworth destination, must of had a nice life in Texas.

Also no mention of the Oil Cooler fitment, may have been added later in life.

I am wondering how the model year breaks work from the 1960's. I guess it depends on how long it sat around the dealer lot, waiting to be sold and titled. This car is titles as a 1966 in the states.
Would this car be considered a 1965 or 1966?

[AustinCooper997]

Very nice car.
Good luck with it.

Regards,
Tim

[guru_1071]

it would be a 65

[Pete]

I was suprised to see the Fortworth destination, must of had a nice life in Texas.

I know of another '65 1275 S (Austin) that went to the same destination, Surf Blue aswell ! It was imported to the UK in the 1990's , restored by a mate and acted as my own wedding limo !

[Johnny]

Surf 1275,
That is a really cool wedding limo. Any pictures? Do you know the build date of that car. They may have been at the dealer together or produced the same day.

Surf blue seems to be a very rare color over here in the States. I have seen hundreds of Minis over here in the last 20 years and I cannot think of ever seeing another Surf Blue and White Cooper S. They must be around somewhere. The one your mate has is the only other U.S. spec car I've heard of.

[Pete]

I'll find a photo, not sure if I've recorded the chassis number/ build date (I'll have a look) and it has passed on to another owner subsequently, but it definately came with it's Texas license plates. It was also used as a historic rally car over here and also featured in Elton John's video for 'Made In England' where (blink and you'll miss it ) we had to drive around the cobbled steets of Rochdale. Of course we never got to meet Elton himself as he wasn't about ( it was a windy day and his rug may well have blown off ). I did try my best to buy the car some years ago but could not prize it away from it's proud owner. ('Just as well !' I hear you cry)

Nice to see how the factory fitted clips for the R/H tank breather pipes on your 'S', mine (or should I say 'Newtune's) was dealer fitted and just sat on a loose tank stand.

[Pete]

Surf blue seems to be a very rare color over here in the States. I have seen hundreds of Minis over here in the last 20 years and I cannot think of ever seeing another Surf Blue and White Cooper S.

That's cos they've all been painted bright orange, been converted to soft tops and had massive spoilers fitted on the front ! No worse than happened over here in the 70's really !

[bpirie1000]

cracking find mate. is it me or is there something on the roof???

those inner a panels are really good my 62 wasn't even half like that and it came off the road about 4 years after it was built.

[Johnny]

Surf 1275,
Is the car from the Elton John video the same car on the cover of the April 2004 issue of Classics Magazine and the Mini Cooper Register. I have been admiring that car recently. Looks very similar if not.

[Pete]

DXJ 562C, yes it did feature on all the above. I'll see if I can find the build date.

Pete

[cookie1071]

DXJ 562C, yes it did feature on all the above. I'll see if I can find the build date.

Pete

Seen here in road trim but did club 12-car rally in 2000 retiring with electrical problems.

[Pete]

Johnny I think DXJ was an Oct '65 car making it one of the last in this colour.