Description
This lot will be auctioned via Iconic Auctioneers, The Iconic Sale at Race Retro 2025 - Collectors' Cars on Saturday the 22nd of February, Stoneleigh Park, Stoneleigh Rd, Coventry, CV8 2LG. Whilst any Mk 1 Mini Cooper S 1275 is a special thing, when you add the words ‘Nick Swift’ and ‘Swiftune’ to a car’s history, it becomes extra special. Our vendor had been keen to add a good S 1275 to his extensive Collection for some years and having seen the exploits of Nick at Goodwood, knew Swiftune was the company to prepare one for him. They have been building, racing and winning with Minis since Glyn Swift set up shop in 1965. Still run by his family, Swiftune engines have powered just about every winning Mini at Goodwood, including the legendary all-Mini races in 2009 and again in 2019.
Coincidentally, they had just launched their Mini Madgwick concept, where they take original standard Mk 1 Minis and create what are effectively S 1275 cars to an enhanced ‘period Cooper’ specification. There is always a question mark around modifying a valuable, period correct, original S 1275, so Swiftune base the Mini Madgwick around standard 850 Mk 1 Minis which are provided by the customer so any earlier modifications are irrelevant. Our vendor's car, DGW, is consequently unique in that it is the only Madgwick car (to date) which started as an original S 1275.
Because it was an original car, the decision was taken to retain the matching-numbers engine at 1, 275cc as opposed to the 1, 330cc normally fitted, however with Swiftune’s many years of experience developing these engines, they managed to extract a reliable 110bhp, a substantial increase over the standard car. Anyone who has watched Nick Swift around Goodwood can confirm that his car’s handling is simply spectacular and this set-up knowledge is evident in the Madgwick where changes to ride height, caster and camber transform what was already a decent handling car. These improvements were demonstrated to our vendor by Nick around the Kent country lanes and apparently it was 'something I will never forget'. We can imagine!
DGW had been changed to Almond Green with a white roof at some point in its life, however, the decision was taken to return the car to its original Old English White with a black roof over a beautifully retrimmed Tartan Red/ Gold Brocade interior as detailed in the accompanying Heritage Certificate. The little car’s appearance is enhanced by 10" 'Rose Petal' wheels, racing mirrors on bespoke brackets and leather bonnet straps.
The odometer indicates a little over 38, 000 miles but very few of these have been since the restoration and the car remains in beautiful condition throughout. We understand that DGW has been enjoyed by five former keepers, obviously diligent by the amount of early paperwork, invoices, MOTs etc. in the car’s impressive history file.
We invite and encourage your inspection of this rather special Mini Madgwick at our Race Retro Sale and leave the last words to our discerning vendor "Different cars in my Collection have different purposes. For certain things I take the Gullwing, for others the 1973 RS, but if I want to put a smile on my face, I take the Swiftune Cooper".
