Description
Launched in 1959 the original Mini was available as either an Austin or Morris. The Morris version was known as the ‘Mini-Minor’ and the Austin version as the ‘Seven’.
The Mini ‘Super’ Seven was introduced in 1961, a month before the debut of the legendary Cooper which was originally marketed as the sports version of the Super. Buyers again had the choice of Austin or Morris badging.
The Super was a mechanically standard Mini but cosmetically nearly identical to the Cooper with the same contrasting roof (available in black or white), two-tone Brocade seats, Veltone carpets, chrome plated gear-lever and internal door levers (rather than the standard pull-cord). Chrome door-trims, special hub caps, chrome tubes that connect the over-riders to the bumper ends and a unique front grille with twelve vertical bars differentiated the Super further from the standard Mini. Starting was now with a key rather than the previous floor-mounted button and a heater was fitted as standard.
The Super was a relatively expensive model and had a short production run of only thirteen months. A total of around 16, 000 units were manufactured, split more or less equally between Austin and Morris versions until the model was replaced by the inferior ‘Super-deluxe’. The Super is now believed to be the rarest of the Mk1 Mini variants with only around ninety cars known worldwide of which less than half are in working order. It is thought less than thirty Supers survive in the UK.
744 KUO is an original Austin Mini Super Seven first registered on the 7th February 1962 to Nancy Wright of Sidmouth, Exeter. At some point, with only 50, 000 miles showing on the odometer, the car was placed into storage for many years before being purchased in 2008 by Mini enthusiast Glen Church, of Somerset.
The Mini had survived in remarkably original condition but was in need of restoration. Church rebuilt the car over the next four years using new correct-specification parts where necessary before being finished to its original colour scheme of Surf Blue with white roof.
Mechanically, the Mini retained its original engine and the cylinder head was rebuilt to lead-free specification. The water pump, thermostat, ball-joints, brake master cylinder, wheel cylinders and clutch slave cylinder were all replaced along with associated pipes and hoses. In addition a new rear subframe was fitted.
The largely original blue and grey Brocade interior was in good order and was thoroughly cleaned. The restoration was completed in April 2011.
In January 2014 the Mini was sold to a London-based gentleman who had the car serviced by Jim Stokes Workshop. The current owner, a director of a prominent UK restoration company, acquired the Mini in February 2023. Recent works include a complete brake overhaul with new brake shoes, a complete carburettor rebuild, cleaning and painting of both subframes, new rubber prop-shaft UJs and a full service.
Today, this rare Mini Super Seven remains in excellent condition and is believed to have covered only 52, 000 miles from new. The car comes complete with an original Austin Seven owner’s handbook and a history file with many invoices that document its restoration.
