Description
This is possibly one of the best documented Mini’s out there.
Every single receipt, invoice and bill from the day she went on the road is present. The original bill of sale has been lost in history sadly. Everything else is there.
Her name is Nancy and she is a 1972 Mini 850 with the “magic wand” gearbox. Finished in bronze yellow which still looks great today.
She’s an absolute delight to drive with no major issues, only the clutch thrust bearing which makes a whine. Not a particularly difficult task for the home mechanic to undertake, I may even sort this myself if I get the time!
Recently, some recommissioning work has been required so she now has a new starter motor, brake cylinders, carb rebuild, radiator, hoses, water pump and lots of other bits to get her back to her best.
I have owned her for 2 years now and am looking to find someone who will cherish her and keep her in a garage, but will certainly get her out and drive her. So, the history. I’ll start from the bottom!
Originally purchased by Harry and Nancy Durrant from their local BL dealer in Ipswich, Suffolk. They used her sparingly, and kept her in a garage. They serviced her on time at their preferred local garage and kept every single invoice. The original service book is present and is stamped full, and complete with invoices to match. The Durrant’s kept every single invoice and bill for the Mini throughout their ownership until 1999. Sadly, both Harry and Nancy were falling into ill health due to age and in 1999, Nancy sold the Mini before passing away.
The Minis 2nd chapter was with Mick Barnes, a friend of Nancy’s also living around the Ipswich area. He took the car in 1999 and decided that she deserved restoration and bringing back to her best. It appeared that Mr and Mrs Durrant had given the Mini a few dings and dents. Mick set about straightening her out again with a new drivers wing and door and a fresh coat of Bronze yellow paint - her original colour. He added some new wheels, arches and exhaust too which are still in cracking condition. I’ve recently met Mick by complete fluke, he walked into my showroom (I sell new Minis in Ipswich) and we struck up conversation, he then started to tell me about this little Mini he used to own and I then realised that he was talking about my Mini! Mick had named the Mini Nancy as a tribute to her first owner. Mick sold Nancy in 2011 to David and Rose Ely, as he was getting rather too long in the tooth to be getting in and out of such a small car. David wanted to tinker with the Mini with his son, but as always, life gets in the way of these things and she was put away in 2014 and never saw the road again until 2022. David and Rose were also looking at purchasing a new Mini which is how I came to meet them! In August 2022 a deal was struck as I fancied a project, and I bought her. They lived in Felixstowe, some 20 minutes from Ipswich so she’s been a Suffolk car her whole life, until I came along to bring her back to sunny Essex!
A friend of the Ely’s, David Johnson (also buys new Minis from me) had helped them get Nancy up and running again. So she was running, however it had been nearly a decade since she last drove. She was also not running well.
Me being me, said what’s the worst that can happen and got her insured and cracked on driving her home! She was down on power, misfiring and not running well at all…… until we hit the dual carriageway leaving Felixstowe, when it was like a switch flicked and she just came to life! She just wanted to hit the open road again. Stopping was difficult, the front right brake worked really well, sadly none of the others did hahaha! I took her to work first at Ipswich Mini to show the guys and then came the long drive back to base in Leigh on Sea, Essex. As soon as I pulled out of Ipswich, something was wrong and she started to cough and stutter. Managed to pull into a supermarket and conked out as we pulled into a parking space. I’d brought lots of spares with me and old spark plugs were the issue. Once these were changed, she was ready to go!
We drove at a steady 50mph down the A12 and she drove beautifully. Lots of waves from other drivers so happy to see this pretty little car. We turned onto the A130 and with just 10 miles to go, Nancy had decided she’d had enough. She split the water hose between the water pump and cylinder head so that was that. She was recovered home where I cracked the toolbox open and got to work
I replaced the radiator, hoses, water pump, rebuilt the carb and she ran well. I then gave her to a mechanic for a tune up and she didn’t run well after. In fact a week later she wouldn’t run at all. So in January 2023, I shut the door on the garage and decided she was a project for later. It bloody took 18 months to get my backside in gear! I stripped the fuel system and the tank was full of rust so I cleaned it out. Replaced the starter, found a good mechanic, and now she runs absolutely right as rain.
She’s now covered just 36, 700 miles and all of her history backs this up to be true! I’m only the 4th owner so she is one very rare little car.
I really have enjoyed my time with Nancy, but I already own 2 more classic Minis, and a new one, and several other classic cars. I need to downsize my collection. I’m happy to do a package deal on Nancy and my Lancia Fulvia Coupe if you’re interested one of those too!
Thank you for reading and please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Jack Braun
