1972 Morris Mini

I am very sad to be offering for sale my stunning and exceptionally reliable 1972 Teal Blue and Black Morris Mini 1000 called Fae, who has been upgraded to a 1275 engine. She also comes with lots of other additions to make her stand out from the crowd at any Mini gathering.

I bought this mini from a high end classic Mini dealer, who had purchased it from a very experienced motor engineer. The engineer is also an auto electrician with over 50 years of experience working on classic cars and minis. He used to be based near Goodwood and was kept busy looking after the historic cars there, making new custom wiring looms. His wife had always driven minis and this mini was built for her in 2015. It has been restored using a newer 1990's body shell and a 1275 cc 1990's mini engine. The main requirement was to make it so that his wife would enjoy driving it.

As part of this spec, she has the option (at the flick of a switch) of using electric power steering which works very well. It still gives feel and feedback and is not over assisted, but makes parking and general steering so much easier and like a modern car. It cost £1698. 00 for the kit plus fitting! The power steering is switchable for the best of both worlds. Personally, I’ve always preferred to use it in the standard non assisted mode. She also has a fully working and useful rear window wiper and washer.

The engine also comes equipped with a high torque starter motor. She has an electric roll back fabric sunroof and electric windows which all work brilliantly. It’s easy to see why the electrics were all done by an experienced professional. He also fitted two separate electric security measures to stop even the most experienced of thieves from getting their hands on her.

The suspension is smooth and comfortable as it has been upgraded to the Moulton Smootha-Ride kit with adjustable ride height. Compared to our other classic mini that doesn’t have this ride kit fitted, this is so much more comfortable and compliant. Who knew a classic Mini could ride this well! The car also has the large rear light which you can put on with the flick of a switch, making reversing in the dark a doddle, but it also looks SO good. The car also has a twin tailpipe stainless steel sports exhaust which looks and sounds fantastic.

I improved the interior with the addition of the leather seats from the MPI coopers from the late 90’s, which are so much more comfortable and supportive. They still allow good access to the rear seat.

Fae drives incredibly well and is great fun in the sunshine with the electric roof right back. It is nice to be able to also lower the passenger window from the drivers side! It has Superlite alloy wheels and recently fitted new front tyres only 2000 miles ago. The brakes are servo assisted discs at the front and drums at the rear.

The Teal blue period body colour with black roof looks great and the car presents very well with no corrosion due to a good later body shell being used when it was restored by the previous owner.

The alloy wheels are all scuff/ damage free, however they are not brand new obviously, and so do have some pitting marks in the diamond cut areas in places.

The speedo now shows 71, 700 miles, but I cannot verify if this mileage is genuine or not.

This would be a costly car to restore and build to this level with its unique spec. It is also nice that it is tax and MOT exempt due to being an historic vehicle. However, I like to keep my classics all MOT’d, so she has a current MOT that expires at the beginning of May. I shall obviously make sure I provide her to her new owner with a new full MOT. I have 100% confidence she will sail through.

Overall, I have loved owning Fae, and used her as my daily driver to work and back almost exclusively throughout the spring and summer months as long as no rain was forecast. Who knew going to work could be so much fun. I bought Fae because I love them in Teal Blue, and she looks so unique with all her extra features. The twin exhaust, alloys and roll back sunroof make her look so good, and the electric windows are so much easier to use than the wind down ones. And they go up and down so smoothly and fast.
The ride and the seat combination do make her the most comfortable and compliant classic mini I’ve ever driven. This is our 6th!