Surely a one-off, this remarkable Mini has had just one registered keeper from new, covered a warranted 41,400 miles and never been restored. A twenty-first birthday present to himself, Keith Barnes Esq. bought the Morris from Wadhams of Chichester with whom he had just completed a six-year apprenticeship. Collected from the Longbridge factory, the Cooper was first registered as ‘GBP 777C’ on 11th June 1965; the same day its pre-delivery inspection was carried out at 170 miles.
Doubtless swayed by the glamour associated with coachbuilt Minis – especially those crafted by Radford whose customers included Peter Sellers, Britt Ekland, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and Mike Naismith – the first owner had the Morris immediately repainted Opalescent Silver Blue and set about festooning it with Radford accessories. The exterior was visually enhanced with a Radford grille, Webasto sunroof, spot lights, wheelarch extensions, bumper overriders and Cosmic MK1 alloy wheels. Impressively, the Cooper is listed as Blue on the accompanying original green logbook which was issued just two days after the formerly Tweed Grey car left the factory!
A wonderful timewarp, the Mini’s Dove Grey and Dark Grey upholstery appears to be completely original (even down to the carpet covered boot board). Period modifications include a full-width wooden dashboard with a host of auxiliary gauges, a Les Leston wood-rimmed steering wheel and ‘finger’ extensions for the various toggle switches (one of which allows the driver to operate the nearside-mounted radio without an awkward stretch). Other niceties encompass a Wadhams tax disc holder, thermometer, period fire extinguisher, cigarette lighter (the latter designed to accommodate a cigarette or cigarillo itself) and BMC seatbelts.
Establishing his own business as a motor engineer, Mr Barnes maintained the Morris himself. Handwritten notes on file record the fitting of a new crankshaft, primary gear and clutch under warranty at 5,703 miles (April 1966) and re-porting of the cylinder head some twelve months and 6,000 miles later. A new long centre branch exhaust manifold was fitted during March 1970 at 27,850 miles and the Cooper subsequently laid-up from 1979 – 2011. Thoroughly recommissioned with attention paid to the clutch, exhaust, brakes and headlights plus a full service, ‘GBP 777C’ returned to the road at 39,692 miles.
Joining the vendor’s private collection two years ago, the Mini currently displays a modest 41,400 or so miles to its odometer. Starting readily and running well during our photography session, this amazing Morris must be unique? Not only is the original handbook present but so is the envelope it initially came in! The original jack and other tools come with it as does the Wadhams PDI sheet, ‘Passport to Service’, Heritage Certificate and Motorola radio instructions.
A candidate for the ultimate Issigonis Mini collection?
