Beschreibung:

John Cooper was well known for his involvement, with his father Charles, in developing the post-war rear engine single seater 500cc race cars that ran amok and beat the larger front engine cars of the period. John is also later renowned for his development of the iconic Mini with the Mini Coopers cleaning up in high profile race and rally events in the 1960s and beyond. We are delighted to offer this very low mileage, 'Special Order' Rover Mini Cooper S Touring that was built under the supervision of Tony Franks, John Cooper's Chief Mechanic and Workshop Foreman at the John Cooper's Workshop (JWC) at East Preston, West Sussex and sold through John Cooper's Garages Ltd., at 50 Ferring Street, Ferring, West Sussex. Tony recently recollects,"It all started in 1990 when Rover sent us a Mini City to convert. It was built with a 1275cc engine with twin carburettors. The resulting Mini Cooper was a success so production of the Coopers commenced, only ceasing in 2000. We also built a Metro Cooper but had to call it a Metro Monaco after the Cooper Monaco!"Tony further recalls,"Although no records exist from the period, I remember that this particular model, car number 98-S-132, had a JCW upgraded engine with high lift rockers, larger inlet valves and a high compression cylinder head mated to a three branch exhaust manifold. Silencing was via a Janspeed silencer with twin pipes exiting the rear. A multi point fuel injection was incorporated rather than twin carburettors of the first cars. We built this one with Koni suspension. This was also a special order buildwith a higher ratio final drive of 4.2:1, enabling less engine revs at speed resulting in comfortable high speed touring, hence the Touring name we gave it. Car number 98-S-132 has only covered a total of 533 miles resulting in, possibly, one of the best examples of the period available today. It was first owned by a gentleman who spent a lot of time in Japan leading to the Mini spending much of its early life in storage until being purchased by the current owner in May 2005. During the current ownership, the Mini has had little use hence the low miles. On inspection, this Cooper S looks very much as if it has just left production at Ferring. The bespoke walnut dashboard and door cappings are as new, as is the cream leather interior. Delightful details such as the John Cooper signed lightened alloy window winders and door handles further adorn the interior. On the outside, the Cooper S looks resplendent in metallic blue with a white roof, white detailed door mirrors and white Cooper bonnet stripes. Complementing the coachwork are details that include alloy wheels, alloy locking quick release fuel filler and auxiliary quad driving lights at the front. A UK registration V5 document and current MoT test certificate, valid until April 2016, accompany the car. Importantly, since being in the current ownership, this Mini Cooper S has been personally maintained by Tony Franks at his Sussex workshop. John Cooper CBE died in December 2000. His contribution to motorsport, especially British motorsport, was immense and this exceptionally low mileage Cooper S Touring represents one of the last links to John Cooper and the Mini Cooper. This is, surely, a true collector's piece.