Learned to drive as a teenager on my mom's Austin mini 850 (and dad's 65 Corvair). Had a 998 Cooper and rare 1071 Cooper S. If I ever got another one it has to have the sliding windows.
By Staff Writer
Nov 29, 2022
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Mini
| Posted in
News and Notes
| From the July 2006 issue
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Story by Don Racine • Photography as credited
Don Racine, the owner of Mini Mania, has been serving the Mini enthusiast community since 1974.
While most Mini sedans look the same to the casual observer, many prospective—and even current—owners truly have no idea how to identify the model year of one of these cars. In fact, in many cases they don’t even know there are really so many different Minis.
That first 1959 Mini was the ultimate in an economical everyday, entry-level car. By the end of production 41 years later, the Mini had been transformed into an almost modern car with fuel injection, a catalytic converter and an air bag. All Minis were not created equal, and in fact have tremendous variations in performance and desirability.
So, you ask, why all the confusion as to which Mini you might own or consider buying? Before we tackle that question, let’s first address those variants of the Mini sedan that were imported to the U.S. and sold by the factory.
The most distinguishing feature of all 1959-’67 models was the use of sliding side windows for the front passengers. These windows slide fore and aft, and the doors themselves feature external, visible door hinges. The very first cars were supplied with the bulletproof (but underpowered) 848cc engine.
The first models to be identified as the performancetuned Mini Coopers were introduced in 1961 and received more powerful engines and other upgrades, including disc brakes up front—7-inch rotors on the Cooper and 7.5-inch rotors on the Cooper S. Whether it is a Cooper or standard-issue car, all 1959-’67 Minis came with 10-inch-diameter wheels.
The final year of factory sales in the U.S., 1967, saw the introduction of what is now known as the Mk II version of the Mini. The biggest outward change was the larger taillights. (Note that the designations Mk I, Mk II and so on are not official factory terms; rather, they were penned by Mini enthusiasts to differentiate the major model changes that occurred during the car’s life span.)
From the car’s introduction up until the end of the 1967 model year, about 15,000 Minis were imported for U.S. customers. After that, well, things get a little confusing.
One could easily argue that if today’s American Mini enthusiasts were only limited to the cars originally imported to the U.S., then it would be too easy. However, the current appetite for a classic Mini here in the States has pushed the market way beyond those cars that were imported by the factory. At this date and time, it is easy to admit that more Minis have been imported into the U.S. by individuals and private dealers than were ever shipped here by the factory.
The problem comes in properly identifying a Mini, as many of these unofficially imported cars have had their year of manufacture altered to comply with U.S. Customs, DOT standards and EPA laws. In other words, that car being sold as a 1966 Mini may have really been built as recently as 2000. Not only are swapping VIN plates and fudging paperwork illegal, but not knowing the year a car was built also makes ordering replacement parts a tricky task.
The problems started in 1968, when the factory no longer attempted to have the Mini in any configuration conform to U.S. emission or safety standards. These days, however, federal law allows cars that are at least 25 years old to be imported into the U.S. without concern for these standards. As a result, the next pool of “legal to import” Minis includes those produced from 1968 through 1981. These models start with the Mk II car, which was produced with 848, 998 and 1275cc engines.
By late 1969, the model now known as the Mk III was released. The big changes were roll-up windows and doors with internal door hinges. By 1973, the electrical system was upgraded, with an alternator replacing the generator. The gear-change mechanism was also changed, as the rod-change transmission replaced the “magic wand” gear stick found in many of the earlier cars.
In 1976, the car was further upgraded to the Mk IV. The most significant change was not very visible, since it was an attempt to isolate the car from road noise and as such involved using rubber mounts for the front subframe. The Verto clutch became standard for 1980 in another change that was not outwardly obvious, but was still significant. The Mk V Mini was released during 1984; the biggest update it offered was the standardization of 12-inch wheels and 8.4-inch front disc brakes.
The various changes made after the Mk V debut seemed to come fast and furious, and many consider the 1991 Minis to be the first year of the Mk VI cars. The Mk VI models are distinguished by the use of the 1275cc as the base engine, as the 998cc engine was dropped. The single SU carburetor finally went away in 1994, replaced by single-point fuel injection. The single-point injection continued through 1996 and was replaced by a multipoint setup that was standard until the car’s end in 2000. Along with the multipoint injection, the Mini started to receive an alarm system and a catalytic converter during the mid-1990s.
Since so many of the Minis found in the States have been assigned new VIN plates, body shells and paperwork, determining the actual year of production can be an archeological exercise. If a car is being sold as an early model, yet has 12-inch wheels, wind-up windows, fuel injection and other characteristics of the later cars, some warning bells should start sounding.
Determining the Mark of a classic Mini should at least narrow down approximately when the car was built, while the hundreds of small changes carried out during the model’s production run can usually fine-tune the birth date to an actual year. An extensive and interactive pictorial that can help with that exercise can be found online at minimania.com/MiniID.
Learned to drive as a teenager on my mom's Austin mini 850 (and dad's 65 Corvair). Had a 998 Cooper and rare 1071 Cooper S. If I ever got another one it has to have the sliding windows.
You state that "MKI, MKII, etc." designations were not penned by the factory. Then why does my (legitimate) '69 Morris Cooper have a factory (at that time, BMC) fitted chrome badge on the bootlid that says "MKII"?
Interesting reading this today 2/26/2020. This is the 60th birthday of my Mini. It was built on this day 60 years ago and dispatched to St. Louis Mo. on the 29th of 1960, according to its Heritage Trust Birth certificate.
When I purchased it in 1964 I had no idea about the adventures to come. More than I can remember, for sure. And more to come still.
Tim McGinn
The Mini I had was titled as a 76, yet I found some date codes on it for 81. Yes it made for some confusion. I think it was brought back by a returning vet so it may have had a little assistance in the paperwork generation. My experience with Brit and Euro cars in general is the title and birth year may not match. Maybe the title year was picked to meet the 25 year old import? IDK
Dons built new 1380 has been in my 67 Cooper S since 2007.
however, last 10 years, I prefer Graham at Heritage Garage than Minimania.
In reply to TR8owner
I too owned a 1071 S, reg APH109B (1964). I traded it to an American student studying at Cambridge in exchange for a Frog Eye Sprite and cash. Was that you? I would give my eye teeth to get either or both of them back. My mother-in-law, who didn't drive, would happily sit calmly in the passenger seat while I transported her around the English country lanes at speed over 90 mph at times. The Frog eye was gifted to some people that came to get it in a hurry when we moved to the US in 1977. It was serial #003 and Donald Healey was the first recorded owner with his name clearly written in the first entry position in the vehicle Log Book. It also had an aluminium back half that had been built at Aston Martin to include a trunk lid. The car was shown on the 1959 London Motor Show to gauge interest for a trunk lid. I can find no trace of the Sprite.
Seeing your 'handle', one of my current vehicles is a TR7 Spider with Buick V6 and Chevrolet TH700R4 transmission. I call it my TR 7.5.
Lots of Minis were imported to the USA using old VINs on newer cars. We call them re-VINs in the Mini community. Technically illegal but a pretty common occurrence. The thing is, the newer cars weren't all that great and actually seemed to be more rust prone than the early Mk1 and Mk2 cars.
My buddy has a Rover produced Mini from the Japanese market from ~93ish. Its a werid car. Automatic transmission, and the dash config looks out of place.
In addition, I believe that one can purchase a complete new body shell in the UK. The shell with its accessories (like doors) is built up into a 'new' car (perhaps with the VIN from a donor car) in the UK.
For example, I'm guessing that many of the 'vintage' Minis seen racing at Goodwood are actually rebuilds using these replacement body parts, etc.
I wonder if any of these 'reborn' Minis have made it to the US?
Of course, in vintage car racing is it not common for the car (which may have once been a write-off) to have pretty much completely new frame and bodywork -- but the original VIN
Reshells are not particularly common because they cost a buttload of money to do - but I know at least two guys who have reshelled a Moke. Think about it, the cost of the shell is about $10-12K plus shipping, it costs at least $8-10K for a decent paint job (you have to paint the entire shell, inside and out as it comes bare - well, it's in primer but my body shop guy says that's just for shipping, it's not well done and you're best to remove it and start over) then it's a full new interior - cause you can't put the old crap back in a newly painted shell. And of course, rebuild the engine, transmission, all the suspension and brakes, all the chrome, electrics and on and on and a thousand other things.
There are a few re-vins around, but not a huge number.....your best bet if you buy one is just to plan on keeping it, cause unless you find a like minded buyer who's buying it to get the car and doesn't really care, you'll probably have a hard time selling it anyway.
The one that hit BaT last week is a good case in point, he paid a bunch of money to buy it at a high priced auction and now he can't sell it because it's been outed for what it is.....a 2000 model with air bags and EFi - he should have known better, there were neither of those things in 1970!
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