This is a 1963 Mini Cooper S. Designed by Sir Alec Issigonis and John Sheppard, the Cooper was a high-performance version of the Mini hatchback introduced in 1963.
The Cooper was created as a collaboration between John Cooper, owner of the Cooper Car Company and builder of Formula One cars, and Issigonis; Cooper saw the potential of the Mini in motorsport and appealed to the British Motor Corporation to convince an initially reluctant Issigonis to see the project through. The Cooper, branded as an Austin and Morris, debuted in September 1961.
The Cooper used a race-tuned 1.0L A-Series inline-4 producing 55 hp, mated to a close ratio 4-speed manual. The car featured front disc brakes, uncommon at the time for a small car; 1,000 were commissioned by BMC management to homologate the car for Group 2 rallying. The car's engine would be slightly revised to a shorter stroke unit in 1964. At launch the Cooper was priced at £680.
Also developed in tandem with the Cooper was a further enhanced version known as the Cooper S, introduced in March 1963. This version was fitted with a race-tuned 1.1L A-Series inline-4 producing 70 hp and larger servo-assisted disc brakes. Two additional models with a 1.0L and 1.3L engine, intended for different classes in road racing, were also manufacturing; the 1.0L version was not well received and quickly discontinued. From 1966 Cooper Ss were fitted with twin fuel tanks as standard.
A force in international motorsport, Coopers competed in rallying and other categories such as road racing. Notable victories include the 1964, 1965 and 1967 Monte Carlo Rallies, 5 British Saloon Car Championships and three Macau Grands Prix among others. Production ended in 1971; 25,636 were produced.
Now this casting was designed by Fraser Campbell and introduced in 2026. This is currently its only release.
