Pre-launch Mini for sale
Dealer’s Countryman built three months before debut
The appearance of a pre-production Austin Mini 850 Countryman for sale at the Goodwood Revival has sparked a resurgence of interest in the model.
Dealer Arun’s car rolled off the production line on 16 June 1960, three months before the new model was revealed to the world. Although Countryman production began in March 1960, only one earlier car is known to exist.
1959 Mini Register registrar, Bill Bell, confirmed that Arun’s car is genuine – although its presence at the Goodwood Revival was overshadowed by Bonhams’ Morris Mini Traveller (Cowley’s Countryman equivalent), declared as one of only six Cooper S models built. He said: ‘It’s not what it was claimed to be. It was a lovely project 850 Traveller bought at Anglia Car Auctions two years ago with a Downton 1275 swapped in.’
By contrast, Arun’s Countryman has a Heritage Certificate from British Motor Heritage relaying its build date, and several features treasured by Mini aficionados, including a straight gearlever and a floor start button.
Furthermore, Bill has personal history with the car – he discovered the Countryman, rear subframe out, in a Devon garage in 2011. The car has had four owners from new, covering just 78,000 miles in 59 years.
Its third custodian carried out £7000 worth of restoration work to the Countryman, respraying it in the Tartan Red with which it left the Longbridge production line.
arunltd.com/austin-minicountryman-de-luxe-in-westsussex-6209985