Beschreibung
The original Mini is an automotive design icon. Back in the ‘60s it captured the public’s imagination like no other car ever had, and in a society that at the time was still bound by ‘class’, the Mini was genuinely ‘class-less’. It was beloved as much by the rich and famous as it was by the general populace. Brilliant designer Alec Issigonis conceived a car that was both diminutive on the outside, Tardis-like roomy on the inside and great fun to drive. Its front-wheel drive, Hydrolastic suspension and a wheel-at-each-corner configuration conspired to give great handling and road holding, while the A-Series engines provided plenty of zip for city driving. Pretty soon, racing drivers were also busy unleashing the giant-killing potential of the Mini on the racetrack. Wearing either Austin or Morris badges, the Mini first hit the streets in 1959 and sold strongly for eight years before BMC felt any freshening up was needed. Australian production began in January 1961 using Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits from the UK, albeit with local content. Badged only as Morris 850 (no Austin variant was sold here), the earliest Mini was available in both sedan and van models before the Deluxe arrived in 1965. Such was the Mini’s success here that 60, 888 were assembled at BMC’s Zetland (NSW) plant, before production ended in 1978.
An early sliding-windows car, this 1963 Mini 850 has been in the hands of an elderly Victorian owner for the past 20 years, having undergone a refurbishment in Western Australia in 2020. Its original-hue Shadow Blue paintwork looks to have been renewed at some stage and has since picked up a couple of small knocks including a dent near the fuel filler, and a large paint chip above the boot opening. Along the way this standard 850 has also been dressed-up with Deluxe model badging and interior parts, plus its Shadow Blue sides are also adorned with an unusual period aluminium trim. The white roof too, is complemented by a rare front windscreen sunshade, and there’s a set of non-factory chrome headlight ‘eyebrows’ which add a nice touch. It sits on a set of original steel wheels with hubcaps. Inside is a mix of old and new, and there’s a general air of patina. Very prominent is the non-factory polished wood dashboard with two gloveboxes, built into the otherwise standard Mini dashboard. A modern water temperature gauge has been added below the dash. Mostly original upholstery adorns the interior, however the backrest on the driver’s seat is badly split and the passenger’s less so, while the seat bases front and rear have been retrimmed in two-tone blue/ grey. Used lightly in recent years, this 1963 Morris Mini 850 was previously on full Victorian registration.
The 1963 Morris Mini 850 is being sold here unregistered.
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