There’s an incredibly rare classic Mini up for sale at the Bonhams auction and it’s like no other Mini you’ve ever seen. That’s because it’s a one-off 1984 Mini Cooper 1000 that was built by Aston Martin’s Tickford for a Saudi Arabian price. It hasn’t been seen in over 30 years but not is ready to find a new home, hopefully with a new owner that will actually drive it.
This Mini by Tickford is an incredibly unique vehicle Tickford was Aston Martin’s coachbuilding subsidiary that did custom bodywork and was commissioned to modify a classic Mini. The result is a classic Mini Cooper 1000 just with an entirely unique front end. Tickford replaced the factory round headlights with stacked double rectangles, which are integrated into its bespoke fenders. It also has a unique grille and rectangular fog-lights built in. The unique fenders feature flared lips, the latter of which continue into the side skirts, onto the rear fenders, and into the rear bumper.
However, the biggest upgrade came inside the Mini. Since it was a price that commissioned this build, he likely wanted to spruce up the interior from the classic Mini’s pretty spartan cabin. So it features thick red leather Recaro seats, a thickly bolstered leather steering wheel, a high-end Clarion stereo system with a cassette player, power windows, and burr walnut dash trim typical of Aston Martins of the era. It’s lovely inside, even if it isn’t very Mini-like.
The price only put 13,065 kilometers (8,118 miles) on it, so it’s extremely fresh. Whoever buys this car will have the chance to put some real mileage on it and drive a piece of automotive history. Hopefully whoever does buy it drives it, as a car this rare and special should be seen by the world, even if it isn’t particularly good looking. Alec Issogonis’ design was brilliant and it ages like fine wine, so I’m not quite sure why anyone would want to change it but, still, this car is pretty cool.
According to Bonhams, the expected value is between £60,000-£80,000 ($74,646-$99,528), which is a lot of money for a classic Mini. However, it might not be a lot of money for a one-off classic Mini, built by a coachbuilder that doesn’t exist anymore, and was commissioned and by a prince. Cars like are obviously incredibly valuable and carry high price tags. Hopefully, this isn’t the last we see of this royal bespoke classic Mini.
[Source: Bonhams]