1968 Austin Mini Cooper S

1968 Austin Cooper S MKII

Reg No: UYB 708G

Colour: El Passo Beige

Fitted with:

1293 Arden 8 port Cooper S engine.

Hydro-elastic suspension with competition bump stops. Fitted with adjustable fluid restriction Arden converted taps. Orange coded competition rear suspension springs fitted with Armstrong front shock absorbers.

Original unrestored interior with sun roof and black bucket seats. Fitted with wheel arches by Jim Whitehouse of Arden Engineering, modified bonnet and rose petal wheels.

A 1293 race engine consisting of alloy 8 port Arden Head casting no 31, with modified rockers and push rods. This engine came out of the Wendy Wool race car and I also have the original engine and gearbox, carbs, Manifold, radiators etc built up ready to go back into it. T-J injection, injection cam AEA600, mechanical chronometric rev counter driven from the camshaft, forged pistons, con rods and crankshaft modified, one piece special tuning flywheel on competition clutch, fully lightened and balanced engine. Twin SU fuel pumps, high pressure injection pump and mechanical fuel pump. Special tuning gearbox 3 syncro close ratio with Salisbury slip diff and 4 branch Arden manifold and exhaust. Arden engine develops 135+ brake horse power.

In 1970 this car road tested 0-60 in 6. 3 seconds, 1st gear 46 mph, 2nd gear 73 mph, 3rd gear 100 mph and 4th gear 135 mph. Unbelievable troque, one of the fastest Minis I have ever driven – possibly the fastest!

I am only the second owner of this car and have left the bodywork in the exact condition it was when I bought it. Both the top and underneath are very solid with no visual rot, sub-frames front and rear in excellent condition. It comes with the original bonnet. The red stripe on the centre of the front grille was Jim Whitehouse’s Arden trade mark.

There only remains 2 genuine Arden cars left in the world and this is one of them, the other one is the 970 Championship Car in New Zealand that was also owned by Jim Whitehouse.

PRICE ON ASKING

One previous owner, Jim Whitehouse of Arden Engineering who owned it from new having been gifted it in May 1968 by BL for his 970 Mini winning the British Championship. It was consequently seen at most race event in the late sixties as he used it to drive to the races. His wife also used it for going shopping!.

Jim Whitehouse once told me that while driving at 6. 30am on a Saturday he was pulled over by a traffic policeman on a motorbike. The policeman asked him where he was heading to and what speed he was doing when he passed him - to which Jim replied to the races at Donnington and doing 130mph. The policeman replied that he should slow down because this is not Donnington this is a public road – however he let him go with a caution.