1963 Morris Mini Traveller

“ An exceptional example of a rare Traveller, with low mileage and a handful of owners. Its lovely! ”

These are rare vehicles today, and examples in this kind of exemplary condition are as rare as a gold tooth on a hen.

Background
The original Mini needs no introduction.

One of very few genuinely ground-breaking cars, the Alec Issigonis-designed Mini is rightly praised for its innovative engineering, handsome looks, surprisingly spacious interior and giant-killing handling.

It remained in continuous production for the next four decades, winning praise from all who owned or drove one.

It provided transport for millions of families who might not otherwise have been able to afford to run a modern car and, in competition, it slew all who were daft enough to compete against it.

It won praise from private owners, professional rally drivers, vanquished competitors, pundits and spectators, all of whom keep it close to their heart, even more than sixty years after it first came into being.

In 1960, following hard on the heels of the recently released Mini Van, came the Morris Mini Traveller. The Austin version, identical except for some badging and trim variations, was called the Countryman.

The Morris Mini Traveller had a much-loved precedent in the form of the Morris Minor Traveller, a quintessentially British creation that even today conjures up a pungently redolent whiff of buck-toothed vicars, cucumber sandwiches, duffle coats, tea strainers, country pubs, and pipe-smoking chaps called Godfrey and Herbert pottering about in their allotments.

Overview
This matching-numbers, low mileage Traveller was dispatched new to the Stewart & Ardern dealership in Acton on 5th July 1963.

We know from the BMIHT certificate accompanying the car that it was supplied with front overriders, but without the exterior wood trim often associated with the Traveller.

“How so?”, we hear you opine, not unreasonably.

Well, from some time in 1962 onwards, the Traveller could be specified as an all-steel option.

Unlike the Morris Minor Traveller, the wood on the Morris Mini Traveller wasn’t structural – hence the easy optionality of an un-wooded version.

This car has had very few owners from new (we think just two prior to the vendor) and we know that it was taken off the road and laid-up in 1994.

In 1998, the then owner removed the engine (it was subsequently stripped and rebuilt) and the car remained in a state of warm, dry, comfortable inactivity until 2012, when it had two new wings fitted and a dented rear corner fixed.

It stayed in that workshop having various jobs done on it (by both the owner and the man who’d carried out the repairs) until 2016, when the car was stripped down to a bare shell and professionally resprayed.

It remained in storage until it was bought by the vendor and later registered in his name in August 2024.

In the commendable pursuit of preserving as much authenticity as possible, the car has been subjected to a minimum of fresh welding and panel replacement.

The front panel/slam panel is all original, as is the glass and the interior, save for the addition of new carpets.

The car even comes with its original purchase order invoice - it cost a princely £556 in 1963 - original wiper motor, original keys, and original brochures.

This charming and very well-preserved car starts without a second invitation and goes about its business with all the balance, poise and lively urgency for which the Mini was rightly lauded.

It feels properly screwed together and mechanically sorted.

It may just be our imagination, but it feels to us as if one or more brakes might be sticking slightly.

Estimate: £15,000 - £18,000

View the current bid price HERE