Meet one of our garage projects — our 1972 Austin Mini Copper 1275cc!
Out of the many, and I mean many, cars that Matthew and I have owned over the years this one is probably my favorite. Certainly, out of the list of older ones we’ve owned this one is the hands down winner for me.
Matthew and I have always talked about having a summer car and had thought it would be a vintage convertible of some kind. But when this car came up on the internet, we just couldn’t get it out of our heads as the perfect solution.
I remember when he took the trip to Long Island, NY to go pick it up and drive it back on a trailer all in one day. He almost didn’t buy it which is out of character for Matt. When he got to see it in person there was more rust on it than expected. He rarely turns any car down or away from his garage. But he, thankfully, decided to load it onto the trailer and bring it home to us.
The first day we had it we drove it around our town on the trailer. Which, considering that our small town goes from 3,000 to 35,000 people in the summers, was a feat getting it through downtown. Later that day we would take it out in our neighborhood for its first drive and we realized there is nothing like it.
As soon as I saw the beauty the love affair started. We quickly started driving it on all our jaunts and it became our summer car for that year. It’s the ultimate car to go for a Sunday drive, pop into town, or drive to the beach. We drove it to all those places and more. Always flashing a smile and a wave to the onlookers.
Let’s be honest, the “we” is Matthew because it does not have power steering, and I did not want to officially learn stick in that kind of car. One day I will fully learn how to drive a manual (I can do it if an emergency cropped up) and after I properly learn then I will definitely want to drive the mini.
Throughout that first summer Matthew started to tinker with it, as he does with all his projects. He changed out the stereo, did some work on the headliner and seats as well as body work. The small changes were doable while also driving it during the season. As soon as it started getting colder and the roads wetter, the car moved into the garage to get the bigger work done.
And it’s been three years since that summer. To be fair, we moved to a new house with a bigger garage, so Matthew was able to take apart the mini to fully redo it. I’ve been told that it only needs a couple more things done with it and then we can use it again! I’m really hoping that it will be this summer when we can start driving it again. We will keep you posted!
