Minis For Sale on BAT

[BruceK]

Yeah. A seller has to be either brave or dumb to auction a re-VIN on BaT.  It will be pointed out, and it will negatively affect the bids.

Edit: the Seller of the “1972” Mini has posted that the Commission Number plate attached to his Mini belongs to a some unknown  Mini Clubman and definitely not his Mini. 

Quoting:
“...Finally, the Commission number plate is from a Clubman Estate. Unfortunately, I do not have any information on where this plate came from or why it was installed there but decided to leave it.”

Why O Why he did not remove the incorrect and misleading little number plate - which of course isn’t needed - before offering his car to the world (and thus opening up his inaction to criticism) is unknowable.   It of course means the car’s VIN plate - sitting right next to the Commission Number plate - is likewise going to receive a lot of scrutiny.

[Jimini II]

100% my thoughts exactly.

Looking at it and the later parts I would think it is around an 82 to 84 model.

[Jimini II]

100% my thoughts exactly.

Looking at it and the later parts I would think it is around an 82 to 84 model.

It is hard to believe that a rally replica is worth $13k more than a nice but not original MKI Cooper S.

The burgundy Moke has no extra bids after those first day high bids right out of the gate.

[Jimini II]

The burgandy Moke sold for $17,500.
It had only 5 bids i am guessing the combination of the bugandy colour and bright blue top may have slowed the bidding.

[MiniDave]

I think it shows how high shill bids at the opening few days kill the auction.....although the S that went for $58.5 had some pretty high bids right out of the gate too.....so what do I know? But that $16K bid on the first day really killed it IMHO.

But at $17,500 that was a pretty good buy for a decent Moke.

[BruceK]

Yeah, nice Moke for that money. 

The 1959 Mini is at $9600 now with an hour left and the seller has pulled the reserve (how high was the reserve?).

And comments on the “1972” Mini auction have (predictably) turned into a nonstop discussion of re-VIN-ing — with the seller trying to steer things back to focusing on the car itself.   

[BruceK]

Wow.  The 1959 Mini (with rusty rockers and no boot floor) just sold for $15,250.

[Jimini II]

Yeah, nice Moke for that money. 

The 1959 Mini is at $9600 now with an hour left and the seller has pulled the reserve (how high was the reserve?).

And comments on the “1972” Mini auction have (predictably) turned into a nonstop discussion of re-VIN-ing — with the seller trying to steer things back to focusing on the car itself.   

I thought that the 59 Mini should have been all done at $9600, i am thinking it probably did so well as it was apart from the sills and boot floor fairly rust free by the standards of a lot of early Minis especially UK ones, maybe it is going home.

The re vinned Mini owner does not seem to care and is posting what he has found out about the cars real identity and kudo's to him for being honest, maybe he already knew maybe he didn't.
The bids do not seem to be going far though.

[BruceK]

The re-VIN'd red "1972" Mini went Reserve Not Met at $13,275 !    That's kind of crazy.  I wonder how high the Reserve was and why BaT let that happen.

[MiniDave]

There have been a LOT of "Bid to" cars lately....wonder what's going on with the reserves?

I think that was all the money for that car - all the money! But then the no boot floor, rusty Mark 1 made HOW much money?

[MPlayle]

MK-I & MK-II Saloons and UK Mokes seem to get the most "love" on BaT.

The others seem to drop off fast in terms of where the bidding caps out.  The other exception seems to be some of the well done "tribute" cars such as the recent rally car.

[Jimini II]

The re-VIN'd red "1972" Mini went Reserve Not Met at $13,275 !    That's kind of crazy.  I wonder how high the Reserve was and why BaT let that happen.

100% my thoughts exactly.

It was a lot of money bid and wanted a basic re vinned Mini with a 1275 in it.
Apparently it looks like the high bidder wants to get in touch with the owner so i guess he is prepared to pay more, how much more who knows.

Maybe the 72 title appealed to California bidders.

[Jimini II]

I just saw that Michaels Marcos is finally up for sale on BaT with a couple of bids already.
Good luck with the sale Michael.

[BruceK]

Yes.  Good luck Michael.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974-marcos-mini-marcos/

[MPlayle]

The "live' notice and several bids came in while I was offline for dinner and a tv break.

Time to get involved to read and respond to comments.

[BruceK]

And now a Mk. I Mini is on BaT.  Born an 850, it's a 998 now.   This one has lost some of its Mk. I charm with black interior, but it is not all boy-racer pretend Cooper either.   The absence of wheel arch extensions is nice IMO and suits an early Mini. 

I don't remember ever seeing a "D" in a Mk. I VIN - what am I missing?

Is that a coil in the boot to shoot flames in the exhaust? 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1961-morris-minor-6/

[cstudep]

Those mirrors just do not look correct on a Mark1 that is for sure. I have also sat in that style of seat and disliked them immensely.

[ADRay]

I like it, however, I think if your going to remove one bumper, you should remove both of them.

[cstudep]

I did not even notice the missing rear bumper. Now that you mention it I am not real sure if I like the look or not.

Is the indicator lever usually on the right hand side of the column on a left hand drive car?

[MPlayle]

I did not even notice the missing rear bumper. Now that you mention it I am not real sure if I like the look or not.

Is the indicator lever usually on the right hand side of the column on a left hand drive car?

For an early factory LHD car, the turn indicator lever should be to the left (outside) of the steering column.  This one being on the wrong side tends to indicate the car started life as RHD and was sometime later converted to LHD?  Either that, or needed a replacement lever and only RHD levers were available.

 

[cstudep]

For an early factory LHD car, the turn indicator lever should be to the left (outside) of the steering column.  This one being on the wrong side tends to indicate the car started life as RHD and was sometime later converted to LHD?  Either that, or needed a replacement lever and only RHD levers were available.

That is what I thought, but wasn't 100% sure. I know it's on the left in my '60 but never really considered if that was actually correct or not.

[tmsmini]

The "live' notice and several bids came in while I was offline for dinner and a tv break.

Time to get involved to read and respond to comments.

This user must be Crazy Mike,
nyniaan
as he has the red one around Sacramento. The white one from Southern California might belong to Dale Shore, a Mini racer as he had it at Sears Point for the Mini Challenge a few years ago.

Wish I had the spare change, would love to have a Marcos.

[gr8kornholio]

Even upholstery shops hate those seats.  I love them, guess I like being hugged by the seat.  When I get mine redone I’m going to open the sides for the seatbelt so it fits better. 

[cstudep]

I just didn't find them to be all that comfortable, I am sure I could get used to them if I had to. It's pretty easy to see why an upholstery shop would hate them.

[BruceK]

I did not even notice the missing rear bumper. Now that you mention it I am not real sure if I like the look or not.

Is the indicator lever usually on the right hand side of the column on a left hand drive car?

For an early factory LHD car, the turn indicator lever should be to the left (outside) of the steering column.  This one being on the wrong side tends to indicate the car started life as RHD and was sometime later converted to LHD?  Either that, or needed a replacement lever and only RHD levers were available.

You are right about the original position of the turn signal lever.   They are super easy to change sides on the column, but it looks like somebody didn't care - or know how when making this LHD.   When I restored my barn-find '65 Mini Traveller which was RHD, I decided to move the turn signal lever to the left side because it was my first RHD car and I didn't want to have to learn to signal with my right hand. (I’m used to it now) With the simplicity of early Minis, all it involved was drilling and taping the column for the turn signal cancel screw and flipping the plastic column cowl upside down. 

A search using the UK reg number shown on this car comes up on the MOT History site as belonging to a 1961 red Mini, so this car definitely appears to have been born a UK-spec RHD car.  There is no detailed MOT history online for this car (and detailed online history data is only ever available starting from about 2008 or so anyway), so that jives with what the auction narrative states about this car being imported to the US in the 1990s. 

Also, missing from the VIN is a "L" indicating LHD, further supporting this being built as a RHD car.