1962 Morris Mini Minor Saloon

Perhaps the most instantly recognisable small car in the World, the Mini, was manufactured by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors at their Longbridge and Cowley plants from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered to be a British icon of the 1960s. Its space-saving front-wheel drive layout, allowing 80% of the area of the car's floorpan to be used for passengers and luggage, influenced a generation of car makers. The vehicle is, in some ways, considered to be the British equivalent of its German contemporary the Volkswagen Beetle, or the Italian Fiat 500. In 1999 the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th century, behind the Ford Model T.

This ground breaking little car was conceived as a direct result of the fuel shortages following the 1956 Suez Crisis when petrol was rationed in the UK and sales of large family cars slumped, whilst the market for German made "bubble' cars boomed. Leonard Lord, the head of BMC, reportedly disliked these German cars so much that he vowed to remove them from the UK streets and design a 'proper miniature car' as a replacement. Sir Alec Issigonis was invited to put pen to paper and the result was the Mini. Everyone loves a Mini, and most people have owned one at some point in their lives, and part of the human condition is to pine wistfully for a part of one's past that one remembers through the proverbial 'rose-tinted', which is probably why there is an ever increasing demand for early Minis in original, unrestored condition.

"TSL 950' certainly fits this bill very well and is genuinely in pretty good condition throughout, although some surface corrosion is appearing in places. This matching numbers example, was first registered in May 1962 and is finished in its original colour scheme of Smoke Grey with a Dark Grey interior. Rarely for a Mini of this vintage, a mere 17,520 miles is currently showing on the odometer, which the car's appearance suggests may well be correct but can't be corroborated with the available paperwork.

The car has been with its present owner since October 2013, forming part of his private collection together with four other Minis. The accompanying history file contains the BMIHT certificate, a purchase invoice, driver's handbook, V5C registration document and a number of expired MoT certificates, the earliest issued by a Brighton garage in 2005 with an odometer reading of 17,500 miles. This is an honest, early Mini with a very low indicated mileage and will make someone very happy.