2001 Rover Mini Cooper Sport 500

This is genuine Classic Mini Cooper Sport 500, 1 of only 500 made in the final production run.

On October 4th 2000, after 41 years, Rover decided to cease production of the Mini. Following this and in celebration of this famous little car, Rover released the 'Mini Classic' range (before the introduction of the BMW Minis).

The pick of this range was arguably the Mini Cooper Sport. These were more luxurious cars, with full leather trim, an alloy dash panel, Sport Pack nkswheel arches and 13'' alloy wheels.

Right at the end of the Classic range production run, a separate batch of 500 Cooper Sports were assembled. These are the rare and much sought-after Classic Cooper Sport 500 (not to be confused with the standard Classic Cooper Sports - which have the same body spec, trim spec and were available in the same colours).

The 500 Cooper Sport was only ever made in the Sport Pack version with distinctive Platinum Silver roofs. These 500 cars came with a dash plaque that is mounted within the glove-box. The plaque reads: 'This Mini is one of the last 500 built to the original Sir Alec Issigonis design'

These plaques should only be fitted to the Cooper Sport 500 models. Chassis numbers also relate to genuine examples. The 500 came in four colours: Solar Red, Tahiti Blue, British Racing Green and Anthracite.

With an active Cooper Sport 500 Register and an enthusiastic following, these unique cars are already very collectable.

Here is a 2001 Cooper Sport 500 (number 317 of the 500). With the 1275cc MPI (multi-point injection) engine, this car has covered only 45,000 miles and has always been well-maintained.

This is an original car in striking Tahiti Blue (only 128 of the 500 were painted this colour). The current owners have cherished it, keeping it garaged always and using it only in dry weather. The car comes with a certificate of authenticity from the Sport 500 Register and has the correct corresponding chassis number for the model.