1981 Austin Morris Mini Pick-Up

Finished in white with a red roof and matching load space cover, this wonderful Mini pickup is ready for work or play. Fitted with an upgraded 1293cc engine in place of the 998cc it left the factory with, it was restored by a hugely knowledgeable Mini fanatic.

This means the specification is a dream list of all the goodies you’d choose if you were doing the work and the finished product is utterly delightful, hardly surprising as the seller is more used to building race cars and can’t help but fit upgraded and/or lightweight items where they exist.

Finished three years ago after a two-year restoration, it’s been carefully stored ever since. Now being offered for sale, this is your chance to buy a rare Mini pickup that’s considerably better engineered than anything the factory ever produced.

As you can see from the photos, the Mini was stripped back to bare metal before being meticulously built back up with a new floorpan, tailgate assembly, side panels, and wings.

Good panel alignment and an absence of dents, dings, and other damage set the background for a beautifully presented pickup. It’s working class credentials are further bolstered by very good paint, in both its professional application and subsequent durability.

The front end, with its Cooper grille, is the familiar Mini we’ve all come to know and love, while the rear end features an auxiliary foglamp for safety but is otherwise as Austin intended, simple and uncluttered. Quarter bumpers protect the extremities from parking dings, while the fold-down tailgate gives good access to the pickup bed.

The red cover is free from damage and protects any load that’s being carried from the worst of the weather. That it matches the cheery red roof adds an aesthetic element to an otherwise utilitarian piece of equipment. The horizontal brace you can see is removable and there only to support the centre of the vinyl cover.

Chequerplate lines the floor, again combining aesthetics and practically.

Ten-inch John Brown Minilite-style alloy wheels complete the look – and they’re fitted with matching 165/70R10 Falken tyres into the bargain.

We will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

Work to do is minor. The load space cover is a bit marked here and there (#49) but is otherwise sound and fit for duty.

Otherwise we can see the new owner might want to replace the chromed headlamp bezels (#54 and #57) and sort out the rust that’s just starting to break out on the lower offside wing (#74) and nearside wheelarch (#163 and #171).

The black and red interior is a lovely place to be. Obviously smaller even than that of the standard Mini, the two-seater pickup takes the word ‘snug’ to a whole new level.

Mind you, because the head and legroom remain unaltered from the saloon upon which it is based drivers of pretty much all shapes and sizes should be able to get comfortable. The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that the bulkhead between the cockpit and the load space is set back a little to give the driver extra legroom, further proof of just how clever the Mini’s design is.

It’s all in great shape, too. The reupholstered black seats, which are piped in red, still look like new. New carpets and door cards from Newton Commercials, new seatbelts, and rear bulkhead further brighten an already charming cockpit, and the whole lot looks terrific and wonderfully cohesive.

A new headlining has also been professionally fitted and even the door pockets have been trimmed in red, so full marks to whoever spec’d this one.

The speedometer has been refurbished and recalibrated but the seller has resisted the temptation to reset the odometer, so it still shows the Mini’s original mileage. Nice.

A new wiring loom has also been fitted.

Problems? Well, not a problem per se but the centre hub of the steering wheel is more patinated than the rest of the interior (#23) and the trim for the shelf has come awry (#75 and #201). We couldn’t criticise you if you were to buy and fit a new pair of sunvisors, either.

The one-litre engine was binned and replaced with an upgraded 1293cc engine that is based on the well-know 1275cc unit. Rebuilt with a high-torque sports camshaft, the cylinder has been brought up to Cooper specification and has hardened valve seats to allow the use of unleaded fuel without additives.

A new distributor sends sparks where they need to be when they need to be there, and cooling is via Evans radiator fluid, which is a waterless coolant.

The gearbox was rebuilt by Somerford Mini with a centre pick up in place of the old side pick up, which will help prevent oil surge under hard cornering. (Have we mentioned that the seller’s racing background means he tends to over-spec everything?) It also has a very high ratio differential and it is joined to the engine via a new clutch.

The engine exhales via a Maniflow exhaust manifold and system. A new fuel tank and fuel pump have been fitted and the two are linked with an Aeroquip hose.

As you can see, it starts well even from cold and shows good oil pressure. It ticks over beautifully and revs as it should.

It has adjustable suspension all around, fitted to new sub-frames front and rear. The camber can be adjusted on the rear.

The braking comes from a Cooper S, which donated its (new) discs and calipers, with EBC supplying the pads. New hand brake quadrants and cables have been fitted too, along with new master and slave cylinders for the brake and clutch systems, all of which have Aeroquip hoses.

The engine bay is as neatly finished as the rest of the car, balancing originality and showiness perfectly.

The Mini comes with its Driver’s Handbook, lots of old MoT certificates and invoices, plus photos of it being restored.

The Mini doesn’t have a current MoT certificate, and while it is exempt by virtue of its age, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have it MoT’d at the earliest opportunity. The cost of an MoT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic vehicle, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the car’s condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies…

That said, the certificate only expired in October 2021 and the recent Vehicle History Check doesn’t flag up anything of any concern.

The Mini has become a favourite in the classic world for a very good reason, and while we love ‘em all, the pickup does add an unusual twist to a familiar recipe.

We can see this one going to a one-person business, someone who needs to carry biggish items but whose love of traditional engineering and design means they can’t bring themselves to buy a modern pickup or van.

Beautifully sign-written, this Mini would send all the right messages about you and what you do, and that its purchase price of between £14,000 and £18,000 is usefully less than even the most modest modern alternative, means you’ll have more in your bank account to spend on the rest of your business.

That most, if not all, of the purchase price is likely to still be there when you decide to sell is proof that you can have you cake and eat it.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.