1964 Austin Mini Traveller

First registered on the 10th of November 1964, this lovely Austin Mini Traveller has been in the vendor’s care since it was restored and re-engineered 20 years ago. As a child of the sixties, he commissioned the project as a reward for his homecoming after a dozen years spent working abroad.

A serial Mini owner - this is his tenth, and there’s a Cooper S alongside it in his garage - it was built to his personal specification (“I wanted something comfortable and well-specified”). Fitted with a Metro 1300cc engine for reliability, it has been well-serviced over the years, starts on the button, and runs very well indeed.

Showing just two previous keepers, it is being used less and less over the years, a situation that has led him to conclude that now is the time to offer it for sale to another enthusiast who will love it as much as he does.

The car was completely resprayed, inside and out, during its restoration. The colour is a metallic Rover shade of green and while the work was done very well, the years have started to take their toll.

Notwithstanding the odd flaw and bubbles (please see the photos for details) the panel fit is excellent, the shutlines are consistent, the wood frame on the car’s estate bodywork seems to be strong, and the natty wheelarch extensions cover a set of Minilite-style alloy wheels.

The overall effect is a charming blend of the old and the new, with the car’s wonderfully retro wooden framing acting as a foil to the metallic Rover paintwork and modern wheels. The aesthetic amalgam is replicated in every aspect of the car’s development, from the interior to the engineering; it really is a classic made fit for the 21st century.

The 12-inch Minilite-style alloy wheels are in great shape and shod with a mixture of tyres, all of which seem to have good tread. The chromework is pretty good too, with only a light patina that looks like it should respond well to polishing.

Problems? Well, apart from the usual stonechips and marks that any car collects over the years, the Mini would benefit from some tidying up of the bodywork.

We can also see that the new owner will want to buy a set of matching tyres. That said, they’re tiny 145/70R12, so you could probably fund all five with what you find down the back of the sofa…

The retrimmed interior is even more radical than the exterior – and all the better for being so. The seats, for example, are not the originals and so are far more comfortable and well-padded that the ones it left the factory with. Safer too, thanks to their hefty headrests.

Finished in cream leather, the upper and lower dashboards have been finished in matching leather, as have the door cards.

The dashboard also sports a vast slab of wood, which coordinates with the instrument binnacle, steering wheel, and gear knob. There are ivory faced instruments too, and the overall effect is very ‘Wood & Pickett’ and charming.

It’s all in good shape with excellent carpets and a taut, clean headlining and a well-carpeted boot. Extra soundproofing too, plus a spare steel wheel under the boot floor.

Other upgrades include Pioneer speakers in the door and dashboard, plus a high-power JVC radio/CD player.

Work to do is minimal. Aside from the odd mark and scuff, the carpet has some green stains and there is the odd rusty fixing screw but these small flaws aside, the interior really is a lovely place to be.

The vendor bought the car a couple of decades ago from a firm in Bristol, and arranged to have it restored and modified to his specification so it would be ready for him when he returned from a posting aboard.

MOT'd until March 2021 the car was maintained by a mobile mechanic friend of his from 2001 until 2009, which means there is no paperwork from that period. After his friend moved in 2009, he used his local garage from 2010 onwards, so he has the full service paperwork from that point.

The most recent service was in February 2020, a comprehensive affair that included an engine flush, a new battery, ignition coil, and a set of HT leads plus some other minor fettling.

He chose to fit a standard Metro engine for a bit more power alongside ease of maintenance. This engine is mated to a Mini Cooper gearbox and while the speedometer reads 6,800 miles, this is only the mileage it has accrued since the restoration and he’s pretty sure that the true mileage of the engine is higher.

Still, there are plenty of other bills from 2010 onwards from the same local garage for routine servicing and maintenance including one from 2016 and under 1,000 miles ago that records the cylinder compressions as 195, 195, 190 and 180lb/ft.

Our photographer reports that it starts and runs well, and the vendor tells us that it drives as it should.

The engine bay doesn’t look terribly good but then few jobs are as immediately gratifying as detailing an engine. The underside is a bit grotty too with plenty of surface corrosion but it looks to be solid – the MOT tester remarked on it without mentioning any weakening, for example – and could be caught fairly easily, we think.  

It has a number of expired MOT certificates plus a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to a very good standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

Mini Travellers are now quite rare. The vendor tells us, by way of an example, that on the 2014 London-Brighton Mini rally there were only seven Travellers out of a total of 2,200 Minis.

They are also, like the Morris Minor Traveller, very, very cool; few cars reek of a gentler, kinder period in our history than a ‘Woodie’ but even the most die-hard adherent would admit that they’re a little underpowered for modern use.

Not this one, though; with a 1300cc Metro engine under the bonnet it is more than capable of keeping up with modern traffic, even at motorway speeds. This, along with the custom interior and exterior, make this a very appealing alternative to a modern runabout, not least because its tiny foot print makes city driving and parking a doddle.

As to value, we think it’ll sell for somewhere between £8,000 and £12,000.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the seller in Newbury in Berkshire; 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’.

This vehicle is not with us at The Market’s HQ, which means we have had to rely on the owner’s description of it, in conjunction with the photographs you see here, to compile the listing.

With this in mind, we would encourage potential bidders to contact the owner themselves and arrange to view the car in person, or to arrange a dedicated video call in which they can view the car virtually and ask questions.