1979 Mini Margrave Elite Wood & Pickett

With just six previous keepers and in the care of the current owner for the past nine years, this Wood & Pickett ‘Margrave Elite’ Mini is a very different car to the one that left the factory back in 1980. With both external and internal modifications, it is a much more opulent car than anything Sir Alec Issignois ever envisaged.

The basic Wood & Pickett specification comprised a leather and walnut fascia panel, leather or Dralon seats, plus front and rear nudge bars. Customers could then choose from a long list of optional extras, which enabled them to make it unique and their very own.

But the Wood & Pickett ‘Margrave Elite’ Mini retained the car’s standard mechanical components, which might have made sense from a warranty perspective but left it all dressed up and nowhere to go, which led many customers to opt for a hotter engine and modified suspension, too.

Which is what has happened here, albeit after it had been running in its standard specification for a few years. With a tuned Avonbar 1380cc engine under the diminutive bonnet, this example finally had the performance to match its looks.

Documentation shows that the original owner was a Howard Ferguson of Loughborough who sold the car in 1980 to Markheath Securities plc when the car was given the registration HOT 740. At this time the car was gold with a brown vinyl roof, and had a different grille and rear bull bars; the car will come with some old pictures that show it in this trim.

The car was then sold to Patricia May in around 1991 at which point it reverted back to its original number of ULA 168W. The car comes with a document that shows that a Steve Clarke owned the car in 1994 and by 1995 the car belonged to a Tony St. Louis. The Mini changed hands again in 2007 when it was sold to Miss Claire Louise Scoines from Tunbridge Wells.

The current owner has had the car since 2010 when the car gained the registration 75 WP. The car will come with its original registration number of ULA 168W.

Finished in a very dark blue that looks almost black under some light, the de-seamed bodywork and partly de-seamed roof is in a good overall condition. Its panels are straight and true, and the shut lines are good. The wheelarch extensions are in good shape and cover the wider wheels and tyres.

Speaking of which, the Minilite alloy wheels might be something of a cliché, but there’s no denying that they suit the Mini to perfection. The ones fitted to this car are in great shape, and shod with matching Yokohama A539 high-performance tyres.

As we will never tyre of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres like this 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 do give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

The exterior chromework, including the distinctive front nudge bar, is in great shape, as are the trademark square headlight surrounds, Jaguar door handles, and Vauxhall Ventora front grille. The original ‘Margrave’ and ‘Wood & Pickett of London’ badges are still in place.

Problems seem to be limited to the odd patch of light bubbling, most notably near the sunroof, on the lower edge of the nearside front wing, on the top of the offside rear wing, and on the nearside rear quarter. The front is slightly peppered with stonechips. The offside rear light cluster surround is also cracked, but that would be a very easy fix.

If it were ours we might be tempted to have a paint correction carried out to remove some of the minor wear and tear that has been inevitably accrued, too.

The car’s specification is huge and includes electric windows and mirrors, opening quarterlight windows in the rear, a rear wash-wipe, and a rear view mirror with indicator lights.

The leather Recaro seats are still in good shape. They’re deeply sculpted and far more supportive and comfortable than any standard Mini seat, and hint at the car’s target market. They’re only mildly creased and patinated, and the only rear wear is to the outer edge of the bolster on the driver’s seat, which is a little worn but still intact and so could probably be easily and cheaply re-coloured if required.

The rear seat looks to be largely unused and is in a very good condition. Given the limited rear legroom, this is not a surprise.

The leather door cards are in great shape too, and the walnut door cappings are sound but would benefit from being sanded down and re-varnished as they are a little dull. The rest of the wooden veneer is complete, but lifting slightly in places, and so could do with some attention.

The headlining is taut and fits well. It might be a little grubby but it should clean up nicely, and the electrically operated metal sunroof opens and closes as it should.

A period Phillips radio-cassette player and a Pioneer graphic equaliser sit in the dashboard, with a row of switches (that we note are shared with the Jensen we are also auctioning!) sandwiched between the headunit and the heater controls. Extra gauges sit in the new, completely redesigned wooden dashboard, and period Pioneer speakers have been fitted to the rear parcel shelf. It all looks fabulously of-the-time, doesn’t it?

The original ‘WP’ Wood & Pickett gearknob is still present and correct, as is the cream, leather-trimmed, three-spoke ‘WP’ Mota-Lita steering wheel.

The boot is a bit grubby, but a weekend’s work would transform it and bring it up to the same condition as the rest of the car.

Avonbar is well known for building fast road and competition Mini engines. The full specification for its 1380cc engines can be seen here but the headlines are:

1. Block - the block is properly offset bored, plateau honed and surfaced, chemically cleaned before being fitted with new core plugs, oil gallery plugs and camshaft bearings. All block threads are re-tapped. The block is also painted.

2. Crankshaft - the crankshaft is re-ground to optimum size and then heat-treated.

3. Flywheel assembly – a new steel flywheel and backplate is fitted, with either an orange or grey diaphragm.

4. Connecting rods - are fitted with ARP bolts.

5. Omega cast 73.5 Pistons (NOTE: Upgrade available to forged 73.5 Omega pistons for track days at extra cost.)

6. Other parts include - a billet camshaft of your choice, eight followers, a set of heavy duty main and big end engine bearings, thrusts, a hi-capacity high-pressure oil pump, Duplex timing chain kit ,a clutch plate, oil seals and engine gasket set.

The engine is said to be running well. The car will come with paperwork to support the engine modification, including an original Engine Tuning Data sheet. The work was carried out by Tony St Louis, and he was sensible enough to add Spax lowered and adjustable suspension at the same time. The total cost was £1,430 – back in the early nineties!

The braking system has been fitted with braided Goodridge hoses, a Lucas electronic ignition system, and the car has twin fuel tanks, all of which support the fact that the work that was done on the car has been done properly. The engine bay itself is neat and clean.

The Mini’s underside looks straight and free of rot. It has been nicely undersealed, and that work looks to have been undertaken with a view to preserving its condition rather than to hide anything nasty.

The online MOT history shows nothing of concern whatsoever – it has only garnered a single advisory point since 2006 - and confirms the car’s low mileage. The MOT certificate itself expire in August 2020.

The car comes with 30 old MOT certificates, plus a number of old invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years.

Cars like this don’t come up very often. Sure, standard Minis are ten-a-penny but period-correct modified cars like this Margrave Wood & Pickett example are much rarer - and when you throw in a fast road engine from a company as well-respected as Avonbar the expression ‘hen’s teeth’ springs to mind.

But that rarity and period-cool won’t necessarily translate into big money. While we think this lovely example will attract a lot of attention, we think it will reach between £10,000 to £15,000 due to its rarity, at which price point you are getting an awful lot of 80’s cool for not a lot of dosh.

 so why not throw in a cheeky bid and see if you can snaffle yourself a slice of fried eighties’ gold?

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen in Wrotham, Kent; 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’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings of any auction, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles we have for sale. While we use our trade experience to assess every car that comes through our hands (and between us we have bought hundreds of classic cars over the years for our personal use…) we are fallible, and our assessment of a car may contrast with that you might form yourself.

This is why we offer a far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange a professional inspection on their behalf of, each vehicle prior to bidding than any traditional car auction, and we will never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this by coming to see it in person.

That said, we do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or those formed as a result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.