evilwizardgtx
1965 Austin Mini Cooper S 1275 “DPY 160C”
Since fully restored!
This very rotten wreck is a genuine, all-original 1965 Austin Mini Cooper S 1275 W/ standard fuel tank, black plate Yorkshire registration “DPY 160C”, in an original shade of corroded “Surf Blue” W/ white roof. I took this picture in-person back in October 2018, and was present in December that year at a very well-attended auction at the famous Mathewson’s classic car auctions at Thornton-Le-Dale, Ryedale, North Yorkshire, U.K. My friend bought a 1962 Anglia 105E Deluxe at auction that day. The Mini was initially expected to fetch around £3K-£5K, at least under £10K, but sold for a staggering £18,000 at auction, the winning bidder being Mr. Peter Watchman - a classic Mini enthusiast from Sunderland. The car is a genuine “Barn Find”, as it was parked stashed with old glass bottles and junk inside a moldy 1930s garage in the nearby North Yorkshire town of Stokesley for over 40 years. The Mini was featured on the popular series “Bangers And Cash” and caused quite a stir among MK1 Mini enthusiasts online.
This vehicle was in an extremely rough shape of disrepair. As evidenced by this picture, and shots from the show. There were lots and lots of seriously rusted patches of sheet metal and even worse deep rot on practically every angle of the car. Despite this, the new owner and his team of talented restorers decided to salvage as many rebuildable pieces as possible and even managed to bravely save the original bodyshell, rather than source a replacement. As many original parts as possible were restored and reused.
The Mini was in such a dreadful state to begin with, in fact it - seeing the car up-close in person while taking this picture made me think that anyone willing to buy it would probably only either use it as an original spares donor (mostly for the dashboard, glass, stainless trim pieces and reference points), or maybe even just display it in its given condition as some sort of macabre museum display piece. However, the result of over at least three years of hard work and considerable expense all put into this car resulted in an immaculate, spectacular, and gorgeous complete painstaking restoration. In fact, this is one of the very best restorations I have seen, given the “before” and “after” comparisons. Massive credit and respect for Mr. Watchman and his team of dedicated restorers and family! Peter not only has successfully and faithfully preserved a rare and interesting classic, but also regularly drives the car to shows and classic Mini meets, giving people the opportunity to see this incredible rebuild up-close! The logbook was reissued in January 2023, so the car might belong to someone else now. I’d love to know how much it sold for!
This car, considering just how rough it was, as seen in this photo and others, when compared to the perfect, complete brave restoration it received, proves that even the roughest cars can still be restored, albeit with considerable hours of hard labour and expense. Arguably, nothing isn’t “completely unsalvageable”.
Official video here, featuring in-progress stages of the restoration: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd52UGNwRFg
1965 Austin Mini Cooper S 1275 “DPY 160C”
Since fully restored!
This very rotten wreck is a genuine, all-original 1965 Austin Mini Cooper S 1275 W/ standard fuel tank, black plate Yorkshire registration “DPY 160C”, in an original shade of corroded “Surf Blue” W/ white roof. I took this picture in-person back in October 2018, and was present in December that year at a very well-attended auction at the famous Mathewson’s classic car auctions at Thornton-Le-Dale, Ryedale, North Yorkshire, U.K. My friend bought a 1962 Anglia 105E Deluxe at auction that day. The Mini was initially expected to fetch around £3K-£5K, at least under £10K, but sold for a staggering £18,000 at auction, the winning bidder being Mr. Peter Watchman - a classic Mini enthusiast from Sunderland. The car is a genuine “Barn Find”, as it was parked stashed with old glass bottles and junk inside a moldy 1930s garage in the nearby North Yorkshire town of Stokesley for over 40 years. The Mini was featured on the popular series “Bangers And Cash” and caused quite a stir among MK1 Mini enthusiasts online.
This vehicle was in an extremely rough shape of disrepair. As evidenced by this picture, and shots from the show. There were lots and lots of seriously rusted patches of sheet metal and even worse deep rot on practically every angle of the car. Despite this, the new owner and his team of talented restorers decided to salvage as many rebuildable pieces as possible and even managed to bravely save the original bodyshell, rather than source a replacement. As many original parts as possible were restored and reused.
The Mini was in such a dreadful state to begin with, in fact it - seeing the car up-close in person while taking this picture made me think that anyone willing to buy it would probably only either use it as an original spares donor (mostly for the dashboard, glass, stainless trim pieces and reference points), or maybe even just display it in its given condition as some sort of macabre museum display piece. However, the result of over at least three years of hard work and considerable expense all put into this car resulted in an immaculate, spectacular, and gorgeous complete painstaking restoration. In fact, this is one of the very best restorations I have seen, given the “before” and “after” comparisons. Massive credit and respect for Mr. Watchman and his team of dedicated restorers and family! Peter not only has successfully and faithfully preserved a rare and interesting classic, but also regularly drives the car to shows and classic Mini meets, giving people the opportunity to see this incredible rebuild up-close! The logbook was reissued in January 2023, so the car might belong to someone else now. I’d love to know how much it sold for!
This car, considering just how rough it was, as seen in this photo and others, when compared to the perfect, complete brave restoration it received, proves that even the roughest cars can still be restored, albeit with considerable hours of hard labour and expense. Arguably, nothing isn’t “completely unsalvageable”.
Official video here, featuring in-progress stages of the restoration: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd52UGNwRFg