A collection of 1959 Austin Minis which are on the register.
Michael Coates-Standring - Speedwell Blue September built Austin.
I longed to own a '59 car for umpteen years, so I wasted no time in asking if the car should ever come up for sale, I would like to have first refusal to purchase the car.
I thought no more about it until the same chap turned up a couple of weeks later. To my surprise, he agreed to sell the car, subject to me viewing it. What I hadn't realised was the car was in 'kit form'.
The car had been taken off the road in 1974 with just 50,583 miles on the clock and subsequently stripped to a bare body shell. The owner had thought about repainting the shell and making it into a 'Cooper Lookalike'. However, for whatever reason, he never got round to it...thankfully!
Everything had been painstakingly removed from the shell, marked/numbered and put into an array of boxes, tobacco tins and jam jars. The car was complete, with all the correct features of a '59 Austin Seven, albeit in a thousand pieces. Even the glass washer bottle had survived.
Remarkably, the shell was completely rust free. The only non original panels were the drivers door and the drivers 'A' panel, presumably as a result of a minor bump. Even the rear subframe was the original and still serviceable. Anyway, the shell was taken back to bare metal, prepped and repainted in its original speedwell blue. The paint finish is as good inside and underneath as it is on top.
The original subframes, original suspension components and all bracketry were shot blasted and powder coated in satin black. The original engine & gearbox (all matching part numbers and serial numbers) were stripped and completely overhauled and rebuilt by myself. Each individual engine/gearbox component was painted separately prior to final assembly, using all new imperial cadmium plated nuts, bolts and washers.
The original interior, including headlining, front/rear seats and various pieces of soft trim were sent off to Newton Commercial to have them faithfully recreate the Spanish Red/Grey Fleck '59 interior...the finished job is remarkable and every bit as good as when the car left the factory.
All the final assembly work was carried out by myself to the very highest of standards. The result is a truly beautiful Austin Seven...which drives as good as it looks. From purchasing the car in early 2014, the car was eventually back on the road in October 2020.
Michael Coates-Standring
9 Photos Doug Flory - Speedwell Blue Austin. 12 Photos Warwick Beadle - From the Mini Club of Auckland, New Zealand. 1 Photos Oliver Blair - Farina Grey July built Austin undergoing restoration. 4 Photos Les Darcey - Speedwell Blue November built Austin. This car has covered only 13,000 miles from new and has never been restored. A truly amazing example. 4 Photos Sipke Blom - Farina grey May built Austin. 4 Photos Ben Palmer - Farina Grey Austin. 5 Photos Trevor Ripley - Tartan Red Austin 18 Photos Gabriel Stumpf from Brazil - Tartan Red July built Austin before and during restoration. 18 Photos Chris Chew - Tartan Red Austin, first registered 10th December 1 Photos David Savage - Speedwell Blue Austin. 2 Photos Mr Nakayama (Country Garage) from Japan - Speedwell Blue 4th May built Austin. 16 Photos
Michael writes:-
I had been working between Christmas & New Year 2013 at my company (Wood & Pickett Mini Centre in Leatherhead, Surrey) when a chap turned up to collect a few parts he had ordered via our Ebay Shop.
Naturally, the conversation steered toward what Mini he was purchasing the parts for...He said my '59 car which has been in the family since new. It had the original bill of sale from the supplying dealer, Bells Service Garage in Kingston, Surrey, plus its original buff coloured logbook. At this point my ears pricked up...
Tartan Red. Dispatched December 1959 as a CKD.
This car is the third Austin to be built.
