|
A little history on the Aussie Cooper and Cooper S.
There were "a handful" of Cooper model Minis imported, both privately and by BMC for select motorsport customers, before an Australian-built Morris Cooper was released in November 1962.
The first few Australian 997cc Coopers were CKD from the UK, but production was soon using an Australian-built shell with Australian trim, not CKD. Engine-gearbox assembly was imported from UK and had UK engine numbers. Confusion here often comes from the fact that all Cooper components sent to BMC Australia from the UK were listed as CKD. While the early cars were certainly complete CKD, possibly as many as 100, later CKD kits only included specific Cooper components - engine/transmission unit complete, dashboard and gauges, and brightwork (grille, moustache, wheel-arch mouldings, bumpers, etc.) but were still listed as CKD in the UK ledgers.
Again, there was a small number of 1071 Cooper S brought into Australia for motorsport customers by BMC, and some private imports, prior to the release of the 1275cc Morris Cooper. As far as I can determine, no 970S was imported by BMC, and all 970 Cooper Ss in Australia were private imports.
The Australian Cooper S was never built as CKD from the UK. All Aussie Cooper S were built here, with 1275cc engine/transmission units imported assembled, again with UK engine numbers. The Australian Cooper S was released in August 1965 and based on the Mini De Luxe. Most notable differences from the UK model were the Australian doors with wind-up windows and quarter-vents, the interior trim (which was basically the same as the De Luxe) and that the second fuel tank was standard - it remained an optional extra on the UK Cooper S until the Mk2 of 1969.
Importantly, the engine number of the Australian Cooper S has no relationship with the chassis number. Engines were taken out of stock and put on the production line as they were needed, and were not even fitted into cars in number order. The only available information on chassis numbers with engine numbers is taken at specific production levels - ie every 100th built. For example - chassis 501 had engine 9F/SA/Y/36207. Chassis 525 (featured in Issue 1 of The Mini Experience) had engine 36156. Also: chassis 600 had engine 37648 while chassis 693 (one of Peter Manton's cars) had engine 37901.
Australian production figures were:
997cc Cooper (YKA2S1) - July 1962 - January 1964 - (approx) 2,800 (note - production dates are of course earlier than release dates)
998cc Cooper (also YKA2S1) - February 1964 - December 1964 - (approx) 1,100
Total Cooper production - 997cc & 998cc - 3,888 (or 3,887 according to one source)
Mk1 (YKG2S2) - August 1965 to April 1969 - 4,986
Mk 2 - (YKG2S4) - May 1969 to June 1971 - 2,418
(A refresher on chassis ID - Y=Australia; K= Morris Cooper; A=800cc-999cc; G=1000cc-1399cc; 2S=two-door sedan; 1=1st series of the model; 2=2nd series; 4=4th series of the model - whatever happened to YKG2S3?) Some later Mk2 Cooper S have chassis prefix of YG2S4, not YKG - interesting that the Cooper designation was removed.
There was no such thing as a Mk3 Australian Cooper S. The confusion on this point comes from the fact that from early 1971 all Australian Minis had to be made to meet new ADRs and required the fitment of low-profile door handles (what became standard for all Leyland Minis in Australia). This included Mini K as well as Cooper S and Mini-Matic. Apparently there were around 110 Cooper S built in 1971, of which all had the new door handles. However, a figure of 168 Cooper S with the new door handles has been around for some time, and would suggest that Cooper S built from October or November 1970 were built to meet the 1971 ADRs, which makes sense, due to the fact that it was usually 2-3 months between built date and sale date.
Also adding confusion is that in the change-over period in 1969 from Mk1 to Mk2, some cars were fitted with Mk1 shells and Mk2 components, some cars had Mk2 shells with Mk1 compopnents and there seems no continuity with how this happened. Also, cars built prior to mid-1969 (not sure exact date at the moment) did not require an Australian Comliance plate. From 1969-on they did, so the compliance plate replaced the previous BMC ID plate. Many Cooper S, particularly early Mk2, have neither a compliance plate nor an ID plate, but are still genuine Cooper S. These cars have become generally referred to as Mk1.5 Cooper S, though that was never a term used officially by BMC.
The Clubman GT (YG2S8) was released in mid-1971 (August?). Early GTs used up the remaining stock of Cooper S engines (9F) with most cars using 1200 number series engines, but all were built to Cooper S specs. About 1,000 GTs were built - but that's another story.
|
), and you guys have probably got the answers at your fingertips or know off by heart anyway, so it's easier to just ask:
)
