G'Day all, what is it with these Mini's? They seem to gravitate towards each other in to a collection when you really only want one! A bloke rings me out of the blue offering a Leyland van that was his paddock bomb. Anyway I said yes before looking but of course it will still come home. My question for you all is, how rare are Leyland vans? This one has a funky one piece rear door too which I suspect was a home made mod back in the day, sorry no photos yet. Thanks, Jonesy.

If you dont want the van you can give it to me.
Single piece rear doors were readily available in the UK in the 80's, made of fibre glass they were a good mod. I know cos I put one on mine decades go along with a single piece front.
Yours may be home made but that is not a prob, just make sure it is solid.

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Cheers Dave.

Have a look at the van register: viewtopic.php?f=64&t=101238

Leyland mini vans aren't rare but certain versions can be. For example my 1974 Van is nothing unusual however my 72 van is.

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1986 Mayfair (998 auto), 1974 S, 1974 Van, 1972 PMG Van

Too many minis

Why are some versions rare as the numbers for each year look very similar and was there a distinction between vans with side windows and those without? Also should updates to vehicles be listed in the register, eg our van is now a 4 seater. Also are there too few travellers in Australia too have a register.

Bazzz

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Mini Cooper S Mk 2, 1970,
Mini van 1970 with side windows now converted to 4 seater traveller

Travellers here are all private imports.
My mate has 3 Leyland vans, they seem to flock together.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

The Registers show the specification of the vehicle as it left the factory. Engine, colour or other changes since are not intended to be recorded.


We only show Australian built vehicles. There may be a Register elsewhere for the Traveller.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

The register lists them as they left the factory. That means that ones on the list could also be piles of rust which aren't repairable.

If we look at just surviving vans (including repairable ones) some versions are uncommon. Try to find surving poverty pack centre binnacle Leyland vans, they don't seem easy to find. They were used as cheap work vehicles so usually didn't survive as long.

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1986 Mayfair (998 auto), 1974 S, 1974 Van, 1972 PMG Van

Too many minis

That's what I thought and believe too. I recently pointed out that one "Traveller" was not one but everyone (not on here) seemed to want to tell me I was wrong. One claimed that it is an "Australian conversion" - still not a Traveller to me.

Apparently I'm wrong because it has four seats and windows (not the proper Traveller ones)

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1986 Mayfair (998 auto), 1974 S, 1974 Van, 1972 PMG Van

Too many minis

I know of one converted van with rear seat and seatbelts fitted.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

There was a four seater van built by Leyland. Maybe three prototypes. The green one still lives. Compliance plate says 4 seater

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The bitterness of poor quality (or Crappy Workmanship) remains LONG AFTER the Sweet Taste of Low Price is forgotten.

Thanks everyone for the details about the register and the background to the traveller. Should have read again the article in Mini Experience that has the details about vans and travellers. Drmini Aus, our van (shown in our ID) is a 1970 van with side windows converted to a four seater, fully specified by a certified automotive engineer, so now you know of two. I did have for a while an Australian conversion traveller but ran out of steam for projects and sold it on. So now what do I call my conversion. I call it a traveller but maybe I need another name.

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Mini Cooper S Mk 2, 1970,
Mini van 1970 with side windows now converted to 4 seater traveller

They’ve been converting vans into passenger cars for a long time. My grandad worked on one in the 60’s as the local dealer was considering selling them as an alternative to the saloon. They called them a station wagon

viewtopic.php?p=1035982#p1035982

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There's also quite a lot of vans converted to pickups (which were not sold here) but to do it properly it needs the vertical rear panel from a pickup and modify the sides to suit Just cutting down the van roof and sides looks wrong IMO.
An ausmini member in the Victorian high country did a very nice one.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I seem to remember an article by Craig many years ago about a special prototype wagon that Leyland Oz built. Not sure what they called it, noting the Morrisi are "Travellers", Austins are "Countryma/en" and BLs are "Estates"....

Travellers are not converted vans. The structure is quite different. As far as the shell is concerned there are far more differences between the Traveller and a van than there are between an 850 and an S. It would be a major job to do a conversion..... New floors, subfloors, side structures, internal bracing etc before you even got to thinking about window and seats. I wonder how many of the van conversions included opening rear windows??

I think a ute conversion would be easier.

I suppose BMC thought of them as station wagons as they have "W" chassis numbers.

I don't know about Registers but if you do have a Traveller/Countryman Heritage can supply a build certificate (just send $$ .

BMC (in the UK) originally supplied vans without side windows so they could be registered as commercial vehicles; thereby avoiding purchase tax. Of course there were any number of people selling kits to add windows (don't know how many people fronted up with the extra tax .

Back in the day, Volvo sold kits to convert their (2 seater) vans into wagons to anyone looking to save a few dollars.... anyone remember whether the vans had 3 doors or 5??

There are quite a few Travellers around Canberra. Allegedly the British High Commission imported a group which were issued to the wives of senior diplomats.

Cheers, Ian

As mentioned above, Travellers are completely different from vans. From the front doors back, almost every panel is different.

One of the rarest Mini variants ever built was the wooden load-floor van. From the outside it looks like a UK van with solid sides and the fixed front grille that they used, but on the inside it has the Traveller's wooden load floor, with space for the spare tyre under it, folding rear seat and rear side pockets. It was a tax special, built for certain markets where you paid less tax for a van, but could get away with 4 seats. I've only ever seen one, in NZ about 25 years ago. It had me scratching my head.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian