lot
48 1963 AUSTIN Mini 850 Deluxe NZ$3,000 - NZ$5,000
SURF’S UP What is it about Alec Issigonis’s little car which makes people smile? Maybe it is because it is as the name says, not a small car, but a true scaled down version of a full sized car. Not to be confused with the “bubble cars” emanating from across the English Channel, nor with the awful little minicars such as the Bond, this was indeed a real, properly deigned motor car, just a bit smaller than the norm on the outside. Inside, due to brilliant packaging with the novel suspension system, and equally novel for the era 26
transverse-engined front wheel drive, the interior seemed bigger than the exterior, so it was no less practical and yet infinitely more efficient than the Morris Minor which it replaced. With it’s diminutive size and weight, even the 850cc examples such as this are great fun to drive, with good performance, and steering and handling like a go-kart, the early Mini is not only very collectible, but also one of those cars which will put a smile on your face and that of onlookers every time you drive it.