LEYLAND CARS MINI 1275 GT

One previous owner from new. only done 44. 00 miles. in exceptional condition. a local MOT station and Antiques collector has owned this car for 20 years and has been kept in a dry heated garage. black paint

Totally solid bodywork and underneath. while he had it he did a new subframe. exhaust etc.

We have just reconditioned it. brakes overhaul. service and tune and new MOT and new stripes

This car is very special. the bodywork. the A panels. the sills. inside of the boot. inner wings are in excellent condition and origional.

With this pedigree and the way it drives. this is a fantastic investment and pure value for money and very very rare.

All matching numbers. excellent value.

A bit of history.

In 1969. under the ownership of British Leyland. the Mini was given a facelift by stylist Roy Haynes. who had previously worked for Ford. The restyled version was called the Mini Clubman. and has a squarer frontal look. using the same indicator/sidelight assembly as the Austin Maxi. The Mini Clubman was intended to replace the upmarket Riley and Wolseley versions. A new model. dubbed the 1275GT. was slated as the replacement for the 998 cc Mini Cooper (the 1275 cc Mini Cooper S continued alongside the 1275GT for two years until 1971). The Clubman Estate took over where the Countryman and Traveller left off.

However. British Leyland continued to produce the classic 1959 "round-front" design. alongside the newer Clubman and 1275GT models (which were replaced in 1980 by the new hatchback Austin Metro. while production of the original "round-front" Mini design continued for another 20 years. )

Production of the Clubman and 1275GT got off to a slow start because the cars incorporated "lots of production changes" including the relocation of tooling from the manufacturer's Cowley plant to the Longbridge plant: very few cars were handed over to customers before the early months of 1970. [46]

Early domestic market Clubmans were still delivered on cross-ply tyres despite the fact that by 1970 radials had become the norm for the car's mainstream competitors. [46] By 1973 new Minis were. by default. being shipped with radial tyres. though cross-plies could be specified by special order. giving British buyers a price saving of £8. [47]

The 1275GT is often incorrectly described as the "Mini Clubman 1275GT". The official name was always just the "Mini 1275GT". and it was a separate. distinct model from the Clubman (although it shared the same frontal treatment as the Mini Clubman. and was launched at the same time).

In 1971. the 1275 cc Mini Cooper S was discontinued in the UK. leaving the Mini 1275GT as the only sporting Mini on sale for the rest of the decade. Innocenti in Italy. however. continued making their own version of the Mini Cooper for some time. While the UK built 1275GT was not nearly as quick as a 1275 Mini Cooper S. it was cheaper to buy. run. and insure. It was the first Mini to be equipped with a tachometer. It also featured a standard-fit close-ratio gearbox. Performance of the 1275GT was lively for the time. achieving 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 12. 9 seconds. and the excellent midrange torque offered a 30–50 mph (48–80 km/h) time in top gear of only nine seconds. The bluff front. however. meant that the model struggled to reach 90 mph (140 km/h). The 1275 cc A-series engine could be cheaply and easily tuned. though the cheap purchase price and prominent "sidewinder" door stripes meant that this model developed a reputation as something of a "boy-racer special" during the 1970s and into the 1980s.

The Mini Clubman and 1275GT were responsible for two motoring "firsts": they were the first vehicles to use a flexi printed-circuit board behind the dash instruments (universal nowadays. but technically advanced for 1969). Secondly. the 1275GT was the first vehicle to be offered with run-flat tyres; from 1974 this model could be ordered with optional Dunlop Denovo tyres on 12-inch (300 mm) diameter rims. In the event of a puncture. the Dunlop Denovo tyre would not burst and quickly deflate. but could continue to be used safely at speeds of up to 50 mph (80 km/h). This was a useful safety feature. although the increased road noise and relatively poor grip of this tyre meant that many 1275GT buyers ignored this option.

Throughout the 1970s. British Leyland continued to produce the classic 1959 "round-front" design. alongside the newer Clubman and 1275GT models. The long-nose Clubman and 1275GT offered better crash safety. were better equipped. and had vastly better under-bonnet access. but they were more expensive and aerodynamically inferior to the original 1959 design. The Mini Clubman and 1275GT were replaced in 1980 by the new hatchback Austin Metro. while production of the original "round-front" Mini design continued for another 20 years. At the end of Clubman and 1275GT production. 275. 83 Clubman saloons. 197. 06 Clubman Estates and 110. 73 1275GTs had been made.

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