SLOW AND STEADY
The 997 Cooper MkI is considered by many as the Holy Grail of the Mini movement. John Lee was lucky enough to get hold of a 1962 Austin Cooper 997 in 1981 but it took him 25 years before he had the time to devote to the restoration.
John is firmly of the belief that a car this rare should be restored as closely to original spec as possible and would rather put the time into getting the original parts working again than opt for modern replacements or quick fixes.
The Austin Mini Cooper came into production in September 1961 (along with the Morris Mini Cooper). It took a little experimentation and some stringent testing but Cooper and Issigonis eventually came up with a car that was nimble, as well as economical. As John’s model is only from the second year of manufacture of the
