Description
We are delighted to offer this very well-known and unique 1969 Wood & Pickett Mini Cooper 1275cc S.
- The only Wood & Pickett Car made up to Margrave specification from New!
- 'Car of the Show' at the 2009 London-Brighton Mini Run
- Celebrity Ownership
Wood & Pickett Ltd was founded in the early 1960s by Bill Wood and Les Pickett, both of whom had been employed until the late 1940s by Hooper & Co, one of Britain's leading traditional coachbuilding firms. Inspired by the success of Harold Radford's upmarket Mini de Ville, Wood & Pickett decided to specialize in converting Minis to similarly luxurious specification, calling their version the 'Margrave'. The latter featured a distinctive leather and walnut dashboard, leather or Dralon upholstery, and front/rear 'nudge' bars, while customers were able to choose from a wide range of extra-cost options. A number of senior staff defected from Radford to Wood & Pickett and the latter went from strength to strength, diversifying into conversions for other models, most notably the Range Rover.
Wood & Pickett's converted Minis, like those of Harold Radford, were much in demand from show business celebrities and 'creatives' of all kinds, as is the case with this Cooper S, which was sent to W&P when new for rebuilding to Margrave specification. Its first owner was American sports car racer David Weir, the highlight of whose short career was a 4th place finish at Le Mans in 1971, sharing David Piper's Ferrari 512LM with Chris Craft. Weir was followed by celebrity hairdresser Leonard Lewis and then fashion photographer Clive Arrowsmith. Arrowsmith was succeeded by John Hammel, Paul McCartney's long-time personal assistant, while the Mini's next owner was Denny Laine, guitarist with the Moody Blues and McCartney's band, Wings.
Reinforcing the Wings connection, Arrowsmith was responsible for designing the cover of the group's 'Band on the Run' album. We are advised by the vendor that this is the only Mini Cooper S Mark II converted to Margrave specification by Wood & Pickett. Specification highlights include a full leather interior, electric windows, and Minilite alloy wheels.
A bona fide trend-setter and confidant of the rich and famous, it was Lewis who had the Wood & Pickett-transformed Mini painted Pacific Dark Blue in 1971 (its copy logbook indicating the colour change took place in October that year). Given his status it is not difficult to imagine the Car roaring around London’s hippest streets with some of the twentieth century’s most famous people aboard!
This Mini is a wonderful example of a car that became a British automotive style icon, an exhilarating drive and with links to celebrity London in the 1970s. These coachbuilt Mini’s were the preferred transport of many celebrities, both Peter Sellers and John Lennon had one as did so many others.
The Mini sports saloon was also previously owned by the musician John Frederick Hammel in 1974. He reportedly swapped it for a BMW and £300 in cash and showing some 21,000 miles to its odometer at the time, the Cooper S was repainted Claret shortly thereafter. Hammel sold the Margrave to Denny Laine (formerly of The Moody Blues and then a member of Wings) in 1978 for the latter’s wife JoJo to use but soon found himself asking to buy it back.
His second tenure lasted until 1998 when Andy Stewart purchased ‘YYU 292H’. Passing to Hammel for a third time in the early 2000s, he subsequently had the Margrave restored to its former glory such that it won the MiniWorld Car of the Show Trophy at the 2009 London to Brighton Mini Run. Perhaps best known as Sir Paul McCartney’s long-time guitar technician, Mr Hammel has owned numerous classics over the years but had a particular affinity for this one which his friend Steve Marriott of Humble Pie apparently referred to as ‘a 100-miles per hour pair of shades’.
Reputedly the only Morris Mini Cooper S to be converted to Margrave specification by coachbuilder Wood & Pickett, was despatched to dealer Stewart & Arden Ltd of Acton, London on 9th December 1969 but not road registered until 11th September 1970.
The ten-month gap was understandable given the craftsmanship that went into its subtly reworked exterior and thoroughly remodelled interior. Both front wings were given modest peaks (something of a W&P trademark), the headlamps gained hooded chrome surrounds (Riley 1.5 litre items) and the doors were modified to accept James Young-fabricated opening quarterlights.
A more aggressive stance came courtesy of wheel-arch extensions housing wider wheels & tyres. Left in standard Cooper S tune, thus boasted a twin-carburettor fed 1275cc engine, four-speed manual transmission, hydrolastic independent suspension and disc/drum brakes.
Restored between 2010 and 2012, this Cooper S had already been judged 'Car of the Show' at the 2009 London-Brighton Mini Run. Described by the private vendor as in generally very good condition, retaining its original interior, this rare and desirable Mini variant is offered with restoration invoices, current MoT, and a V5C Registration Certificate.
The Car/s Chassis and Engine Number is confirmed by the British Motoring Industry Heritage Certificate, which also states that this Cooper S was built on August 19th, 1969 and delivered to Stewart & Arden Ltd., in Acton, who were London Distributors of Morris Cars & Commercials.
This Wood & Pickett is very unique and differs from the usual conversion, in that it does not carry the usual quadruple headlights up front or the American style soft top to the back. Instead this conversion was quite subtle. Back in the 1960's W&P Mini conversions were incredibly expensive and the work of an extremely high standard. This Car has Aston Martin DB6 leather seats, Piper power windows, Aston Martin power window switches, Rolls Royce Chrome handles Lucas 608 interior mirror, replacement mats upholstered in dark blue leather, Paddy Hopkirk accelerator pedal, leather hand-brake gaiter, Britax seat belts, MGB tachometer and odometer, Jaguar ancillary instruments, Motolita wood trim steering wheel, Rolls Royce cigarette lighter.
Additionally the Car is equipped with two 5 gallon fuel tanks, Benelite grill, 2 Lucas headlamps, modified MK3 trunk lid, Princess 1100 door handles and Webasto Sunroof. The Car has also benefitted from a completely rebuilt Engine, Gearbox and Carbs.
The Car today is still in exceptional condition and will be given a full JD Classics overhaul prior to sale!
