Thanks all. The original interior was likely sorta turquoise. I see how a prior owner remade the covers in olive to match the faded center panels on the seats, which were kept. The door cards were too brittle and tossed. I'm planning to redo the seats and cards with quality Newton skins and cards one day. I have a pair of tatty front seats with headrests that will go in for safety.

Anyone know a good place for rewebbing the original seat belts? Snakeoyl? I have the original Irvin belts but they are frayed. 

Excellent! Another unusual South African car in the US. I have never seen a MK3 in person.

Maybe when you and Chuck decide to get yours together, you could meet in the middle to do it - say in Denver possibly?

Awesome! Learn something new everyday.

I've not seen Mark's Mk3 in person, but I've followed the restoration and it's by far the best Mk3 I've seen...in person or in photos.

There are only two countries that made Mk3 Minis and England is not one of them. A standard shaped saloon was made in Italy and then there's the standard MK III front with an Elf/Hornet rear made in South Africa.

In South Africa, it started with the Wolseley 1000. About 450 were made. Standard saloon rear. Wolseley Hornet front. The company decided to "rationalize" the Mini line and dropped the Cooper, the Cooper S and the Wolseley 1000. Then they came out with the Mk3. Go figure! Around 3600 were made.

Congrats!! I know the feeling all too well after importing 2 Minis. One actually got rerouted down to Baltimore. What a hassle.

The car looks REALLY nice. Maybe I am slow to bunch but what exact model is this? I thought the Hornets and Elfs all had the upright grills? Did you have it restored with a round nose? Would LOVE to see some interior pix as well. Are you in NY or NJ? I'm about 45 minutes west of the city. Great driving out by me?

What a great example of a pure restored car. Looks great and I'm sure it's a head turner. Thanks for sharing this.

Great Story! Your car looks amazing and I love the color.

Congrats with your new car collection. take good care of it, that's a gem..

join now;  

 //www.limeny.org/

That's awesome Mark! Thanks for sharing, and congratulations! Looks like the beautiful Factory 'Smoke Grey' finish! I'll bet your anticipation of taking possession of it was so thick you could cut it with a knife! Worth the wait! Enjoy!                    Mini Estate

Mark beat me by about a month. I don't know of any other Mk3s in the U.S.. Mine is still on the water and will be in Seattle in a week or so. It's a longer boat ride from South Africa to the west coast. Now all you need, Mark, is a Wolseley 1000 to go with it!

The boat arrived April 26th. I was able to track its journey on several boat tracking websites, which was really neat to see. When the Ro-Ro approached NYC I was able to watch it come up the Hudson River and dock on the New Jersey side. Amazingly there is a hallway window in my building that had a clear sight line. After a few patient weeks the car cleared US customs and was delivered to my door. The car was filthy but intact. I registered the car, changed the spark plugs (cylinder one was fouled) and gave it a bath. Sunday, I showed the Mini in the local street fair and won a trophy for third place, people's choice. 

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