dlawson..  totally agree.. why would NOT just buy new Mk1 shell from BMH.. and build everything from new..  could NOT be much more than $25k.. and then get State vin number..  why waste $25 large on POS rusty mini????

The derelict is obviously worth whatever someone was willing to pay for it.  However, that person is not (and would never be) me.  If I remember correctly (I'm too lazy to re-read the listing) the $25k car did not even have its original engine.  If the numbers don't match, you could take any much less expensive Mini and build it into what a TV show might want as an outcome.  There's no need to pay $25k unless you are buying the title and VIN number.

My -S is a complete '64.  Were I to sell it (which I am not) I doubt I would ask more than $25k.  To each his own.

Unless, for example, it is being featured as part of a TV car restoration series, and they wanted to ‘big up’ the value...?

From p60 of November CooperWorld: “Air Television, a TV production company based in Yorkshire, are making a programme to follow the barn find Mk1 Mini Cooper S through auction and hopefully its life thereafter.”

Dlawson. yea I heard about..  guess I would would be in the orange co NC jail.. because my hands  would have been around her throat..  if my ex had done this to me.. btw I  had a ex redhead.. that tried to sell my morgan  when I was in the UK.. she was  trying to trade EVEN  for her a new honda ..  lucky for me. the saleman at the honda dealership knew me and called me in london..  she was long  GONE when I got back from the UK. NEVER to return...  fyi..  I heard Se7en is getting up to $80k to restore a mini pick up these days. and have SIX waiting to be done..    later bc

Yes, the cost of restoration or refurbishment is high... even if you do a lot of the manual labor yourself.  To spend $80k on a Mini has to be considered a labor of love, not an investment.  The U.K. auction car above was certainly not worth $25k... not unless there was some emotional reason to buy what was left of the car.

As a case in point, a guy who used to live around here took a common Mk2 and rebuilt it into a rally replica.  He spent upwards of $35k for the project.  Then... he was faced with a divorce and deployment by the military.  He turned down offers approaching $20k and in the end (when he ran out of time) had to surrender the car to his wife as part of their settlement.  Two years passed, the ex-wife remarried and her new man started to part the car out.  The car was noticed by a guy on MM who in turn bought it (largely still intact) for $4.5k.  That's WAY down from what the builder was asking and not even close to the $20k he had turned down.  

Buy your Mini because you want it, enjoy it, and don't expect to get your money back out of it.  Yes, you could rebuild the auction car with a new shell.  However, if I remember correctly this "car" didn't even have its original engine.  With a replacement engine, and an all new body and interior, the auction car will be like "grandfather's axe".  

Yeah, but he owns a chain of MINI and BMW dealerships, so I doubt he was too worried about the cost

I'm happy to see prices going up. Parts are still cheap. But any type of restoration is going cost $$$. A paint job can range from $3k to $15k of beyond. Who knows what body labor is; unless you are doing it yourself.

There was the guy at MME '18 in New York that made a replica Monte Carlo #177. He spent $80k. 

malsal.. totally argree.. but what  a POS..  looks like something out of sanford and son..STUPIC money in my book.. later bc

well sold.  Very well sold.

https://mathewsons.co.uk/vehicle-auction-catalogue/7760-september-auction-1966-mini-cooper

Best route would be a Heritage re shell.

Wow.... that is insane !
It does have the hard to find 3.5" S wheels.

I sold my 67 S shell in far better shape, for $350...lol

https://www.foxnews.com/auto/rusty-little-mini-cooper-sold-for-big-bucks-at-auction