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 Posted: Nov 17, 2018 01:17PM
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US
Try: [email protected]. That will get you to John Parnell, the registar for Rover Coopers in the Mini Cooper Register.

 Posted: Nov 17, 2018 12:23PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 6464
Coopers had a three clock dash. Mine has the greenish background with a reddish needle. Black Half leather interior with the lightning bolt pattern and the red piping. Red carpets.  It also has the opening rear quarter windows. There is not much more that separates the sprite from a mayfair. Not all coopers came with a leather shift knob. Oh yes, Alloys instead of steel wheels. 
Jim the posters car is a 1995 J spec SPI and none that i have seen of the spi/MPI Jap spec Mini's or Coopers had the opening windows from the factory as most had a/c.
The early 90's Jap spec cars with 998cc and carbs had them along with the a/c though.

If in doubt, flat out. Colin Mc Rae MBE 1968-2007.

Give a car more power and it goes faster on the straights,
make a car lighter and it's faster everywhere. Colin Chapman.

 Posted: Nov 17, 2018 04:41AM
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Coopers had a three clock dash. Mine has the greenish background with a reddish needle. Black Half leather interior with the lightning bolt pattern and the red piping. Red carpets.  It also has the opening rear quarter windows. There is not much more that separates the sprite from a mayfair. Not all coopers came with a leather shift knob. Oh yes, Alloys instead of steel wheels. 

 Posted: Nov 16, 2018 10:47PM
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The SPi Mini Coopers are also said to have come with a Rover "R652" stereo system. If you have this, I'd say that's a likely sign it is a Cooper, since I doubt anyone would at this stage would have retrofitted one.

If it had all leather upholstery, it would have an embossed Cooper logo on the backrests.

I also believe the SPi Coopers had red carpeting and red piping on the seats and doors. I'm not sure if regular Minis with the Lightning seat fabric had the red piping. I have read that red needles for the instruments were unique to the SPi Coopers as well.

DLY
 Posted: Nov 16, 2018 08:46PM
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Thanks a bunch. The steering wheel and shift boot are both leather, and the interior seems to match the age and mileage of the car.

 Posted: Nov 16, 2018 03:49PM
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The vin won't tell you anything.
In the 90's the Mini was sold with a bunch of different special edition models and all they amounted to was trim differences
The front and rear Cooper badges are more than likely aftermarket, they were used on later models though.
If the Cooper steering wheel is leather wrapped and says Cooper in the center it is more than likely an original. Coopers did have the lightning bolt interiors as well as others. 
It is hard to say if your car is a Cooper or not as the interior and steering wheel are easy items to change out.
There are no mechanical differences on a base Mini or a Cooper.

If in doubt, flat out. Colin Mc Rae MBE 1968-2007.

Give a car more power and it goes faster on the straights,
make a car lighter and it's faster everywhere. Colin Chapman.

 Posted: Nov 16, 2018 05:37AM
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Hi everyone!
Brand new here and new owner of a JDM 1995 Rover Mini SPI. I'm trying to find out whether mine is a Cooper model or not, as it has been repainted and didn't have visible hood stripes or Cooper decals. What it does have is the black "bolt" pattern interior, a Cooper steering wheel, and Cooper hood and trunk badges. Is there anything in the VIN that would tell me if this is a Cooper? I've used the Mini ID matrix, but all it mentions is hood stripes and decals. Tried searching the forum, but I had trouble finding anything about the SPI Coopers. My VIN is SAXXNNAYCBD101xxx.