I just looked and the ad says that it has been sold. Makes me wonder if SpeedySmurf purchased the mini. In my opinion it has a lot of red flags and I hope he brought someone with him who knows minis if he doesnt. Him posting about needing insight makes me think he doesn't know a lot. First off the person who took pictures of it seemed to focus a lot more on the passengers side and I find that strange. Then when they do show pictures of the drivers side the darn door is cracked open in almlost every picture. Instantly makes me think there is something wrong with the door and if you look closely at the few pics that actually show the door and hinges you can see that it is sprung pretty bad. Not only are the hinges dented into the door the upper hinge is dented into the A-panel and pretty good too. Looking at it from the front it just looks off to me and at first I thought it was becasue of the headlights being LED. But after looking thru the pictures there are two that show the actual headlights and they sure dont fit very well. the drivers side has at least 1/2" or more of gap between the ring, rubber gasket and the fender. Heck it might be 3/4" and the paasengers side 1/2". Hard to tell. The gap might be because they spent a lot of time putting filler over the seams for the front fenders and even filled where it goes into the channel for the bonnet. At that point I would think they would smooth over the lower seam. Minis tend to rust around and below the headlight. Several if not all four of the upright seam covers (rear corners and in front of doors) were obviously rermoved for body work because the fitment of them is terrible. If I were selling the mini for 33k I would certainly take a picture of inside the boot. The shell itself seams, in my opinion is probably hiding a lot of secrets under the paint. From inside the car it looks to me like rust is coming back all around the lower edge of the windscreen. I have seen my fair share of rusty cars that have been smoothed over and painted and this would be my biggest concern with this mini. All the other missmatched bits can be replaced if ever needed but once the rust starts to show its ugly face things can get very expensive. I could be completely wrong with suspecting it has a lot of hidden issues beneath the paint but its what I would be most concerned about.

The trouble is that the only person who can decide if it's worth it is you. If you want a car like this can you find another one and how much do you have to pay?? Why are you buying? If you're not buying to enjoy in the long term, are you prepared to take the hit when you put it back into the market (you suggest that the current owner doesn't have buyers falling over themselves at this price).

Looking at other sites (Bring a Trailer for example) you can buy a car like this for a lot less.... But then I don't think I'd be happy paying the money being reported based on the limited info provided (and the kibitzing (sp?) of what I would call a largely uninformed peanut gallery). That said, there are more than a few cars in the BAT gallery that are (IMHO) more attractive and much cheaper than this option.

I suggest you need to get in with a bunch of existing owners (ie local club) to get a good understanding of what you want ..and what might be available.

Cheers, Ian

This.  Good job Dan.

There are a reasonable number of Mk1's in Colorado so there are usually 1 or 2 on the market. Head to a Minis of the Rockies meeting if you can and ask around - many of the sales are never advertised. I'd avoid the 850 engine though, here at altitude it's hard work to drive. A 998 is fine, most club cars will be 1275 though.

The greatest joy in owning a Mini is driving it.

Whatever you get, get something that you can drive right away. Upgrades can be done in small increments that don't take it off the road for any length of time. Apart from bragging rights, a Cooper or Cooper S is probably not all that much more fun on the road than a decent, well-prepared Mini.

As much as I dream of owning a Concors d'Elegance quality original condition mini,  I know it's probably never going to happen.   I think this mini is a good place to start for something I will probably only enter into a few local shows anyway.   I can at least putz around town enjoying the drive without worrying too much about superficial cosmetic issues. If the body is straight and not caked in bondo then I can always upgrade the engine later without completely blowing any semblance of a budget I may have.  Thanks for the different perspectives.  It gives me a better understanding of what I actually want vs how much I should be looking to spend.  Time to brush up on my negotiating skills. 

I'd ask if they have receipts and/or photos of the paint process to see if there was any or much bodywork done. Same for the engine work. Every Mini needs/needed bodywork at some point. Too old to be rust free unless they were a museum piece. Anyone can claim to paint a car. But to do it proper and with the needed bodywork, really adds value. Now if you're going to repaint the car anyways, then you'll find out otherwise how good or bad it is. If the rest of the mods are up your alley, it saves you buying them. Being that it's been there awhile, see how far they'll go down. 

I might be an outlier here, but after having seen the video and unless there's excessive rust or the motor is tired, I'd say it's easily worth $30k. You've already stated that it's most likely not a real Cooper S (it's not), so you're not paying a premium for an original, unmolested "S". You could easily pay $30K to bring a decent roller up to the silver car's high standards if you do the work yourself, $40k - $60k if you have a shop do the work. Ask me how I know; I'll show you the receipts. 

I've owned a few expensive, bone-stock collector's cars and I'm over it. I couldn't even buy an aftermarket gear shift knob without devaluing my cars by 10%. I rarely dove them because I'd watch the value of these cars decline every time the odometer ticked off another mile. I've owned my current Mini about 15 years and I'm still thrilled with it. Although it's highly modified, it's built to a high standard and it still wins "Best in Class" at almost every show I enter, and yet I drive it every day. After some trial and error, I've found the sweet spot of collector car ownership.

I suspect the folks that claim you can find a high quality Mini for under $20k haven't shopped the market for quite a while, or have a pretty low standard as to what constitutes "high quality." I'm sure there's some widow looking to sell her husband's pride & joy without knowing its value, but what are the odds and how long are you willing to wait? 

So not a CooperS- even the ad says it is a tribute. A real 1275S engine is good for 76hp  (not the 60 cited) etc etc.  Not even a good tribute.  That said appears to be a relatively nice MkI Super Deluxe that has been tarted up to someone's taste. You can order the heritage cert if you still believe but if it were a real LHD Cooper S they wouldn't go screwing with it by converting  it to RHD- VIN plates are easy to come by (as is the badging). Note the heritage cert doesn't confirm the car and the number go together -it just identifies the characteristics of the car originally attached to that number.    You can never turn it into a real Cooper S(honestly) and you'll never get purist numbers matching pricing on resale.  Doesn't mean it is a bad car just not a Cooper S.     
To give you an idea what purist pricing looks like:  https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1964-morris-mini-cooper/ 

Is it worth what they are asking? Not to me and I am not a purist. It should tell you something that they haven't moved this in a while.   nice MKI's of any sort are hard to find- so I feel your pain. 
Kim
'63 Morris 850

Those seats are hideous.    Overpriced in my opinion.    

I'm not the biggest fan of the silver or the headlights either but how often do you come across  a mk1 Cooper S for sale under $40k, even if it is a clone.  The headlights are easy enough to switch back but here in Colorado (a.k.a. pothole central)  it would definitely be a plus on the safety side to have LED headlights that shine more than 10 feet in front of the car.  

If it turns out to be a clone I wouldn't mind getting a little weird with the color and going with a satin maroon or something less common/traditional.  As if a classic mini didn't already draw enough attention.

Starting with the provenance is a good idea, and for around $100 more than worth the cost of knowing for sure before making such a large purchase.   I think it would be a fun project either way.  If it turned out to be an actual Cooper S,  I would enjoy hunting down the correct parts and going as original as possible but if turned out to be a clone I wouldn't feel bad about adding my own personal touches.  

For as long as I've been searching,  it seems like mk1s don't come up for sale too often.  At least not in running/driving condition and for under $40k (Cooper Ss even less often). Just more evidence of being a clone, I guess.  Thanks for the advice! 

This is the link for it: https://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/vehicle/chi/2110/1965-austin-mini      

As for authenticity, it appears to be a mash up of parts inside and out from regular Minis, Cooper'S's, and aftermarket goodies.

According to the VIN it APPEARS to be legit in accordance with the VIN breakdown provided by our host MiniMania found here: https://www.minimania.com/Mini_Chassis_VIN_and_Commission_Numbers__Part_I__Revised_#59  The first character is a 'C' which usually denotes the Cooper'S'. But these tags can be and have been replicated. Seems like a pretty clean tag for such an old car. Usually they are beat up, scratched, stained, etc. BUT...not saying this ISN'T and Cooper'S' either.

If you're really interested, I would do some homework on tracking down some providence of it by way of contacting the Heritage Trust, found here: https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/archive/heritage-certificates and then you can get the full run down of the car as per the certificate. There is a fee involved with that. But again, if you want full clarity from the horses mouth and are serious about the car, that's it.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you're not a stickler for it being a true and exact Cooper'S' and really like the car based on what it has and how it looks, then that's all that matters. You like the car.
 
But if you're that kind of stickler about having a true Cooper'S' (which this may be after some searching and homework), it'll take a little bit of work and parts to get it back to original condition and parts. 

Depends on where you want to go with it.
 
The 60hp rating for a 1275 seems off though, as mentioned. A 1275 is usually rated around the 75hp range, in stock form. Not sure where they are getting the 60 from. Something to ask them.
 
So in all, there are some questionable items to address on whether it's a true Cooper'S'. Now...if you find out that it's not, you can always use that as leverage against Gateway's claim of it being such, to get the price down. 

If you want a true Cooper'S' that's in good condition and running and driving, they go for a little more than that advertised price usually, dependant on condition. The more original one is, the more it costs usually. This one has gone the other way.
 
There's enough things that are off on this one that would make me want to check the validity of it instead of taking their word. Not saying they are lying or anything, just saying it would be worth looking into to make sure. Now if it IS a true Cooper'S', than that's not a bad deal. But then again, do you want a modified Cooper'S' or want an original?

Just my $0.02

The VIN is a generic DOT number not an original BMC number. At 60 hp the motor is not a 1275 Cooper S motor. Its obviously missing bumper over-riders and nudge bars which could be added. Its not a very good Cooper S clone and therefore way over priced, I would by up to $10K. Silver colour and black wheels are not to my liking for a Mini. I don't like the LED headlights either.

I've been searching for a mk1 for a while now and there's one in particular that keeps catching my eye .  A 1965 Austin mk1 cooper S has been posted on gatewayclassiccars.com for some time now and hasn't sold.  The price is currently set at $33k which doesn't seem completely outlandish for how clean the car appears.  I know it's probably a "clone" Cooper S but the vin # looks correct for the model other than being converted to right hand drive.  Is there something I'm missing as to why this car hasn't sold?  I would definitely try to negotiate the price but any guesses at the actual value in its current condition? Any input would be greatly appreciated.  Cheers!

https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1695215/1965-austin-mini-for-sale-in-o-fallon-illinois-62269