David’s pick of the week: Mini Cooper Sport

This is just about the closest thing you’ll find to a brand-new Mini – a Cooper Sport that’s been kept in dry storage its entire life and has just 117 miles on its odometer.

It isn’t the only minimal-mileage classic that Classic Car Auctions (https://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk) is putting under the hammer at its Stoneleigh Park sale next Friday – it’s also offering a Renault 18 Estate that’s covered 360 miles in its 38-year lifespan – but as someone who’s owned two Minis, I’m fascinated to see if this Cooper will meet, or even smash, its £25-30k estimate.

There is precedent for Rover-era Coopers with tiny mileages to go for this sort of money, as Bonhams sold a 391-mile){href='http://(https://www.bonhams.com//auctions/26115/lot/85/?category=list&length=100000&page=1)' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'} example){href='http://(https://www.bonhams.com//auctions/26115/lot/85/?category=list&length=100000&page=1)' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'} for £25,875 last summer, but that was a one of the last-of-the-line Cooper Sport 500 models, which are particularly sought after by Mini aficionados as being the final examples to roll off the Longbridge production line. CCA’s car has everything going for it, and is rightly described by the auctioneer as ‘a truly amazing find’.

The question is – what should its lucky new owner do with it? I know it’d destroy much of its significance, but I’d be tempted to get out and do what the late John Cooper would have wanted. Just to get out and drive it…