1963 Austin/Morris Mini Cooper ‘S’ Works, Monte Carlo Rally
Team Prize Winner.

Registration No:  569 FMO
Chassis No:   CA2S7 482488
Engine No:  9FSAH 26586
Cylinder/Capacity:  4/1071 cc
Coachwork:  Saloon.

The BMC works team, operating out of the MG factory in Abingdon under the leadership of Stuart Turner and Peter Browning revolutionised the sport of rallying in the 1950’s and 60s first with the MG and Austin Healey sports cars, and then the Mini.

At first the Mini was thought unlikely to challenge for class honours in this the most mechanically demanding of motorsports, but this view was quickly revised with strong placings in the toughest events around the world. Paddy Hopkirk’s outright win in the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally proved to the world that the Mini had changed the face of the sport forever.

The great names of the Abingdon drivers like Hopkirk, Makkinen, Aaltonen, Fall and Moss as well as their co-drivers such as Liddon, Easter, Crellin, Wood and Wisdom became household names as they secured class and overall wins around the world throughout the mid ‘60’s including three outright wins on the most famous Rally of all, the Monte Carlo (as well as appearing on stage in the Royal Variety performance after their 1966 disqualification!)