A time warp one owner Mini Cooper is one of the star cars in the Charterhouse auction of Classic & Vintage cars on Sunday 4th November at The Royal Bath & West Showground. “It is probably the most important Mini Cooper I have been instructed to sell. ” Commented Matthew Whitney. “It was purchased new in 1966 from Stringers in Portsmouth by Mr Smith and he drove it until the hot summer of 1976 when it was driven into the garage where is did not turn another wheel until earlier this year when relatives started to clear his house after he passed away. Making amazing discoveries such as this is what being an auctioneer is all about, but on this occasion it was in a Christchurch domestic garage rather than a farmyard barn on the middle of Exmoor. ” Mini Coopers are synonymous with the swinging sixties and an icon of British motoring. However, what is so special about this particular Mini Cooper is that it has only covered 22,270 miles over the past 46 years. So often classic Mini’s have covered intergalactic miles or had panels and engines replaced, but this Cooper is a matching numbers car in totally original condition. During the 1960’s and 1970’s Mr Smith worked on cruise ship which explains why the car never travelled far.Over the past few years, Mini’s have steadily risen in value and Charterhouse have had some outstanding Mini results including a Mini pick up sold for £8,200, a Mini custom van sold for £12,200 and a late model 1995 Mini Cooper with just a few hundred miles £12,500.Viewing for this Charterhouse auction of classic and vintage cars is on Saturday 3rd November at The Royal Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, in conjunction with the Footman James Classic Car Show. The auction is on Sunday 4th November with the cars starting at 1.00pm. Full details and all the car entries are available on www.charterhouse-auction.com Charterhouse is now accepting further entries for their busy programme of auctions, including late entries into this classic and vintage cars, a special auction of silver, jewellery & watches, and wine, port & spirits, all in November. To arrange a free home visit or for more information regarding these auctions please contact Matthew Whitney, Associate Director at Charterhouse, The Long Street Salerooms, Sherborne 01935 812277 or via email on mw@charterhouse-auction.comA 1966 Mini Cooper in a miraculously original condition with only one owner and 22,270 recorded miles in 46 years £8,000-12,000 For further information regarding this article, please contact Richard Bromell, Director