A rare lightweight BMC Works Cooper S Rally car with a fascinating competition history is going under the hammer at Shannons first Sydney Auction for 2005 on Monday February 7.

   
RJB 327F was one of two factory-built cars sent to Australia to compete in the 1970 Southern Cross Rally and arrived with all the latest hot Mini bits – a potent 1275cc engine with a special cylinder head, a close ratio straight cut gearset, alloy bonnet, door and boot panels and numerous works rally ‘tweaks’.

However BMC team driver Brian Culcheth rolled the car six days before the Southern Cross and then crashed the extensively repaired Mini during the event while leading on the third night, subsequently ‘cooking’ the engine. He ran the car again in the NSW Rally of the Hills two weeks later with better luck, scoring a class win and a minor outright placing.

Leading Scottish driver Andrew Cowan then took the Cooper S to Noumea in January 1971, but managed to roll it eight times. On its return to Australia, British Leyland rebuilt it with a new local body shell in time for the 1971 Heatway Rally of New Zealand. This time Cowan showed its true potential, posting fastest time in 13 individual special stages before engine problems forced his retirement.

Following the Heatway, Leyland sold the Mini to a Sydney enthusiast who wanted its body as the basis of a rallycross car, but had no use for all its specialised rally gear.

So he sold the rare alloy panels, driving lights, sump guard, rally seats, trim, engine, original chassis plate and many other rally parts, to the current owner, who then rebuilt ‘RJB 327F’ to its original Heatway factory specification, using another Australian bodyshell – just as Leyland Australia had done in 1971.

The project took over two years to complete and the twice-reborn Mini has been displayed at motor shows and more recently has competed successfully in a few ‘soft’ rallies.

Now this Mini slice of rally history is for sale, with Shannons expecting bidding in the $15,000 to $20,000 range.

Other fascinating cars in the February Shannons auction include a 1958 FC Holden owned by the same family since new with a genuine 55,000 miles on the odometer, a superb 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Tourer and a multi-Concours winning MG TC.