1978 Leyland Mini 1275 GTS For Sale – South Africa Leyland Cooper – Now Sold

The Mini 1275 GTS is the South African Leyland Cooper produced exclusively for the home market and never sold abroad. Rare and fast, this car made quite a name for itself in racing and rallying around South Africa in the 1970s. It is not to be confused with the UK Mini 1275 GT. It is, in typical Leyland fashion, a totally different car.

Without the oversight of the British Leyland corporation, the team at Blackheath near Cape Town, were able to go a bit further than their UK counterparts with go faster Minis. They had already been planning a Cooper S replacement for some time when presented with the flat fronted Mini Clubman design.

Taking the opportunity to use the additional space this created they engineered and cast their own engine blocks. The additional space meant they could create an engine with a shorter stroke and larger bore. Adding to this a cross drilled crank, a highly polished combustion chamber, aluminium pistons and new steel alloy valves. This led to 74 bhp and a 0-100 km/h time of 12 seconds. Quicker than the UK offering which only had 59 bhp. Something rather unique was the position of the oil filter, above the starter motor.

The brakes were 8 1/4″ discs up front under new 12″ wheels, whilst at the rear the twin tanks were replaced with one 35 litre item.

There were only around 4,212 made over the total production run, from 1972 to 1979. This one being one of the later cars and produced and long after the Cooper models had finished in the UK.

This car is rather special in the UK as DVLA records show no others registered. This is also one of the fastest factory produced and one of the most interesting original Minis ever made. Making this is a really cool and desirable car.