In the famous British sitcom, Mr. Bean, the silly star drives a classic Mini Cooper. He gets himself into quite the mischief with it on many occasions. This 1961 Austin Mini Countryman with 37,000 miles can be your laugh making mobile for the asking price of $9,500. And you don’t have to cross the pond to get it. It is located in Waterford, Connecticut. Thank you to AMXBrian for the tip. You can view more on Craigslist.
The engine is an 850cc inline 4 cylinder with a manual transmission. There does not appear to be a hood or front grill and no word on if they are included, just not on. The wood trim that would adorn the rear half of the car is currently off and hanging in the garage where the car has been tucked away for 40 years. It does need fully restored, which might not quite be the job to have a friendly food named character over to help with.
From some pictures, it seems as though the windshield is missing. Yet, the picture of the interior seems like there is heavy glare from a windshield. Either way, the interior is in good shape and could be cleaned up nicely. It has more space for cargo since it is on a larger platform, by 3.75 inches than the normal Mini. It has barn style rear opening doors. That would prompt Bean to put all his stuffed animals in the back.
I could imagine Mr. Bean wanting to buy this car. What his motives would be are beyond logic. It might be something like he goes to buy a puzzle, and then sees a model kit, and then he sees a for sale add for this car. “Look Teddy,” He would say, “big puzzle.” Gathering up his model glue, and then realizing it doesn’t hold the wood on, he uses some duct tape, then some staples, and finally 100 packs of chewing gum.
got to love CL ads… call only, no texts…. but no phone number!!!
I first thought of Basil Fawlty and his Austin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78b67l_yxUc
basil!!!!
Seems like a lot of scratch for an old Mini in need of a total resto.
As Gord noted, there is no phone number for a ‘calls-only’ ad…
There are people in the UK that repop the wood and plenty of sources for spare parts.
I always loved Mr. Bean’s encounters with 3-wheel Reliants – and the padlock on his Mini!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TqHv9BM39A
Good for a hardy Mini fan. Ambitious! Good luck to the new owner, would be a great piece finished, you can also warm up the mill. just saw one built to around 150 Hp>
Good luck to the new owner. Gotta be rare!!!
The price gives me a much bigger laugh than Mr. Bean ever did.
I restored one in the mid 80’s, and I lived in the next town to where this car is.
My first car was one identical to this !
Mr Bean’s car was far from being a Cooper, which would’ve been uncharacteristically cool for Bean. A very normal beige/brown mid 70s Mk 2 Mini is what I recall of the Beanmobile.
A lot of work on this one. Price is high, but if mileage and year are correct, it is rare and could justify a rebuild to concours standard.
Maybe I should raise my price from $18k? Aside from needing an eventual paint job, it’s a good running and driving RHD with 30k miles. California title and plates.
That blue Countryman is a beauty. You should have posted a link…
odd 2 C the wood like that, wanna have nice panels thru out the field (ruin it I’m sure).
Really like the extended, shooting brake or whatever.
Good luck w/all ur sales.
Bought one in Alaska in ’66 for $275; next July shipped it to Seattle and drove it to SF and the Summer of Love. Drove up and down the coast a couple of times, then down to San Berdoo and out to Nashville in ’72. Sold it a Kentucky family that loved resto projects. My favorite car ever! Would love another …
Mr. Bean NEVER drove a Mini Cooper most of them were a British R-Registration (1976 if I remember correctly) might be all Minis were sold as a Cooper in other markets? M