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Mini Cooper RSP – 1990

The RSP (Rover Special Products) was a limited edition model brought out to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the original Mini Cooper in 1960. In all 1050 RSP were sold in the UK and were very sought after commanding prices up to double Rovers official price.

The background to the models development was interesting – Rover had three special editions of their 998cc Mini; the Racing, Flame and Checkmate which were also available with a John Cooper conversion which was proving successful and they wanted to see how a full blown 1275cc version would sell before introducing a ‘mainstream’ Cooper. They introduced the RSP to see what public reaction was and sold the entire production run before the first car was made. This lead to the standard production model which continued in production until Mini production came to an end in 2000.

The RSP was hand built and based on the three 998cc special editions with the following changes:

Engine

1275cc ‘A’ plus engine from the MG Metro producing 61 BHP (compared to the original Mini Coopers 55)

Oil cooler, Single big SU Carburetor

Exterior

Body colour door mirrors, Glass sunroof, Nine spoke ‘minilite’ alloy wheels, Signed bonnet stripes, Halogen headlamps, Body colour wheel arches, sill finishers and number plate housing, Front spot lamps

Interior

Badged half leather interior, Red carpets,Red leather steering wheel, Sundym glass

Additionally this car has:

Engine

Gas flowed, K&N air filter, LCB manifold, RC40 exhaust, 1:5 rockers producing 77BHP and 72 lbf-ft torque (recorded top speed 108mph). Competition clutch

Suspension

Moulton ‘Smootharide” suspension with Hi Lo adjusters, Koni adjustable dampers

Brakes

Tarox grooved discs and competion pads, Minifin drums.

Exterior

Mud flaps, 165/60 Yokahama tyres, rear wheel spacers, sump shield.

Interior

Newton Commercial half leather front seats, column dropper, seat brackets, extensive sound proofing

This car has covered over 100,000 miles and takes part in various classic rallies. It acts as ‘course car’ on the Manchester to Blackpool Classic Car Run and the Coast to Coast to Coast Classic. It has lapped the full grand prix circuit at Aintree and appeared at many shows around the country.