The Man behind the Cooper name could personalise and tune your Mini
Still Under Construction
BL had dropped the "Cooper" name from the Mini range in the early 1970's, under the excuse of cost cutting as they had to pay a royalty to John Cooper for using it.
John Cooper ran a successfull Honda Dealership in Ferring, Worthing on the South Coast of England.
He was exporting "Cooper " conversion kits to Japan for the 998cc engined Minis, this became available through the Rover Dealership network in 1990, available for any Mini from 1989 models onwards and the conversion was fully approved by the Rover Group and came complete with a full warranty (though not available on automatics)
1990: 998cc twin carb kit
The cylinder head was developed in conjuction with Cooper's old friend Jan Odor and his company Janspeed Engineering.
The kit consisted of:
a perfomance cylinder head had larger inlet valves, exhaust valves with a 9.8:1 compression ratio, topped off with an alloy rocker cover.
An alloy inlet manifold, twin 1 1/4" S.U. carburettors with matching performance air filters.
A long centre branch exhaust manifold with matching twin silencer.
This lifted the BHP from 41 to 60, the Torque from 42lb.ft to 64lb.ft and the 0-60 time down to 12.6 seconds (some 6 seconds quicker than the standard 998.
You could also buy a number of accessories, such as:
5 x 12 " Alloy wheels
Mk2 Cooper Grille
Moto-Lita John Cooper steering wheel
Cooper rear window sticker
Cooper key fob
Cooper gear knob
The 1987 Japanese Cooper Conversion
1991: 1275 Cooper S twin carb kit, or Cooper 'S' Pack
This was originally aimed at the RSP Coopers and then the later Mainstream Carburettor models
It consisted of a new performance cylinder head (on an exchange basis), complete new performance exhaust, twin 1 1/4" SU carburettors and an air filter and air filter box.
This lifted the standard power to 77bhp
£1,751 when new
Also available was the Cooper 'S' Plus Pack, this was the same as above except for a large inlet valve cylinder head and a set of high-lift rockers, this lifted the power to 80bhp
A Cooper 'Europe' Pack was also available, this was mainly aimed at the German market and was essentially the 'S' Pack without the twin carburettors, power was 74bhp
If cost was not an option for you then you may have wanted the John Cooper 1400cc conversion.
It consisted of a rebore to 1400cc, forged racing pistons, stage 3 cylinder head, new specially designed camshaft, twin 1 1/2" SU carburettors, large bore exhaust manifold and system, 3.44:1 final drive, high lift roller rockers and oil cooler.
This was only available for fitting at John Cooper Garages.
This lifted the power to 108bhp and the 0-60 dropped to 7.5 seconds.
All the above came with rear quarter and bootlid decals plus certificates and numbered plate attached to the crossmember beside the drivers seat.
1992: 1275 Cooper 'Si' Pack
The Si Pack consisted of a performance cylinder head (exchange), which was fully balanced, ported and polished and featured a raised compression ratio. A performance exhaust was fitted and retained the standard catalyst.
Also fitted was an oil cooler, a new fan pulley and rocker cover.
This lifted power to 74bhp
Also available was the Cooper 'Si' Plus Pack, this was the same as above except for a large inlet valve cylinder head, a set of high-lift rockers and a K&N airfilter, this lifted the power to 78bhp
All the above came with rear quarter and bootlid decals plus certificates and numbered plate attached to the crossmember beside the drivers seat.
The 'Si' badge fitted to the boot was actually a ford part, from their Fiesta Si.
The 1995 John Cooper Garages brochure shows some revisions for the Injected Cooper conversions with the addition of the 80bhp Kit, the Super Kit and a 1400cc Injection Conversion.
The 80bhp Kit was similar to the 'Si' Plus Kit but developed 80bhp at 6000rpm, torque was 86lb/ft at 4200rpm and 0-60 was 9.86 seconds
The Super Kit was essentially the engine conversion from the 'Grand Prix' Limited Editon Mini Cooper.
The 1400cc injection Kit had twin throttle body injectors with fuel an engine management being supplied via Webber Alpha incorporating Coopers own engine management control system (ECMS). This new system was placed under the drivers seat for "safety and ease of servicing"
The power was lifted to 108bhp and the 0-60 time came down to 8 seconds.
1994: Cooper Grand Prix
Launched on the 23rd August 1994 the Cooper Grand Prix was just in time for the 35th Anniversary of the Mini
It was also the 35th Anniversary of the Cooper racing team's victory in the Formula One world championship with Jack Brabham driving a remarkable victory repeated yet again for the 1960 season.
To celebrate both achievements John Cooper Garages produced 35 'Grand Prix' Mini Coopers.
These special Minis were based on a new Mini Cooper 1.3i.
The specification was altered as follows:
Engine-
Larger valve, ported, balanced and flowed cylinder head
Camshaft and valve rocker assemblies
Heavy duty clutch assembly
Timing gears
Additional fitment of an oil cooler
Webber Alpha fuel injection management system (as used on the 1994 Paddy Hopkirk 'Monte Carlo' Mini Cooper)
Exhaust system
Air filter system
Suspension-
New set of wider, polished rim alloy wheels with 165/60 x 12 Dunlop tyres
New adjustable shock absorbers
Body-
Flush fitting wheel arches
Four spot lamps
Cooper racing wheel badges
Fast flip alloy fuel cap
John Cooper door sill edges
'Grand Prix' decals
34 were painted British Racing Green, with the remaining one painted Tahiti Blue.
Interior-
Soft beige leather seats and door panels
Unique walnut dash, with 3 extra gauges (oil pressure, clock and volt meter) and numbered brass plaque
Walnut door cappings and pulls
Alloy door furniture, door handles, window winders and lock covers
John Cooper 13" leather steering wheel
Each car was pre-registered by John Cooper himself, for "official commemorative value".
Power was increased to 86ps, torque increased by 20% and 0-60 dropped to less than 9 seconds.
List price was £13,495
John Cooper with a 'Grand Prix' Mini Cooper
1996 on: 1275 Cooper Touring, Cooper Sport5 & Works
With the introduction of the MPI engined Coopers in late 1996 John Cooper Garages introduced their next generation of conversions.
The two initial options were the Mini Cooper S Touring and the Mini Cooper S Sport 5.
Both options had the same 85bhp engine.
The Cooper S Touring had a 4 speed gearbox, 12" alloys, colour coded arches, walnut interior fittings, alloy door furniture, alloy fuel cap, door sill edgings, cooper vavlve caps, alloy dip stick, cooper bonnet and boot badge, Si boot badge, Cooper S Touring side decals, cooper chasis plate and 4 speed leather Cooper gear knob.
performance was 0-60 in 9.95 seconds
£11,595 when new
The Cooper S Sport 5 had a 5 speed gearbox, Rover Sport Pack Option (13" alloys, koni shock absorbers, colour coded wide wheel arches), 3 auxilary dashboard gauges, 4 auxilary lamps, walnut door fittings, alloy door furniture, alloys fuel cap, door sill edgings, cooper valve caps, alloy dip stick, cooper bonnet and boot badge, Si boot badge, Cooper S Sport 5 side decals, cooper chasis plate and 5 speed leather Cooper gear knob.
performance was 0-60 in 9.65 seconds
£13,650 when new
The next conversion released was the Cooper S Works, this was essentially the same engine conversion as the Cooper S Touring and Cooper S Sport 5 with an altered airfilter housing and fuel pressure regulator, increasing the power to 90bhp
Sportspack and a Jack Knight five speed gearbox were options
£12,495 - £14,595 when new
Cooper Garages Cooper Touring press car
Rear quarter decal of a Cooper Sport5 conversion
Cooper S Works
(the owner has added overriders and corner bars to the bumpers)
BL had dropped the "Cooper" name from the Mini range in the early 1970's, under the excuse of cost cutting as they had to pay a royalty to John Cooper for using it.
John Cooper ran a successfull Honda Dealership in Ferring, Worthing on the South Coast of England.
He was exporting "Cooper " conversion kits to Japan for the 998cc engined Minis, this became available through the Rover Dealership network in 1990, available for any Mini from 1989 models onwards and the conversion was fully approved by the Rover Group and came complete with a full warranty (though not available on automatics)
1990: 998cc twin carb kit
The cylinder head was developed in conjuction with Cooper's old friend Jan Odor and his company Janspeed Engineering.
The kit consisted of:
a perfomance cylinder head had larger inlet valves, exhaust valves with a 9.8:1 compression ratio, topped off with an alloy rocker cover.
An alloy inlet manifold, twin 1 1/4" S.U. carburettors with matching performance air filters.
A long centre branch exhaust manifold with matching twin silencer.
This lifted the BHP from 41 to 60, the Torque from 42lb.ft to 64lb.ft and the 0-60 time down to 12.6 seconds (some 6 seconds quicker than the standard 998.
You could also buy a number of accessories, such as:
5 x 12 " Alloy wheels
Mk2 Cooper Grille
Moto-Lita John Cooper steering wheel
Cooper rear window sticker
Cooper key fob
Cooper gear knob
The 1987 Japanese Cooper Conversion
1991: 1275 Cooper S twin carb kit, or Cooper 'S' Pack
This was originally aimed at the RSP Coopers and then the later Mainstream Carburettor models
It consisted of a new performance cylinder head (on an exchange basis), complete new performance exhaust, twin 1 1/4" SU carburettors and an air filter and air filter box.
This lifted the standard power to 77bhp
£1,751 when new
Also available was the Cooper 'S' Plus Pack, this was the same as above except for a large inlet valve cylinder head and a set of high-lift rockers, this lifted the power to 80bhp
A Cooper 'Europe' Pack was also available, this was mainly aimed at the German market and was essentially the 'S' Pack without the twin carburettors, power was 74bhp
If cost was not an option for you then you may have wanted the John Cooper 1400cc conversion.
It consisted of a rebore to 1400cc, forged racing pistons, stage 3 cylinder head, new specially designed camshaft, twin 1 1/2" SU carburettors, large bore exhaust manifold and system, 3.44:1 final drive, high lift roller rockers and oil cooler.
This was only available for fitting at John Cooper Garages.
This lifted the power to 108bhp and the 0-60 dropped to 7.5 seconds.
All the above came with rear quarter and bootlid decals plus certificates and numbered plate attached to the crossmember beside the drivers seat.
1992: 1275 Cooper 'Si' Pack
The Si Pack consisted of a performance cylinder head (exchange), which was fully balanced, ported and polished and featured a raised compression ratio. A performance exhaust was fitted and retained the standard catalyst.
Also fitted was an oil cooler, a new fan pulley and rocker cover.
This lifted power to 74bhp
Also available was the Cooper 'Si' Plus Pack, this was the same as above except for a large inlet valve cylinder head, a set of high-lift rockers and a K&N airfilter, this lifted the power to 78bhp
All the above came with rear quarter and bootlid decals plus certificates and numbered plate attached to the crossmember beside the drivers seat.
The 'Si' badge fitted to the boot was actually a ford part, from their Fiesta Si.
The 1995 John Cooper Garages brochure shows some revisions for the Injected Cooper conversions with the addition of the 80bhp Kit, the Super Kit and a 1400cc Injection Conversion.
The 80bhp Kit was similar to the 'Si' Plus Kit but developed 80bhp at 6000rpm, torque was 86lb/ft at 4200rpm and 0-60 was 9.86 seconds
The Super Kit was essentially the engine conversion from the 'Grand Prix' Limited Editon Mini Cooper.
The 1400cc injection Kit had twin throttle body injectors with fuel an engine management being supplied via Webber Alpha incorporating Coopers own engine management control system (ECMS). This new system was placed under the drivers seat for "safety and ease of servicing"
The power was lifted to 108bhp and the 0-60 time came down to 8 seconds.
1994: Cooper Grand Prix
Launched on the 23rd August 1994 the Cooper Grand Prix was just in time for the 35th Anniversary of the Mini
It was also the 35th Anniversary of the Cooper racing team's victory in the Formula One world championship with Jack Brabham driving a remarkable victory repeated yet again for the 1960 season.
To celebrate both achievements John Cooper Garages produced 35 'Grand Prix' Mini Coopers.
These special Minis were based on a new Mini Cooper 1.3i.
The specification was altered as follows:
Engine-
Larger valve, ported, balanced and flowed cylinder head
Camshaft and valve rocker assemblies
Heavy duty clutch assembly
Timing gears
Additional fitment of an oil cooler
Webber Alpha fuel injection management system (as used on the 1994 Paddy Hopkirk 'Monte Carlo' Mini Cooper)
Exhaust system
Air filter system
Suspension-
New set of wider, polished rim alloy wheels with 165/60 x 12 Dunlop tyres
New adjustable shock absorbers
Body-
Flush fitting wheel arches
Four spot lamps
Cooper racing wheel badges
Fast flip alloy fuel cap
John Cooper door sill edges
'Grand Prix' decals
34 were painted British Racing Green, with the remaining one painted Tahiti Blue.
Interior-
Soft beige leather seats and door panels
Unique walnut dash, with 3 extra gauges (oil pressure, clock and volt meter) and numbered brass plaque
Walnut door cappings and pulls
Alloy door furniture, door handles, window winders and lock covers
John Cooper 13" leather steering wheel
Each car was pre-registered by John Cooper himself, for "official commemorative value".
Power was increased to 86ps, torque increased by 20% and 0-60 dropped to less than 9 seconds.
List price was £13,495
John Cooper with a 'Grand Prix' Mini Cooper
1996 on: 1275 Cooper Touring, Cooper Sport5 & Works
With the introduction of the MPI engined Coopers in late 1996 John Cooper Garages introduced their next generation of conversions.
The two initial options were the Mini Cooper S Touring and the Mini Cooper S Sport 5.
Both options had the same 85bhp engine.
The Cooper S Touring had a 4 speed gearbox, 12" alloys, colour coded arches, walnut interior fittings, alloy door furniture, alloy fuel cap, door sill edgings, cooper vavlve caps, alloy dip stick, cooper bonnet and boot badge, Si boot badge, Cooper S Touring side decals, cooper chasis plate and 4 speed leather Cooper gear knob.
performance was 0-60 in 9.95 seconds
£11,595 when new
The Cooper S Sport 5 had a 5 speed gearbox, Rover Sport Pack Option (13" alloys, koni shock absorbers, colour coded wide wheel arches), 3 auxilary dashboard gauges, 4 auxilary lamps, walnut door fittings, alloy door furniture, alloys fuel cap, door sill edgings, cooper valve caps, alloy dip stick, cooper bonnet and boot badge, Si boot badge, Cooper S Sport 5 side decals, cooper chasis plate and 5 speed leather Cooper gear knob.
performance was 0-60 in 9.65 seconds
£13,650 when new
The next conversion released was the Cooper S Works, this was essentially the same engine conversion as the Cooper S Touring and Cooper S Sport 5 with an altered airfilter housing and fuel pressure regulator, increasing the power to 90bhp
Sportspack and a Jack Knight five speed gearbox were options
£12,495 - £14,595 when new
Cooper Garages Cooper Touring press car
Rear quarter decal of a Cooper Sport5 conversion
Cooper S Works
(the owner has added overriders and corner bars to the bumpers)