dr mini.. Thanks for telling me , Crazy Art McKenize is STILL ALIVE..  he has to be close to 90??  felix navidad bc

dr mini..  yea I remember now.. it was blue..   must have been the RED STRIPES and that extreme HEAT that year at MME.. imagine that ?? thanks bc   ps liMini .. you can do archive search in ANY state on prior ownership. it is MVR 605 in NC.. I can look it up for ya in georgia..

No, that's not the car Art hit the tree in. That would be his blue Cooper S with the crank-fire ignition and the Cadillac steering column.

Dr Mini-
  My father, Michael Bokros, was the one bought it in Ohio, got it running, and then sold it to Rick. Rick passed it to the MacKenzies (the "well known Mini personality from outside Atlanta!), who did FART it out. Art Jr. sold it on to our friend in the UK, for whom we're trying to sort out history prior to all of that!
  And yes, Art Sr. is still alive. 
Bill, it's not this car that hit the tree in '02 is it? It had a shunt on the front end of it when it was sold on. Could be the palmetto??? That would make for some good story...

dr mini  . do you remember when crazy art.. was driving his cooper s on the golf cart path at MME in 02 in SC and hit the palmetto tree.. and then I heard the golf course SUED him.. ?? Art would have to be 95 years old . IF he is still alive in Dracula Ga.. later bc

The car used to belong to Rick Richardson from Atlanta. He died a few years back, but AFAIK, the car belonged to little Art (Art MacKenzie Jr) prior to Rick getting it. Rick had the leather interior and leather headliner put in it. As the engine is supposed to be a 1400cc unit, I'd say it came from FART. That's Fast Art Racing Team. Not sure if big Art is still around but that's part of the cars history. Photo is Art Jr and Rick sitting on top of the Mini.

Very True!
  Our British friend asked for information for the Ohio State BMV, thinking he might get somewhere. The transcript of his live chat with the person from the BMV is quite entertaining. He couldn't believe we don't have a centralized nationwide database. 
  That's why I've been hoping someone has some thoughts on the car when it was raced. At the very least, it was seen by more eyes than if it were just on the road!

Tracing a vehicle's history is one area where the UK has us beat in the States. 

I understand it's a lot easier tracing history of a vehicle through the DVLA (especially if you have a log book!) than here, where registration is specific to each state, and the states don't communicate with one another. 

I've been trying to do the same for my '66 S and running into dead ends prior to 1986. 

Thanks Michael. All the information from your listing is known to the owner, so we are trying to piece together the missing sections from build until around 1977. We were hoping the car might be known to some SCCA folks from back in the day, or perhaps anyone who knew it when it was imported to the US. 

I know the Mini. There is quite a bit of information I included in my writeup when it was listed on the "Consignment - For Sale by Owner" pages on my website.  (see ID# RED65MK1S1275 on that page.)

I also put together an extensive photo gallery and posted an (edited) copy of the Heritage Certificate.

Morris Mini Cooper 1275 S

www.miniguy.com/vehicles/red65mk1s1275

As far as the year, the Build Date is recorded as 12 May 1965.

Experts - wouldn't that make it a 1965 model, not a '66?

Hope that helps...

Spreen's in NJ did a lot of mini engines back in the day.

I have been contacted by a gentleman in England, who is looking to fill in some gaps on a '66 Morris Cooper S that he has recently acquired from the US. Here is a link //mk1-forum.net/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=20588 to the forum topic the gentleman started on the MKI Forum concerning. We're looking to fill some history gaps, and I told him I would post up here to see if anyone remembers. So, here it is:

Build date of 12 May 1965
Dispatched to France, sold to Nord Est Motors in Roubaix on 19 May 1965
Here's where we lose the trail for awhile.... Until....

Circa March 1977 - Car purchased by my father outside of Columbus OH, trailered back to Atlanta. Got it running, sold it on to another member of Mini Owner's South. By that time the car had been modified with:
1) Roll Cage
2) Weber carb, with modified firewall hole
3) Engine tuned to race specs with LSD installed
We have the history after 1977, but we don't know: 
A) When the car was exported to the US
B) WHO might have owned it and raced it (my father did not buy it from the person who modified it for racing) in the US.
We do have some clues. My father has the original manuals, with notes written in the columns, concerning the original build to SCCA CS specifications. The engine was sent to Tony Feil, of Flemington NJ, for balancing, lightening, rebore, etc. This occured in 1973, per the notes and paperwork. This is also corroborated by a marked up sheet of SCCA CS homologation rules and regs, dated 1973.
SO, the car (which was, probably, black roof/ red body) was raced in the US, probably starting in 1973, but might have been earlier. The car was probably raced in the Mid West at the time, but we're not sure. 

This car was most recently listed in the Cars For Sale section here, being sold from a well knownn Mini personality from outside Atlanta. the car is now back in the UK, undergoing a freshening.

Any ideas? I have a partial VIN if anyone would like me to share, but let's see if the collective memories of all of you out there- old MOS guys, Ohio Mini Owners, SCCA folks, etc....
Thanks everyone!
Aaron