Howdy, Partner

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From a glance, you might think you’ve heard all there is to hear about the car featured here. Issigonis this, transverse engine that, front-wheel drive, people’s car, Cooper, Hopkirk, Monte Carlo, genius, icon and so on and so forth. But whatever you’ve heard, you probably haven’t come across the Austin Partner.

Without close inspection, the Austin Partner of 1959 is indistinguishable from the more familiar Austin Seven Mini. Apart from the badges, only the side indicators mounted on the door posts, a legal requirement, identify this as a Danish-market Partner (the Morris equivalent being the Mascot). Basic in the extreme, this early survivor went to Denmark before the ADO15’s launch and is now the 11th oldest known to exist.

Its survival and superlative presentation is thanks in large part to the early Mini enthusiast who rescued it from a Danish garage in 2010. Languishing without engine, gearbox or interior, and with heavy damage to the underside, it was a job for a complete strip-down and rebuild, with a lot of metal to be replaced and the right spares located to return the car to exactly the state in which it left the Danish showroom.

Michael Ware meets the committed man who brought it back to life in the December issue of The Automobile, which is available by following this link.

(Words Zack Stiling, photographs Michael Ware)

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