1978 Leyland Mini 1275 LS

This 1275LS, the 4th last produced, is unfortunately believed to no longer be with us (according to forum discussion on Ausmini). Reportedly, this car was burnt out on Tasmania many years ago - but at least we can put it on our register to acknowledge where the 4th last car ended up. The car's fate was revealed after a post from the owner who had the car in the late 1980s, and was following up its whereabouts in 2009.

After the owner tracked the car's eventual whereabouts to Tasmania, the Tasmanian Mini Club confirmed that it was in Hobart in the mid 90's and the last anyone heard of it was that it got caught on fire by a fuel can shorting out on the battery terminals, burning it to the ground. It hasn't been seen since.

There is a chance that the car was repairable and is still out there, but this doesn't sound too promising. It had a sliding glass sunroof and the plaque on the dash as shown in the images. It was Hi Ho Silver, with the driving lights in the grille (added later). You will see that the car has 10 inch wheels, which is incorrect for the 1275 LS, however, the owner during the late 80s confirmed that he had swapped the front 8.4" brakes for a set of cooper S brakes, and fitted 10" wheels. The owner also confirmed that the Formula GT steering wheel was swapped out for the one seen in the images.

The other chassis numbers relating to late produced cars which were discussed in this Ausmini forum thread include:

5th last: chassis 105280 
3rd last: chassis 105283 
2nd last: chassis 105287

As noted by the publisher of "The Mini Experience" / "The BMC Experience" on the forum thread, the last one built was chassis 105303 (the car in the museum). There may even be another "last built: as the one in Birdwood did not have the plaque stating it was last one, and the plaques on the others state: "This Mini 1275 LS chassis No. 105... was the nth last produced for sale in Australia on X date". The emphasis on 'built for sale', whereas the last built was not intended for sale. Also, as the numbers are not sequential and the plaque reads that it is the nth last 1275 LS chassis, then there are clearly other cars built later that were not 1275 LS. They could have been Mini S, LS (998) or even plain old ordinary Minis. 

So, there could others out there somewhere. It all comes down to the chassis numbers, as there are some 16 cars between the 2nd last and the last. We will attempt to put a spreadsheet together detailing everything we have so far.