1978 Leyland Mini 1275 LS
Vehicle details
Here is a very clean example of a restored 1275 LS. The owner has opted to do away with the 12" steel rims, and replace them with 12" minilites, which is a very common move, and thankfully to LS collectors, has made the original steel rims and hubcaps in reasonable supply on gumtree and ebay over the years.
Like a couple of other LS cars on this register, this one has had a sunroof installed. This may have been dealer done, or aftermarket. If anyone knows if this was a factory option, please let me know by contacting us or commenting below. Another obvious modification is the exhaust, which I'm sure makes a decent noise, but may get close to speedbumps under an already low car.
Unfortunately we do not have the engine number that goes with this car, nor do we know its current status / where it ended up. If anyone has any idea, again, please let us know, so we can add the details of the car, and any further information, to the 1275 LS register, here on classicregister.
The Leyland Mini Clubman 1275 LS was the last mini version to be introduced and produced in Australia. The model was intended to have a longer production run as a high spec model in the Australian line up. However, with BMC ending manufacturing in Australia, the 1275 LS ended up being a run-out model, with estimates of 800 – 1000 cars produced overall.
The 1275 LS was produced in two colours, Nugget Gold and Hi-Ho Silver, both versions having side stripes with “1275 LS” printed to distinguish them from other models in the Leyland Mini line up. As the top model in the mini range, the 1275 LS was fitted with a 1275cc engine (sourced from and built in Europe), larger 12” wheels to house bigger front disc brakes, a long range fuel tank, and several other more “luxury” features available from the Mini parts bin of that era.
Interior features included a single speaker radio, triple pod instruments, adjustable seats and Formula GT steering wheel. Silver cars were generally fitted with Red corduroy style velour cloth seats, with black vinyl seat backings, door trims and roof lining. Gold cars were fitted with the same style fabric (but chocolate brown in colour), backed by cream vinyl, door trims and roof lining.
Without reference to the features of the car as briefly outlined above, a genuine 1275 LS can only be determined by its engine and chassis number. It is worth noting that the chassis plate of a 1275 LS will not specify “LS” like was done with other pre-1978 mini’s in Australia. The correct chassis first half prefix for a 1275 LS is XNFAD18Y/. The correct engine number can come in two forms. The most common form of the first half of the engine number prefix is 12H902. The other is 12H897.
It is unknown how many 1275 LS’s are still on the road, however, we have managed to collect the details of a decent number of cars on www.classicregister.com. If you have any information about any of the cars we have on this register, or would like to have your 1275 LS put on the register, please get in contact with us.
Here's an identification guide we've drawn up for the 1275LS:
http://classicregister.com/content/how-identify-1978-leyland-mini-1275-ls