April 7, 2004 – While MiniGuy does not generally sell parts, we often get inquiries from folks looking for Mini parts. One gentleman contacted us to find an “original” radio for the 1972 Mini he’s adopting from us.

We replied, “Regarding radios, Minis did not originally come with them, particularly in the year that your Mini was built. The “legend” that I heard was that when they later asked the original designer of the Mini about adding radios, he supposedly said no. He supposedly said something to the effect of, “They are small cars. They are not safe. You should be paying attention. No radios!” I don’t know if the story is true or not, but new Minis did not come with radios until much later, when the original car designer was either dead – or close to it! (As far as I know, the radios were not offered in new Minis from the factory until sometime in the 1980′s.)”

Of course, a few days after we sent him the message, we received the
Almond Green Mk1 Innocenti Mini that’s now in our showroom – and can be seen on our “Here Now” page. Pictured here is the radio fitted in it. It appears to be a very nice installation, with a mounting bracket that’s “wrinkle-finish” black just like the same type paint on the heater unit. I’ve heard it said that the (assembled-in-Italy) Innocenti Minis were “built to a higher standard” than their cousins built in England, or assembled elsewhere.

How about it? Does anyone out there know if a ’67 Innocenti would have been available with a factory-installed radio, or might this have been a dealer-installed unit? Or?

We’re always interested to learn more about Minis, so we can better help our customers and friends… Can you help us out here?