World's oldest unrestored Mini found covered in dust and chicken feathers sells for £40,000 (that's 8,000 times more than it was bought for in 1959)

To most people it was just a rusty old banger.

But now the world’s oldest original Mini, that was found in a duty barn covered i chicken feathers, has sold for more than £40,000.

The ‘classic’ motor was the eighth to be made when it rolled off the production line in 1959.

But it had fallen into a decrepit state after it being bought by its last owner in 1986 and is in need of major restoration.

Despite its condition, the Austin Mini Se7en De Luxe Saloon generated huge interest when it came up for auction last month.

The car sold at an acution by Bonhams at The Royal Airforce Museum in London yesterday for £40,250 - nearly three times its pre-sale estimate of between £12,000 and £15,000.

The price is also an 8,000 per cent increase on the £497 the car cost new in 1959, and more than double the cost of a new Mini today. It was bought by a UK-based Mini enthusiast.

John Polson, from Bonhams, said: 'This is a wonderful opportunity to buy the car and restore it. It is the oldest unrestored Mini.

'Collectors love the fact it has had very little done to it since it was built. It was the eight to be produced and is the fourth oldest that survives.

'The Mini is one of the most important cars of the 20th century. They have always been collectable.

'Some collectors would want to return her to new, but others would just like to get her going again and keep her in the original condition.'

The basic car has a 848cc engine that has done a grand total of 30,000 miles but now doesn’t work.

It has never been touched apart from a few running repairs during its life and is the oldest unrestored Mini in existance.

Through the rust it is possible to glimpse the original Farina grey paintwork, and it retains the original registration plate: XLL 27.

The interior is basic, but has all the original features including its only dashboard instrument - a speedometer.

It was built in July 1959 at Longbridge, Warwickshire, three months before the model went into full production. It was then sent to Car Mart Limited in Colchester, Essex, where it was first sold.

The vehicle was bought by a David Gallimore in 1986 from a Gladys Hobro of Aldwick, Bognor Regis, in West Sussex. Mr Gallimore kept it in a garage in Chichester, West Sussex, until last year.

At the same sale a Pontiac convertible car owned by Rolling Stone Keith Richards while the band were based in the south of France for tax reasons, sold for £37,950 pounds.

It is thought that only three Minis earlier than this one exist today, but they have all been restored over the years.

One is at the British Heritage Motor Centre Museum in Warwickshire, and the other two are in private collections in Japan.

In 1999 the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th century, behind the Ford Model T.

Its design came about because the Suez Crisis meant that the country was short of petrol, and smaller cars were required.

By RICK DEWSBURY