Micheal ... i owned 2 'S's
a 1071, i had a half share in, and rallied whilst i was in the RAF. once the guy who had the other share got posted we decided to sell it, can't remember how much for... but i see a well sorted 1071S going for £45K !!! hells bells!!
i was determined to have myself a 1275S and get rallying again ... found a write off, severe rear end shunt. bought a mk1 body shell/doors/boot/bonnet, front and back subframes direct from BL, got the local spray shop to paint it in Aubergine... tuned up the engine, bored to 1390, limited slip diff, twin 1/12" reece fish carbs, lightened flywheel, oil cooler, ventilated discs brembo calipers, 5j wheels and flared arches, koni 'ajustarides' etc etc.... was a real pocket rocket and won several rallies in the south west. i was still in the RAF and had loads of time on my hands working shifts on the nimrod flight simulator at RAF St Mawgan. i was also running a dreadful Austin '1100' as a family car ... so, with rallying becoming very expensive and moving off the highway and onto 'special stages' ... and my '1100' becoming an embarrassment, i flogged the 1100 and the 'S' became the family runaround!
.. i had to fit a towing bracket to the 'S' as, with 2 growing youngsters holidays required a trailer for all the camping gear etc. my best memory was overtaking an MGC going up snake pass 4 up with a trailer and leaving it for dust!!.... great days .... i did 140k miles in that 'S' flogged it for £700 in 1979, (i recently checked the DVLA, not listed ) and bought a mk2 cortina estate ... i have now gone full circle and got myself a Yaris 'T' Sport .... 20 years old, well sorted and almost as much fun as my old 'S' .... sorry, all this clap trap is very non thumper ...