In preparation for the launch of MINI, the first cars to arrive in the country were typically delivered to dealers to be available as demonstrators.
Such cars are identified on their factory build sheets with the code 999 ‘Order Control First Dealer Cars’.
Upon the 2002 release of the Cooper and Cooper S in Australia, there was a combined total of 81 dealer cars.
Cooper
Dealer cars for the Cooper arrived in Australia in early 2002, receiving compliance in February. The cars were built in November and December 2001, alongside the first cars for customer sale.
There were 50 dealer cars for the Cooper in total - 41 with manual transmission (TC0 VINs) and 9 with automatic (CVT) transmission (TE0 VINs).
The specifications of the cars were widely varied, with almost all of them being different to each other. Some cars had no options at all, while others featured several.
Cooper S
For the Cooper S, the dealer cars not only arrived some time before the official model launch, but they were also made very early in worldwide production.
Australia’s first dealer Cooper S examples were completed at the factory in February 2002, with all but one being in the first 200 right hand drive Cooper S built. The cars arrived in Australia and received compliance in April 2002, ahead of the local launch in June.
A total of 31 cars formed the shipment. There were 21 Electric Blue and 10 Dark Silver. All examples of each colour were identical in specification.
Electric Blue cars received a white roof and white X-Lite alloy wheels. Inside was Gravity/Lapis Blue full leather seats, but otherwise specification was as standard.
Dark Silver cars were more highly specified. They received a white roof and Gravity/Lapis Blue leather seats as per the blue cars, but were fitted with silver S-Spoke alloy wheels and received a multi-function steering wheel, Xenon lights with washer system, and an electric glass sunroof.
Press Cars
Some of the first dealer cars were selected for the official MINI press fleet.
At least six cars are known to have been used, registered in Victoria with numbers RLO316 to RLO321. Of these, five were Electric Blue and one Dark Silver.
Exactly which of the 31 dealer cars were on fleet are not currently known. VicRoads does not publicly provide registration details from that era to confirm VIN numbers.
| RLO316 | Electric Blue | Review car in Motor magazine; number '3' on windscreen in one photo |
| RLO317 | Electric Blue | Features in official MINI press photos |
| RLO318 | Electric Blue | Features prominently in official MINI press photos |
| RLO319 | Electric Blue | Features in official MINI press photos |
| RLO320 | Electric Blue | Features in Puretone's 'Stuck in a Groove' music video |
| RLO321 | Dark Silver | Review car in Wheels magazine, July 2002 |