ONE of the rarest Minis in existence is back on the road in Oxford in the same year the car celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Former Morris Motors worker Mick Freeman is the proud owner of one of the very first Austin Seven Countrymans to roll off the production line.

The Countryman, an elongated ‘estate’ version of the Mini, was introduced in 1960 and his vehicle dates from May that year.

Mr Freeman, from Old Marston, got in touch with us after we toasted the Mini’s 50th anniversary a week ago.

He said: “It’s probably the oldest one there is. It was built on May 4, 1960, and I don’t believe they went on sale until the Motor Show, which would have been in October.”

The 76-year-old bought the car, which has done just 35,000 miles, in poor condition nearly 40 years ago.

He said: “It was my late wife’s and I bought it for her back in the early 1970s as a scrapper — it had a lot of rust.

“I did it up and she had it until she passed away in 1977 and it had been stood ever since.

“Back then it was just a Mini Countryman that was rusty — I paid £25 for it. About 18 months ago my son said it’s about time I did it up because it was a crime to leave something like that with its age and pedigree.

“It’s 99 per cent done now. It’s not 100 per cent because I don’t believe in overdoing it.

“It has had a completely new floor in it, but I couldn’t get any parts for it off the shelf like you can with the cars.

“But together with a man from British Motor Heritage we cobbled together enough parts.

“I saw a similar one advertised in a Mini magazine this week for £10,000.”

Mr Freeman, who worked as a transporter driver at the Cowley plant from 1959 until 1993, explained how he fell in love with the Mini.

He said: “When they first came out they were all parked up at a site we called Six Acres. In the early 1960s we had a shocking winter and they asked us to go and free the Minis that had been snowed in.

“I’ve got a soft spot for them because they started beautifully every time, whereas the other cars were a bit of a struggle.”

Speaking of his Countryman, he added: “Everybody falls in love with it because it’s in pale blue, a beautiful colour which makes it a real eye catcher.

“It’s nostalgia with regards my first wife and my son says there’s no way we would get rid of it.

“He’s a got a new Mini and has had several of the old ones, and it’ll be going to him.”