James Garner, the US star of hit TV series The Rockford Files and Maverick and films including The Great Escape, died recently aged 86.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-28390309





James Garner is shown here with his ’66 Morris Cooper S, a left-hand-drive (LHD) model. This pic, taken in 1966, shows Garner and his Mini.
Of course, we wouldn’t want to drive just any old Cooper S, would we?
His Mini has a custom two-tone blue paint job, Webasto full pull-back sunroof, chromed external door hinges, flip-top alloy fuel filler, chrome exhaust tip and alloy wheels with chrome lug nuts and white-lettered Goodyears.
Garner’s rise to stardom began with the 1963 movie, “The Great Escape.”

Some interesting quotes from this MINI2 forum thread from 2004:-

Actor James Garner on the Mini...
Today in the Orlando Sentinel , in an interview of the actor James Garner by Sentinel movie critic Roger Moore:

The "old dog" walks with a cane, these days. But the star of Grand Prix (1966), Mr. Does-His-Own-Stunt-Driving, is still into cars.

"God, I looove my Mini Cooper. If everybody knew about 'em, everybody would drive one. It's my baby."

And this posted by 'Vanwell' from San Diego CA on what happened to James Garner's blue Cooper:
"Jim Garner had a very nice 1275s at one time, in a distinctive two-tone blue, that he drove in the Los Angeles area quite frequently right into the early 1980's, as I recollect. When his production company decided to reduce the fleet, ( it was a COMPANY CAR! ), they put it up for sale, and some idiot lost control on a drive and ran it head-on into a high curb! Ouch! It was bought by a San Diego guy, then was hacked up into parts and sold piece-meal, even tho it coulda been restored. Sniff. I hated to hear it was done, it turned my stomach. The Webasto sunroof went one way, the engine one way, the various bits went to even more places.
That said, I was offered the Morris Cooper grill (which I desperately needed), and some other parts, and snapped 'em up right away, I'll admit. At that time it was almost impossible to get a decent Morris Cooper grill in the States, and I figured if somebody was gonna get it, mize well be me! I got mostly the trim bits and his sound system such as it was, which promptly went on to my Cooper and soldiered on for years. Right now the grill is hanging in my garage awaiting the resto of the Cooper, sometime in the future.
I remember seeing Garner's car on the road on occaison when it was alive - very sharp example. Wish I'd seen him at full chat on the twisties with it."
http://www.mini2.com/forum/general-d...rner-mini.html

The May 2012 issue of Car and Driver magazine (USA) had a nice interview with James Garner. He was asked
Quote:
Of the cars you've owned over the years, is there any one you regret selling?
Answer:
Quote:
I wish I'd held on to my 1966 pale blue Mini Cooper
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ni-cooper.html