In the late 1960s Pressed Steel Fisher at Cowley undertook extensive research into plastic bodywork, with technological assistance from the German chemical giant, Bayer. PSF had an eye to manufacture in overseas countries which had no facilities for making steel bodywork.

Examples of both the Mini and 1100/1300 were built with GRP bodies (glass-fibre reinforced polyester) and this particular GRP-bodied Mini proved its practicality as a fully roadworthy car. It was driven across Europe under its own power to attend an international conference on the use of plastic materials in automotive design and engineering. In 1991 it was lent to Venezuela, resulting in the production of the plastic bodied Mini (the Cord).