I'm not sure what your "Typical Yanks" comment is supposed to imply, because there are just as many uneducated people throughout the world about Minis. I'm sure your not an expert on American cars as i'm no export about foreign cars not sold here.
Quite right, there's lots of American cars I like, and I wouldn't have a clue if they were the 'real deal', how many Shelby Mustangs are there now compared to the number that left the factory......probably twice as many!, anything with a sporting heritage is going to get replicated (faked) if there is enough money in it, you just have to do your research before parting with any hard earned ££££ / $$$$ / €€€€ ect, the chassis number for the car says MK1 Morris Mini, the body shell is at least MK3, so no it's not a Cooper, but with that spec its probably faster. You only have to look on eBay at the moment for things like this which are quite obviously not what they say they are......it's a world wide problem