A match made in Mini heaven
A Nelson couple whose love of Minis brought them together will soon be travelling the length of the country in their 1978 Clubman ‘‘Pigmy’’ as part of the Pork Pie Charity Run.
Shaw Elmsly and Amy Langfield met through the Minis In Nelson Inc (MINI) club two years ago. A fellow member had been conspiring to set them up, but they crossed paths at a surprise birthday party.
Langfield had always been a fan of the iconic two-door cars – her mum had one when she was a kid, and it was her dream to own a BMW Mini when she graduated from university.
When she met Elmsly, who had always wanted a classic Mini, he had just sold the first one he owned.
‘‘I’ve always wanted one. When I moved to Nelson, I bought one – and in the same week, I ended up buying my house, and I had to sell it to pay for the kitchen,’’ he said.
Elmsly was determined to bag another Mini – and when the couple saw a bronze 1978 Clubman come up for sale two years ago, they jumped at the chance to buy it.
They bought it from a woman in Hastings, whose late husband had been restoring the car with the dream of taking it to a Mini Nationals and on the Pork Pie Charity Run.
After he died, she held on to it, hoping to find the right people to sell it to. They turned out to be Elmsly and Langfield, who planned to do exactly what the previous owner had hoped to do.
The couple did some more work on the car so it could become Elmsly’s everyday vehicle, and dubbed it Pigmy.
They took it to the 2019 Mini Nationals in Tauranga, where it won best in show in the daily driver category, much to the former owner’s delight.
This March, Elmsly and Langfield, aka team ‘‘Beauty and the Beast’’, are doing the Pork Pie Charity Run together. They have a photo of the former owners to take on the journey with them.
Langfield, who participated in the event in 2019, said it was ‘‘so much fun’’, and Elmsly was jealous at having missed out, so they were keen to take part in this year’s charity run together.
It was also about fulfilling the dream of the previous owners. ‘‘It’s what its purpose was,’’ Elmsly said.
The biennial fundraising road trip, open to all Mini owners, is based loosely on the route taken by the Blondini Gang in the original classic 1981 New Zealand movie Goodbye Pork Pie. Participants have six days to travel from Paihia to Invercargill, and have to cover the costs of the run, while raising at least $1000 for KidsCan.
Elmsly and Langfield are currently in third place on the fundraising leaderboard, having raised almost $3000 for the charity, with plans to raise more.
Elmsly said he loved driving the Mini, so he was looking forward to the whole trip, while Langfield said she was excited to meet the other participants and travel in convoy together.
‘‘It’s going to be really fun – let’s hope the car doesn’t break down,’’ Langfield said. ‘‘People just look at them, wave and smile, and it brings back so many memories.’’
‘‘That’s the thing with Minis – they just bring out the best in people,’’ Elmsly said.