JOIN CLUB

Mini is reusing a badge from its past (when it was a purely British company) for a new special edition. The car is the Mini 1499GT and the old ‘un that provides the name is the 1275GT of the early 1970s. I remember that car well: it was a Clubman version of the Mini and had stripes and 1275GT stickers and could be bought with Dunlop Denovo run flat tyres.

The new Mini 1499GT is powered by BMW’s turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine which produces 102bhp.

Only 1,499 editions of the £16,990 GTs will be built with a choice of either white or black exterior paint. True to the original you get side stripes with the model name on them.