Owning one

Father-and-son John and Adam Bryant have run fastbacks since 1971. “I’ve owned Rootes cars since 1962,” says John. “In the 1970s, I bought two H120s for £50 each for spares: we gave all the parts to the Rapier club. I’ve had about 15 fastbacks in total – they were used for my daily transport until 1989.”

Adam has owned 115 Minis, buying his first at 12, but is now more likely than his dad to be seen in this exceptionally original 46,000-mile Rapier. The Bryants also have an H120, which has been in the family since it was three years old, and do all of their own work on the cars. They restored another H120 to concours condition, but sold it because they couldn’t bear to drive such an immaculate car: they were shocked when the new owner used it for historic rallying!

‘They restored an H120 to concours condition, but sold it because they couldn’t bear to drive such an immaculate car’