Rover Mini Cooper
1.3 MPI Mikey Haines 1984 Mini 25 Ian Edwards 1978 Mini Clubman Pete Towndrow 1991 Mini Mayfair Nick Ellis
MIKEY – ‘I bought it in 2012 from an enthusiast in Treorchy and it has been in daily use since. It has had a few modification to make the car look older than it is and some mechanical updates carried out by a mini guru in Cardiff… ‘Du Croc Slip Services’. It has never missed a beat and I am going to pass it on to our 11 year-old son when he can drive, he loves her!’
IAN – ‘In the summer of 1989 I decided that I needed a Mini in my life. I noticed a silver Mini among the trade cars at the Ford dealership where I worked. Less than 15 minutes later and I was the proud owner of a slightly rusty (1984) Mini 25 with just over 39,000 miles on the clock, for the princely sum of £1550. In July 2002 I felt it time to get out of the motortrade and deployed ‘ANY’ as my daily driver. ANY’S clock now showed just over 52,500 miles. Then after 2 years and 15,000 miles of daily use, it was decision time, throw ANY away or throw money at her. I had the engine re-built by Tom of Willfield Motors. A 40-thou re-bore plus a slightly hotter cam and a stage one kit resulted in a smooth revving A+ engine with an additional 10bhp over the standard version.
It was re-built by Somerford using a Heritage shell and to the (six-page) spec that I had agonised over. The following summer I had a full length Webasto sunroof fitted by Webasto themselves just outside Birmingham. Fast forward to 2017 and after 27 years I still love my baby as much as ever.
PETE – ‘In 1982 I saw it in the display window of a secondhand car dealer in City Road, Cardiff with 24,000 miles on the clock and a deal was done. I’ve always loved cars and motorbikes and prefer buying to selling, one of the reasons we still have it.
She was used regularly up until 1990 and a mileage of 68,000. Bodily and structurally sound at this time, but with the metallic paint dulled by sunlight and tired mechanicals, I began to use her less and less. She was then given a structural inspection and was locked in the garage with a fresh MOT as I was convinced that 1275GTS would one day become a classic and she was worth keeping.
I was right – in 2004 my lad spotted this dusty car in the
garage and said to me: ‘What’s that car dad?’ I told him it was a Mini – not to touch as I didn’t want him to start playing inside it when I wasn’t around. I decided there and then to say to him: ‘When you are old enough we’ll do this up and you can have her.’ Good as my word, in 2014 it was transported to a local bodyshop and new A panels and rear valance were fitted after a full body media blast.
Ownership passed to my son Owen on his 17th birthday in March 2017 at 72,000 miles. Owen is not yet insured to drive the car as he has not passed his driving test, but hopefully that will be completed this year. We joined Cardiff Mini Club in 2014 and have attended many of its runs.’
NICK – ‘My 1991 Mini Mayfair was given to me by a 93 year-old lady who had decided to stop driving in May 2008. It was in a rusty state but had only covered 25,694 miles. A new front end and other panels were replaced, the body was made good and change of colour from silver to Arum White was decided on. Interior was recovered in leather. Brakes and suspension were overhauled and now runs on smoother ride suspension. Engine and gearbox have never been apart, having only covered 42,000 miles. As the car was kindly given to me, I had money in hand to spend on renovating her.’