I didn’t want to let this April pass without mentioning that it has been 50 years since the launch of that everyday classic car, the Mini. Designed by engineer Alec Issigonis the small car was a revolutionary design featuring transversely-mounted engine and front-wheel drive, rack-and-pinion steering and rubber cone suspension that gave legendary handling, and a surprisingly large passenger space relative to the small overall physical dimensions of the car.
My Mini, affectionately known as ‘The Beast’, was made in 1961, and totally rebuilt in 1983. When I brought it the car was a near basket-case. Every time it rained water flowed through the rust holes in the gutters and exited through the rust holes in the floorpans (not surprisingly the interior smelt like a wet dog). The electrical system was suspect (I even had a small fire under the dashboard one night) and, as with all early Minis, trips in wet weather were fraught with tension lest a curtain of spray from opposing traffic drown the exposed distributor behind the grille and kill the ignition. However when it wasn’t raining ‘The Beast’ was a lot of fun to drive, veering round corners on the metal road I lived on almost sideways, holding on with the aid of a widened rim at each corner and its firm ride on rubber cone springs.
I became so attached to the car that after a year I decided to completely rebuild it to a sort of ‘Cooper’ specification. The rebuild took a whole year and involved stripping the bodyshell back to bare metal and repairing the rust-affected areas (roofline, scuttle, door skins and floorpans), completely rewiring the electrics and repainting and retrimming the interior. The original 850cc A-Series engine was replaced with a larger 1100cc unit (better for the open road and enabling ‘The Beast’ to take on all comers when going uphill) complete with straight-flow exhaust system and a two-inch tailpipe that made the car sound much larger than it actually was. The only thing missing was the set of dual SU carburetteurs that I had always promised myself. Needless to say, I learned a lot that year!
Once completed, ‘The Beast’ was the archetypal 'Boy Racer'! I sold it to my younger brother in 1987. Should have kept it...
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