Mini Magazine July 2019

welcome

The Mini scene is rich in great stories, and we've done our best to collect some cracking ones for you this month. It was an enormous pleasure to go and meet Ray and Spencer Cheevers this month, and get the chance to take a closer look at the incredible customised Mini Super they've just finished restoring. You can read the full story on page 42, but I think it's brilliant that a car like this has not only survived, but it's done it with most of the unique touches that its builder worked into the car back in 1969 still intact. Add into the mix that the builder was in fact Ray, and you'll understand why this story is so unique. Still on a customised theme, we're glad to see Mini Haha…

slow and steady

The 997 Cooper MkI is considered by many as the Holy Grail of the Mini movement. John Lee was lucky enough to get hold of a 1962 Austin Cooper 997 in 1981 but it took him 25 years before he had the time to devote to the restoration. John is firmly of the belief that a car this rare should be restored as closely to original spec as possible and would rather put the time into getting the original parts working again than opt for modern replacements or quick fixes. The Austin Mini Cooper came into production in September 1961 (along with the Morris Mini Cooper). It took a little experimentation and some stringent testing but Cooper and Issigonis eventually came up with a car that was nimble, as well as economical.…

is your mini safe?

The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs’ recent 2019 National Cost of Ownership Survey suggests that more than two-thirds of the UK’s historic vehicles used on the road are no longer submitted for an MoT test, leading to concern that an increasing number of unsafe classics are being driven without any form of inspection. On May 20, 2018 MoT exemption was brought into line with historic vehicle tax (VED), meaning vehicles built more than 40 years ago no longer need to be tested, providing no ‘substantial changes’ have been made in the last 30 years. MoT testing can still be performed on a voluntary basis, but the FBHVC estimates that just 32 per cent of historic vehicles are presented in this way. Justification for the exemption was made on the…

insurance fraud

• Classic car owners continue to risk invalidating their insurance by providing false information to their insurers. New research conducted by the team behind www. moneysavingheroes.co.uk has found that two fifths of the 2000 Britons surveyed readily admitted to lying when getting quotes for their car insurance policies, and neglected to reveal the whole truth on subjects such as where their vehicle was kept overnight, and any modifications that had been made to the car. The motivation is most likely cost, and the survey found that 76 per cent of the sample considered car insurance too expensive. However, only 49 per cent said they were fully aware of the consequences of lying on their insurance forms.…

minis on film

• Hagerty Insurance and Stowe School have worked together to produce a special film celebrating two anniversaries – 60 years of the Mini and 50 years since the classic film, The Italian Job. Produced largely in secret, it was revealed for the first time to surprised parents and other guests at the school’s annual Speech Day on May 25. The film itself opens to a scene of doors being blown off, and school exam papers being hurriedly thrown into the back of one of three, red, white, and blue Minis. They zip off but are soon followed by the expected authorities… cue a dramatic chase involving handbrake turns, feature cars and charming evasions, not to mention some fantastic panning shots of the three cars driving around various bits of the…

mini bookshelf

• ‘60 Years of a British Icon’ is the latest addition to the Scrapbook series from Porter Press, the story of this unique little car is broken up into accessible nuggets and supported by an extensive array of archive and contemporary photographs, to illustrate just what makes the Mini so special, so loved and such fun! Author Martin Port has worked in automotive publishing for 18 years and has owned a variety of classics, from a Mini Metro to a Morris Minor, and, of course, the legendary Mini. The ‘Self Preservation Society : 50 Years of The Italian Job’ by Matthew Field is based on more than 50 in-depth interviews with the cast and crew, and beautifully illustrated with hundreds of never-before-seen photographs and production documents from the filmmakers’ private collections. Matthew…