Mini Magazine

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 incredi

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 o

• 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 t

The Minis were the star performers at Thruxton over the 18-19 May weekend, in support of the hugely popular televised BTCC headline act, and earning praise all round after a quartet of hugely entertaining races The Se7ens and S-Class went first on Sa

Excited is an understatement! It had been a long time since our last rally in November, and we were so excited. This was our first rally with our new main sponsor and support crew J and S Handling Ltd (Forklifts) and Elk Training Solutions owned by A

With tickets sold out in a little over nine hours, the annual London to Brighton Mini Run continues to be a must-attend event for Mini fans from all over Europe. An impressive 2150 official entrants and many unofficial ones headed to the South Coast

The Mini Cooper Register’s National Day at Beaulieu is always guaranteed to attract a great selection of Minis, and without a doubt, it always plays host to the greatest gathering of Mini exotica. This was not lost on the 3000 visitors who decided to

Held in the beautiful parkland surrounding Goodwood House, the Festival of Speed is a celebration of motorsport. Giving you the perfect opportunity to get up close to the cars and bikes as they blast up the Hillclimb track and enjoy unrestricted acce

Name: James Martin Car: 1992, Mini Mayfair Location: Alton, Hampshire • When James Martin’s older brother, Shane, asked him what car he’d like to drive when he is old enough, James expressed an interest in the classic Mini (taking some inspiration f

Whatever you might be thinking the inspiration for this Mini was, we’re going to bet you’re off by a mile. You’re thinking the builder was looking to make a statement in line with the trends of the era that spawned it, where wide and glittery was gre

Will Harris has come a long way since his dad bought him his first Mini when he was 18. He didn’t know how to replace a wheel back then and spent an early run trying to get the car into fifth and wondering why the gears kept grinding! Fast forward a

Andy Saunders grew up in Bournemouth fascinated by the custom cars of the 1970s. By the time he was 16 he was customising his first car and only three years later he had finished his fourth. He now had the experience and the imagination to create som

This Clubman, and its owner, Andy Bellamy, first appeared in the April 2012 issue of Mini Magazine as an ‘On The Job’ feature. Well, a lot of tarmac has passed under various Mini and Metro tyres since then. However, the good news is that Andy has com

As a package, the Mini was a clever car, no doubt about that. But could it be improved upon? Well, there have literally been hundreds of budding car designers who thought they could do just that and started enhancing Issigonis’ baby from the early 19

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll be familiar with our 1969 Riley Elf. We’ve been working through to get the car back on the road after a long lay up, and have been paying close attention to all safety related systems. Last month we rebuilt the back

Q I recently undertook my first long motorway journey in my X-reg Rover Cooper Classic. After driving for two hours the water temperature started to creep up above normal, sometimes almost hitting the red. I found that this could be remedied by dropp

When I went to pick the Elf up, previous owner Alex and I had attempted to re-pressurise the Hydrolastic suspension, purely for the sake of making loading onto the trailer a whole lot easier. With flat suspension, the Elf has zero ground clearance, a

The carpets in your average Mini have a pretty hard time. It takes a fastidious approach to protect them from everything the environment throws at them and even if you can reduce the impact of dirty shoes with over mats and regular cleaning, UV radia

No racing for me after Goodwood as I was out of money and the car is apart for a gearbox mend, so I've been trying to tidy up. By chance, one of the local enthusiasts who already has several 'low volume production cars' expressed an interest in my Ma

It was yellow when it should have been red. But my Corgi Mini Monte Carlo winner had a roofrack with two spare wheels and headlights made out of diamonds. I knew it was the best rally car in the whole world, as the French had learned to their cost. A

As I am still waiting for the primer to dry out on my car, several people have asked me why this should take so long. So let me tell you about what I have learned as I didn’t know either. The Marcos uses a fibreglass shell, which has or at least had