Mini Remastered: driving the classic car's £90,000 reinvention

Okay, so that’s a good reason to ‘mess’ with a legend. “We had to produce it in bigger numbers than expected, which explains the lag between launch and production,” she says. “The first car left Silverstone last year. We delivered three initially, but we’re planning to deliver 50 this year – and they are already sold. Next year, we’re aiming for 100.” 

Not bad for a Mini that starts at £90,000 before you’ve personally specced it from a luscious menu of options. Our car has conversely been de-specced, because originally it had a roof rack, skis and extra lamps for an Alpine theme. Not very Chelsea… but the £130,000 price is very Abramovich. Yes, £130,000. For a Mini. 

But consider for a moment the 1400 hours required for what goes beyond any normal definition of restoration, from a donor car sourced usually from the late 1980s/1990s Mini editions, through a complex process of de-seaming, strengthening and e-coating the body to combat corrosion. New bodies are formed from original British Motor Heritage tooling, painted and fitted with fine detail touches. Check out the wing mirrors, fuel filler cap, LED light fittings (halogen is also available) and central twin exhausts, which give the original (but obviously completely rebuilt) engine a pleasing rasp. This one has been bored out to 1330cc and offers a boisterous 83bhp. 

But there’s still a nagging doubt: will it drive like a new car? If so, surely David Brown Automotive and its enthusiast founder will have missed the point, by erasing those infuriating, beloved imperfections. There’s only one way to find out. 

It’s near rush hour as we set off beside Battersea Park, cross the river at Chelsea Bridge and melt into the traffic along the Embankment. Down Lots Road, past the auction houses, on to the Kings Road, trickle by Vivienne Westwood’s World’s End, then a right through congestion to cross Albert Bridge. There’s no Twiggy, David Bailey or Terence Stamp… but thankfully this is still a Mini they’d recognise. The clutch is heavy, the brakes are soft (and squeal loudly), the seating position is awkward, the steering is heavier than it should be, the five-speed manual ’box is period loose – and it’s brilliant, darting from jam to jam with the same cheeky aplomb we’ve always loved. The soundtrack download featuring The Stones, Kinks, Hendrix and The Who doesn’t hurt (nice move, Michelle, but no Beatles?) and we’re relieved: of course David Brown and his small band of artisans haven’t missed the point – quite the opposite.