The Official CLASSIC Mini Thread

Classic Mini Remastered for road and track

Coachbuilder David Brown Automotive, with the help of Oselli Engineering, are building 60 entirely overhauled classic Mini’s for both road and track.

93 kW and 153 N.m is the work of long time Mini engine tuner Oselli Engineering, while the leather trimmed roll cage and deep green paint job is that of coach builder David Brown Automotive. The initials DB you might know from the tail end of some rather good looking British sports cars. 60 years have gone by since the first Mini was built, and so UK based DB Automotive thought to celebrate. The aim is a car with great track credibility, yet composed road manners. Essentially another in the growing world of the resto-mod, the Mini Remastered is not just someones backyard project hatch.

Being a coach builder David Brown Automotive does not specialise in engines, and so Milton Keynes based Oselli Engineering were hired to head up the powertrain side of the project. Having many years of experience with the A series engine, they have been tuning them since the 1960’s, Oselli haven’t spared much. Hand-ported cylinder heads, strengthened crankshaft, a high-torque camshaft, twin-SU carburettors, limited slip differential and a free flowing exhaust system have all been strategically thrown at the little Mini. Some Bilstein dampers, and a set of AP Racing brakes take care of any handling problems. The result is 93 kW and 153 N.m at 6 200 rpm and 4,500 rpm respectively, which is fed to the larger 13 inch wheels through either a redesigned five-speed manual, or a four-speed automatic. The automatic does however come with a downsized 1 400 cc engine compared to the standard 1 500 cc unit. DB Automotive will even fit the car with twin fuel tanks, if there is any intention of long road trips, or lengthy track stints.

www.carmag.co.za

Classic Mini Remastered for road and track - CAR Magazine

Coach builder David Brown Automotive, with the help of Oselli Engineering, are building 60 entirely overhauled classic Mini’s for both road and track. 93 kW and 153 N.m along with a leather wrapped roll cage.
www.carmag.co.za www.carmag.co.za

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London firm electrifies classic Mini with Nissan Leaf powertrain

London Electric Cars adds classic Mini to line-up, with 20kWh battery returning up to 70 miles of range

A British company is offering to convert the classic Mini to electric power, returning a range of 60-70 miles, for £25,000.

London Electric Cars (LEC) uses pre-owned Nissan Leaf batteries and motors as the basis of its conversion, with modifications that reduce costs and environmental impact.

The standard conversion includes a 20kWh battery, but customers can install a higher-output motor and upgraded batteries at an additional cost.

If a customer doesn't already own a classic Mini for conversion, the company will source a donor car for a premium.

“As a classic car enthusiast and advocate for affordable and sustainable electric vehicle conversions, it made sense for us to focus on the original Mini,” said LEC founder Matthew Quitter.

www.autocar.co.uk

London firm electrifies classic Mini with Nissan Leaf powertrain | Autocar

London Electric Cars adds classic Mini to line-up, with 20kWh battery returning up to 70 miles of range
www.autocar.co.uk www.autocar.co.uk

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David Brown Mini Remastered Oselli Edition 2021 UK review

Should I buy one?

We’re suckers for the regular Mini Remastered and this, then, is no exception.

Sure, if you took an old Mini and spent the 1200 hours David Brown’s technicians do, you’d have a car to your specification that was, maybe, just as good. But we don’t all have the time or energy, and if you’re looking for a really lovely, turn-key car to win over even really cynical old codgers like me, look no further.

Put it this way, yesterday I had a Porsche and a 15-mile back road journey to make, but if I’d had an Oselli Edition Mini Remastered too, I’d have looked no further than that.

Car reviews | Autocar

The most in-depth car reviews available online, courtesy of the world famous Autocar road test, bringing you the best car reviews since 1895
www.autocar.co.uk www.autocar.co.uk

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The Spectre Type 10 is a mighty little mid-engined Mini

Proof that Canada does naughty as well as nice, A VTEC engine powers this exquisite restomod

Canada. Regularly laying claim to being one of the nicest countries in the world – both in terms of ambience and its inhabitants – there can be few better places to head when it’s rest, solitude and – well – downright niceness you seek.

Or so we thought. Because Canada has now given us this, something of a Franken-Mini. It’s a mid-engine, rear-drive reimagining of one of the world’s most recognisable cars. And while the fine work done by Vancouver’s Spectre Vehicle Design looks nicely done, we suspect it's a Mini with a fairly naughty side.

The Spectre Type 10 swaps the dinky stock A-series engine for a K20 2.0-litre 4cyl VTEC from Honda, moving it behind the driver in order to fit the mechanicals. Which ought to drastically change how the good ol’ Mini drives. Not least because power is now routed to the back axle via a limited-slip differential and six-speed manual gearbox.

It sounds serious, but Spectre’s work looks suitably serious too. There are individual YouTube videos guiding us through each component of the car; there is mention of effortlessness and simplicity, but with intense focus on the engineering beneath it all. The wheels look like reimagined 10in Minilites, but have a three-piece structure with brake cooling techniques built in. Each is bespoke to its corner of the car and they’re all fitted with aggressive camber.

Keeping the wheels so dinky has called for a whole new swing arm design to allow prodigious Honda power – well north of 200bhp is anticipated – to be transmitted to such small contact patches.

www.topgear.com

The Spectre Type 10 is a mighty little mid-engined Mini

Proof that Canada does naughty as well as nice, A VTEC engine powers this exquisite restomod
www.topgear.com www.topgear.com

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FIRST DRIVE

Mini Remastered Oselli Edition review: yours for just £130k

Hit or a miss then?

You can see where the money’s been spent on this thing, the craftsmanship is impressive and the idea is commendable… but it doesn’t deliver on the driving front enough to justify that potty price tag. The fact is you could have one of these or a brand new Porsche 911 Turbo, which means it’s being pitched directly at customers with more money than sense.

Here’s an idea: how about a David Brown Budget Edition, £30-£40k, fewer of the trinkets and a bit more attention on the chassis? Now that would be something.

www.topgear.com

Mini Remastered Oselli Edition review: yours for just £130k Reviews 2023 | Top Gear

At last, something small and fast! Quite. If you’re anything like us here at Top Gear, you’ll be growing weary of modern cars getting faster, yes, but also bigger, blunter, fatter and more detached from the process of driving. You’re probably craving something small, raucous and chuckable...
www.topgear.com www.topgear.com

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Yeah, you know you want to own this Mini Shorty

This bright orange mini Mini is up for auction. Cute!

Desperate for your car to stand out from the crowd? Once that meant following the old adage ‘bigger is better’ but every human and their pet on earth is now driving an SUV, so it’s time to think outside the box.

Or perhaps that should be inside a teeny tiny box. Yep, you’ll be wanting this brilliantly bright-orange Mini Shorty. There have been tonnes of Mini Shorty conversions over the years (the original just wasn’t small enough for some) but most of those are convertibles. This is a much rarer hard-top ‘saloon’ that began life as a beige Morris Mini 1000.

It’s unclear when it was chopped up to make this little orange shoe, but we do know that it has just undergone a full body restoration and respray. Oh, and it’s now up for sale over on Car & Classic. At the time of writing the bidding is up to £2,700 with over six days left.

www.topgear.com

Yeah, you know you want to own this Mini Shorty

This bright orange mini Mini is up for auction. Cute!
www.topgear.com www.topgear.com

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Mini Recharged project to electrify brand's classic models

Owners of original-shape Minis will be offered an official conversion to a full EV set-up

Mini has launched a new in-house programme dedicated to electrifying its older models as the latest step in a wide-reaching campaign to promote the car maker’s sustainability credentials.

The new Mini Recharged project – developed by a team of workers at the firm’s Oxford factory, following a positive reaction to the one-off electrified Mini shown in 2018 – has been devised as a means of “telling the story of the classic Mini in the 21st century, in a sustainable way”. According to the brand, the concept was conceived even before the launch of the series-production Mini Electric hatch.

Owners of the original-shape Mini – produced under various nameplates from 1959 until 2000 – will eventually be able to have their car’s four-cylinder A-series engine swapped for a 121bhp electric motor. That will enable the car to cover 0-62mph in around 9.0sec – far quicker than any of the original engines offered. The four-speed manual gearbox makes way for a single-speed item.

Power is stored in a battery of undisclosed capacity. It is charged via a new port under the original filler cap at speeds of up to 6.6kW and is capable of a claimed 99 miles of range. The remaining battery capacity is displayed in a new dial as part of a reimagined version of the original gauge cluster.

www.autocar.co.uk

Mini Recharged project to electrify brand's classic models | Autocar

Owners of original-shape Minis will be offered an official conversion to a full EV set-up
www.autocar.co.uk www.autocar.co.uk

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Mini Will EV Swap Your Classic Mini

The Italian Job could have been way more stealth with Mini Recharged tech

Judging by the way automakers are looking into the future, there will come a day when you won’t be able to buy a tank full of gasoline anymore. It’s not happening any time soon, but it probably will happen eventually. So what are we going to do with all of these classic cars still on the road? Wad them up and throw them in the trash, right? No, of course not.

I have to assume that programs like Mini’s Recharged will continue to gain popularity in the market. You see, Mini will take your hydrocarbon-burning classic and pull out all of the greasy bits, mark them and put them on a shelf for later, then replace all of them with electric motors and a rack of batteries. This program is focused on building these cars to be future-proofed, but at the same time totally reversible.

You may recall that Mini originally debuted this concept at the New York Auto Show in 2018, but that was ultimately just a one-off, or at least that’s what we thought. Since then the company has received a mess of positive feedback, and decided to turn it into a stand-alone project.

The Mini Recharged team works at the company’s Oxford plant, where it will fit a small 121 horsepower motor, good for around 9-seconds from 0-60, and enough batteries for around 100 miles of range. Because so little was changed from year to year, all models built from 1959 to 2000 are eligible. It might save you a few British Pounds if you find a car that already has a blown motor or at the very least a bad clutch, but shipping it overseas is going to negate at least some of that savings.

jalopnik.com

Mini Will EV Swap Your Classic Mini - Jalopnik

Judging by the way automakers are looking into the future, there will come a day when you won’t be able to buy a tank full of gasoline anymore. It’s not happening any time soon, but it probably will happen eventually. So what are we going to do with all of these classic cars still on the road...
jalopnik.com jalopnik.com
 
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