I have to admit, this one might never be truly finished. I’ve been building it since well before this website or YouTube started even! As a recognized expert and builder of show winning classic Minis, this has been my “proof of concept” showpiece for improvements to the classic Mini Cooper. There is far too much to “list”, but you’ll get a good idea after you watch the 20 or so videos in the playlist below! Then you’ll still have questions.

It’s an intense and demanding car to drive. It absolutely will not be for everyone. The driver must understand and manage the high compression engine with skill and attention to avoid destruction. The close ratio gearbox is geared for ‘reasonable’ RPM at highway speed. First gear is tall making slow driving or starting on a hill challenging. More so with said high compression engine!

The pay off? This is one of the most exiting and exhilarating classic Minis to drive without resorting to Honda power (and weight). It sounds and revs and builds power like few classic Minis could imagine. The legendary Mini driving experience, enhanced with nearly two decades of my relentless (and documented) improvements make this one of the most remarkable MK1 Cooper S cars on the road today.

The trade off? It’s not original. Before you start telling me I shouldn’t have done this or that, or that it is a “hodgepodge” of parts, you better see a few “before” photos. You will notice how straight and rust free the body was even then.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

That’s right, it came from a barn! And mostly before every phone had a camera. My lovely assistant had one of the first iPhones in 2006 for those pics. I might have some dusty prints of the original acquisition around 2002!

I never had any intention of being restrained by originality. Indeed I wouldn’t bother. Dare I admit that to a performance enthusiast like myself, most standard classic Minis are quite pathetic! There’s not much appeal in winding through several gears just to get through an intersection! No such trouble here.

This also could be a never-ending-post. I already have a long playlist of videos on YouTube, and dozens more to be edited of recent work as I built the car to it’s current state. There are a number of improvements to the suspension, steering, sub-frames, brakes, and engine that I have not yet mentioned. This playlist goes back many years, so I hope you’ll forgive the quality of my early “single take” clips. There is a lot of history here:

This is a chance to own this car and finish the interior to suit your taste, not mine or anyone else’s. It turns out that I’m much better at building the mechanical side and would much rather change sub frames than install door panels! You can see that I do not have the door sliding windows installed…. I personally find them absurd in our Summer climate! You can see that the velocity stacks are open to the sky. Another reason to avoid rain!

It also turns out I’m better at building cars and have several more in the works. Passing stewardship of this one will give me the attention span, the time and space to work, and some financial bandwidth for the next project. I built every single piece of this authentic California Cooper S, and the next owner will have my ongoing technical support and advice. And should you want the next engine to have the latest Multi-web crank and make even more power, we can do that too!