Edited version of an article originally published in MiniWorld Magazine December 2000.

Money is not something you've got a lot of when you're a student. Alcohol, on the other hand, is generally available in copious amounts. So when a friend of Paul's dad suggested he could take away an ageing Mini from his front drive for the princely sum of a bottle of red wine, a visit to the bank manager was thankfully avoided.

Despite being of typical student age, Paul was already a die-hard Mini enthusiast. "My first car was a 1980 Clubman. I did lots of work on it and loved it to bits and spent silly amounts of money getting it back on the road. Then I got a Checkmate which was my first proper Mini. I turned it into a Cooper replica because that was the thing to do a few years ago."

While a Mini might be the ideal mode of transport for any self-respecting student, Paul's course in Film and Television at Bournemouth Filmschool meant he had to cart around huge bits of equipment that simply wouldn't fit in the boot without serious thuggery being involved. A Ford Fiesta was the answer and such mundane daily transport gave Paul the chance to focus on a more long-term project. "I knew I wouldn't have a Mini as an everyday car so I was looking for something to do up. I've always liked Mk1s and I did think about getting a Mk5 shell and converting it to a Mk1 look, but there are certain things you can't do with that, such as external door hinges and sliding windows. This car came along at exactly the right time although when it did we didn't realise how long it would take and the money we would spend. "It came about through my dad's friend whose son had it and then knocked it into the back of a lorry. It had been sitting about for quite a while. I said I might be interested and I expected it to be a rusty, old C-reg Mayfair but it was a Mk1. At first, my dad and I thought we'd try and get it running but it needed so much work that in the end we decided to do it as a long-term project."

Paul's dad, Robin, would prove invaluable throughout the rebuild. A toolmaker by trade, he's got a great eye for detail as well as the ability to knock up special brackets and ensure everything goes together properly. A classic bike enthusiast at heart, Robin was still more than happy to get involved with the project. Indeed, he was probably more aware of the work involved in getting the Mini back on the road than Paul. As the duo found it, the Mk1 was sporting a manual gearbox, a 1000cc engine and was running on dry cone suspension, but a Heritage Certificate identifies the 1966 car as originally being fitted with an automatic gearbox and Hydrolastic suspension. Paul already knew that the previous owner had swapped the engine while holes in the subframe hinted at the original Hydrolastic set-up. Many of the parts that were subsequently removed were of a 1974 origin.

Having been sitting around for some time after the previous owner had attempted to rearrange the back of a lorry, the car was in a distinctly sorry state. As Paul recalls, "Ripping it apart was the easy bit. Not labelling everything was something I came to regret later!" As for the stripped-out shell, "everything was touched except for the roof." That meant a comprehensive set of new panels and the duo's lack of equipment resulted in the carcass shipped out to a local specialist, TDH Autos in Petersfield. There Tim Howard set about the task and, working in-between jobs, it meant Paul and Robin weren't going to see the Mk1 for eight months.

With more modern Mini shells the refurbishment cost simply wouldn't have been worth it, but the comparative rarity of Mk1s made the outlay more bearable. Without so much as taking a breath, he was into the next major expense - getting the car painted. "I wanted it black, but my previous car had been black and I saw this colour at a show. Since then it has sadly become very common." Paul Massey was given the task and the surf blue body with Old English White roof certainly looks the part, even if it has become an increasingly popular option on the show scene.

When it came to the rebuild, Paul had a clear idea of what he was trying to achieve. "Aesthetically I wanted it to look like a Mk1. I loved the small rear window, the boot lid and all those things and wanted to keep them. But I didn't really want the insecurity of having the bonnet release on the front, so I've converted it to an internal release. In turn, that meant the grille could change to a full-slat version without the gap in it. It was little changes like that which really appealed to me.

"Its basis is a Cooper S of that period, but I wasn't trying to copy it. It has got a right hand fuel tank and disc brakes and Minifins on the back, but it is by default that it happens that way. I wanted and needed decent brakes and a better fuel tank, so I ended up with parts fitted to Coopers whether I liked it or not." While the car had to look the part, Paul certainly wasn't going to be a slave to convention. On the inside, things have been brought firmly up to date; a replica interior was never on the cards. "I've sat in a few and they're very uncomfortable. They're also very expensive to get hold of. The car was just going to be driven to shows and bashed about the lanes at weekends so there didn't seem any point in spending the money as the car wasn't the real thing anyway."

The Corbeau front recliners and matching rear bench seat were bought second-hand from someone stripping out a car for more serious competition purposes. As luck would have it, even the trim finish works well with the car's colour, and Paul used black carpets throughout to keep things subtle. However, what is not so subtle is the comprehensive rollcage fitted to the car. "I thought it's a good safety feature," says Paul, "and it holds the shell together like you wouldn't believe. It makes it much more rigid. It's a six-point rollcage so it's perfect if I do go hill-climbing." When it came to the performance part of the package Paul was quick to dump the engine that came with the car. "My dad and I found an MG Metro Turbo but, because of the modifications we would have had to do to the bulkhead to get the turbo and manifold in, we de-turbo'd it. We thought at the time that an MG Metro Turbo block would be very strong, so that was why we got it."

The car hit the road in this almost standard form but it quickly became apparent that there were problems with the cylinder head when a spark plug was removed to reveal water in the cylinder. "We got another standard Metro unleaded head, skimmed it and cleaned it up before getting it rolling road tested." The result was 55bhp at the wheels, although the Metro gearbox isn't ideal, "That's something that hinders it because it is not geared for 10-inch wheels."

As the project drew to a close towards the end of 1999 Paul added a few of the finishing touches that really make the difference on any car of this type. The clip-on wing mirrors are typical. "They look quite nice but you can see bugger all out of them," Paul states. Then there's the rear boot badge. Made by Paul by cutting up the original Mini Minor badge, with some careful reshaping it now reads simply 'MK1'. Neat.

Looking back over the build both Paul and Robin agree that the doors posed the greatest problem. Getting them to fit properly was almost impossible and even now they're not 100 per cent right. Robin was also amazed at the poor quality of many of the parts they bought. "You had to work on everything you picked up. I'm lucky because I've got access to a tool room but I don't know how these guys manage who are just doing it at home."
Now the Mk1 is on the road, any difficulties they had are just a fading memory. Paul is adamant: "my top priority is to drive it and enjoy it". This year has seen him attend most of the big events, always under the wing of his local club, The South Preservation Society. "We formed it for the Italian Job in 1997 and have members from all over South. We're not a massive club, however its a friendly bunch and theres always someone to help you in a crisis".

Taking the car onto the circuit has been another priority, although his first foray onto the famous Goodwood track wasn't without some trepidation. After all that time rebuilding the car, he wasn't about to visit the Armco in a hurry. Not that the Mk1 is slow. Out and about on the day of MiniWorld's visit, the car is extremely impressive, with a decent thump of power accompanied by an excellent exhaust note through the Playmini stainless steel system. Inside, the Corbeau seats certainly add some valuable support while the simplistic Mk1 interior package with its stripped-out doors adds an old world charm. A large line-of-sight rev counter is another great addition that really looks the part.

Paul certainly uses the car as often as time will allow and, for the moment, thoughts of any future projects are some way off. "We've discussed this and dad is never going to do another Mini ever again - especially with me and I don't have any plans." This winter will probably see the Mk1 back in the garage, this time for a more serious engine installation and a new gearbox, but otherwise it'll be back on the road for more weekend thrashes.

The end result of Paul and Robin's labours demonstrates perfectly that you don't always need to meticulously restore a car to its original state to get maximum enjoyment from it. While this is a Mk1, it's anything but an original car, yet neither is it a highly polished and pampered one-off concours machine. This one's for driving and enjoying just how we like it.

Words: Ian Stent    New Pictures: Tony Butler    Old Pictures: Paul