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The 1991 Mini Cooper that Andrew Kay learnt to drive in, passed his test in, and which he used for a time afterwards, was reasonably fast, quite frugal, and above all fun. Unfortunately, in daily use it didn’t prove to be very reliable.

“I owned and used the Cooper from 2002 through 2003,” recalls Andrew. “I really enjoyed driving it, but the regular breakdowns began to pall. Needing a more reliable car, I bought Vauxhall Corsas, and then a couple of Honda Type Rs. But, in 2010, I saw a Mini with a Honda VTEC conversion and the old, fun Mini memories began flooding back.”

“As it happened, I was considering buying a classic, something that I could use on classic runs, cruises, or take to shows and so on. Seeing that VTEC Mini prompted me into action and I decided that the time had come to build a classic Mini, but one that