LIFE UNDER CANVAS
After owning a 1969 Mk2 Cooper S daily drive for over 20 years Phil Stonard decided to look for an alternative. “In 2007 I thought that it was about time the S, which I had owned since 1982, had an easier life and looked around for a second car to split the mileage across. Initially I was after a more modern van or similar but a chance discussion at a regional Mini Cooper Register, with John Matthews, led to the purchase of a grey 1980 Pick-up owned by his daughter, Clare. It was a non-runner, the cylinder head was missing, it had flat tyres, was half dismantled and there were various other parts which had been removed, but it looked reasonable and we did a deal.” Phil is the sixth owner of the Pick-up. He learned that it had been owned by the now-defunct Mini Speed, had also been used for deliveries by a pet shop and was originally registered in the Portsmouth area.
In the meantime he bought a 10 year old Audi Estate. “It was pretty much the only modern car I’ve ever bought. I partly bought that as I measured it up and thought that I could use it to transport a Mini rear subframe with the running gear on it.”
As he was used to working on Minis it only took him a weekend to re-commission it, once it had arrived at his home on a trailer, and assess exactly
