FOR RICHER OR POORER
Our story starts just before the 2014 International Mini Meeting in Kent, England; not with the Mini you see before you but instead with a 1992 Mini Sprite which was, sadly, later stolen. “I had built it on my drive so I immediately put the house up for sale as I needed something with a garage so it didn’t happen again.”
With that trauma behind him, and having found a warm, dry and secure environment for a Mini, he set about locating a replacement. He found a Mini 35 limited edition which quickly became his third Mini. “We moved in September 2014 and, by the end of December, I had the Mini 35. That’s how quickly I wanted to get back into it,” laughs Max but, frustratingly, he missed out on the chance to take a Mini to the 2014 Kent IMM.
The Mini 35 didn’t stay standard for very long, with Max changing the wheels to 10s, a front brake disc conversion, centre-exit exhaust and Mk1 rear lights. “I enjoyed using it for a few shows that year and then changed the grille to a Morris Mk1 one. Then, in October 2015, I decided to strip it and it was fully stripped by the end of the year.” A decisive step but the shell then joined a queue for bodywork for about 18 months.
Max always knew the Mini, which had originally been Arizona Blue, would need bodywork as he spotted
