Modifying Minis is one of those universal constants, like photosynthesis or the patterns of the tides. It’s just something that happens. As long as there have been Minis in the world, there have been people champing at the bit to customise them, from the inception of the Mk1 through the enduring cult of all the variants that followed. There’s nothing that hasn’t been done to this plucky little icon – rally reps, street sleepers, dragsters, lowriders, race cars, surf wagons, every conceivable style has popped up on these pages. And for Alex Tilley, this is a biological imperative that has compelled him since childhood. The Mini you see here is something he bought back in 2010 when he was just 14 years old, and it’s fair to say that a few things have changed since then. As bought, the car was a pretty stock 998, largely original aside from having been painted dark blue with white stripes. It was also very rusty and full of fibreglass…
“My dad and I stripped the interior, windows and so on, and he started cutting and welding while I watched and learned,”
