Something we hear so often from feature car owners is how their passion for motoring can be blamed squarely on their parents, and that’s very much the case for Alex Eyles. “For as long as I can remember my dad has been doing autocross events, and that’s where it all started for me,” he explains. “I started driving around the age of 8, and as soon as I was old enough to compete I was double-driving with him. His car is quite heavily modified, it’s a Ford Escort RS2000 that’s been gutted, caged and had a Vauxhall red-top dumped up the front, and for me this was a normal car to work on and drive! His day-to-day car at the time was a Honda Accord Type R and we would always go to shows whenever we possibly could, I was brought up in the modified car scene.”
So how did these early passions translate into Mini ownership? Well, quite simply Alex had always liked them – and as soon as he passed his test at 17, he bought a ratty 998. It was a runner, seeming to only have minor rust patches visible through the paint, and had the alluring addition of a fibreglass f lip-front but was otherwise largely stock. “The car ended up becoming a daily driver for
