British coachbuilder David Brown is building a special run of 50 classic Minis, and they won't be cheap. Or look cheap either. Custom interiors, de-seamed exteriors, and fitted with all sorts of goodies.
They plan a run of 25 inspired by café racers, and an additional 25 inspired by the Monte Carlo rally.
Check them out at this website:
http://www.davidbrownautomotive.com/mini-remastered/
And here's the Jalopnik article: http://jalopnik.com/this-resto-mod-mini-is-almost-90-000-of-amazing-1794097436
I Laugh... will look great to admire in a collection.
But will stain your floor + ride bumpy and rough. From what I see. same drivetrain no improvements or modernness
Would carb tuning still a skill needed? or would they be SPI /MPI Shells?
How about a modern electric drivetrain inside??
I liked what they did with the interior, seats, console, power windows and such.....the tail lights? not so much. De-seamed body looks more modern but same old A series lump and trans under the hood. It says modern suspension but I don't see anything that leads me to think it's anything but same old mini stuff......
But £50K for the base model? 8.gif
Quote from: MiniDave on April 07, 2017, 12:18:26 PM
I liked what they did with the interior, seats, console, power windows and such.....the tail lights? not so much. De-seamed body looks more modern but same old A series lump and trans under the hood. It says modern suspension but I don't see anything that leads me to think it's anything but same old mini stuff......
But £50K for the base model? 8.gif
As I understand it, the 'modern' transmission is just a 5-speed unit rather than the usual 4-speed.
Yeah, the taillights are the worst feature. I get that they were trying for something unique, but that chrome embellishment is awful. The would have looked better just frenched in without a lot of chrome.
The bespoke switchgear and the speedo with the digital odometer is pretty cool.
The pictures of the engine installation on their website (and pausing that portion of the video Bruce linked) show it to be a MPI block going in.
Oh, just found out that you can build you own Mini on that site, selecting color, trim, wheels, etc.
This looks somewhat familiar to me. 77.gif (nice to see what my car would look like de-seamed and with a tan interior)
Anyone want a custom mini built for 90k? *wink wink
I guess if you want "Authenticity" then ok, but you can modernize a mini for WAY less than that. My biggest hangup is the motor. Come on, put something with a little grunt under the hood.
The de-seamed look is really growing on me. It is something I wouldn't have considered a year ago. However, it might be strongly considered when I do my resto. Before it was just slight body work where it needed it and paint along with interior and then engine later down the road. But now it might be de-seamed with paint and interior and engine down the road.
I've never been a fan of the chrome bullet mirror but that it starting to grow on me as well over and above my black plastic mirror that the previous owner tried to spray paint a checker pattern onto.
I understand it's easy to do a bad job de-seaming job, and difficult to do a good one because of the amount of detailed welding involved and bodywork too. Nothing worse than having a bad job letting your Mini literally come apart at the seams.
ugly tail lights...
I had no idea about the de-seaming process until that mini was for sale on BaT. Wonder if there are pics out there of ones coming apart from a poor job?
I'd think the best way would be weld the seam from the back side, then cut/grind the seam off.
Which appeared to be the way this outfit is doing theirs from what was shown in the video and on their website.
They are also adding some significant strengthening support to the shell - one scene shows them adding an additional dash brace, others showing extra layers being added to the a-pillars and c-pillars over the inside seam welding.
Not gonna lie if I had 90k just laying around and didn't need it to live I would totally buy one of these old drivetrain and all. 4.gif
I dunno. I do like it. But if I had $90K lying around I'd be tempted to go for a variety pack of Minis for the money instead. Like one each of many different Mini models.
Quote from: BruceK on April 08, 2017, 06:24:42 PM
I dunno. I do like it. But if I had $90K lying around I'd be tempted to go for a variety pack of Minis for the money instead. Like one each of many different Mini models.
Mo minis mo problems :-)
Here's a great video review of the £90,000 remastered Mini.
I really like shape of the grille - it's a bit of Mk. I plus a bit of Mk. II as well. The speedo is really nice - looks to be a modern version (with LED odometer) of the classic Mini speedo - I wonder if Smiths made it? Or David Brown did and put a Smiths logo on it for traditional sake? Same for the oil pressure gauge. Both do the 'sweep' thing upon startup.
(I take a little bit of pride in knowing my much, much less expensive Mini has the same tire/wheel combination ;D )
And here is an interview that touches on what goes into building the car - starting with brand new bodyshells that need a bunch of corrective work.
Many of the design details I really like, the dash for example....I like the three gauges, and I like how they did the HVAC. I like those knurled knobs that look like high end stereo knobs from the 70's and 80's.
I absolutely do not like the tail lights - at all - and the fake leather straps on the hood - well, they're not fake leather but they are not attached in any way that does anything meaningful - they sure as heck won't hold the hood in place!
I do like that they kept some chrome on the car, but I don't know about those headlights...they look real 90's but if they work well I guess I could get past that.
I like the de-seamed look and plan to do that to my project car. I also like the seats and door panels - they look premium and comfy.
I can certainly see how they could make the car as expensive as it is, but I sure have a hard time seeing this kind of money for one.
Their "regular" bespoke ones (not the limited 'Monte Carlo' or 'Cafe Racer' ones) have more normal (tri-bar) headlights and do not have the leather bonnet straps. Unfortunately, all have the same tail lights.
The ones with the leather bonnet straps are going to wish they did not have them if the drive them much - the leather will weather and stretch and then slap away the paint on the bonnet.
Otherwise, they are extremely nice but way out of my price league.
The leather straps are dumb and the rear lights are ugly. 77.gif
Yeah, I really think they should have created some very nice bespoke taillights that are reminiscent of Mk. I taillights - the same basic oval shape – but made them flush fitting to the bodywork. That way they could have kept all the curves of the back of the car and the taillights would be very subtly integrated.
So, sort of like what BMW did with flush taillights on the first generation of the new MINI, but much smaller.
Yes, that's exactly where I was headed too on the taillights.....something flush and similar in style to the Mk1.
I saw a coachbuilt Mk1 that had been de-seamed, they welded a piece of sheet metal inside to cover the gap before they cut off the seams. Seems simple enough......
In some of the pictures and such on their website, it shows them welding straps to the inside of where the seams are. It also shows they open the A-pillars and C-pillars to weld straps to the inside of those as part of their deseaming.
Jalopnik has just done a feature article on this very £££££ Mini complete with driving impressions and lots of photos:
Power steering in a Mini??
https://jalopnik.com/heres-what-a-110-000-mini-looks-like-1836991406
(https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6G-hDjz1--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,pg_1,q_80,w_800/kdrexbepci2tun9xbkib.jpg)
Even tho this is an early one, they've already responded to the criticism they got on the tail lights and changed them to a modern version of the old Mk1 lights. Interesting too that this car was LHD, and it looked like it had the south African only block, with the oil filter up on the side of the block? It also has the round Innocenti style repeaters....the hood straps don't look like they're attached to anything but the hood - all hat and no cattle as they say in Texas! ;D
Power steering kits for these have been around for years, most of the ones I've seen use a Prius electric steering motor adapted under the dash to the steering shaft.
Notice in the small print it says $110,000 plus options, wonder what those are? Power steering? A/C? Fake hood straps?
over priced!!!!!
Clearly......
The late model MPI blocks had the oil filter in that position as well.
OK, I didn't know that....I thought the coil pack was there......
So, 1/3 if you DIY less than 1/2 if you pay someone? So, still very spendy - and don't forget - it's $110,000 dollars, plus options.
Quote from: MiniDave on August 12, 2019, 08:41:42 PM
So, 1/3 if you DIY less than 1/2 if you pay someone? So, still very spendy - and don't forget - it's $110,000 dollars, plus options.
It's not like you
need options. But at that price point you might as well. As the British say, "in for a penny, in for a pound".
Found this out on the Interwebs: a David Brown Mini spotted out in the wild. So someone bought one. The wheels really let this one down IMO.
(https://scontent-lga3-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/314f115b484ae83b01eae382e0b92654/5DD2E316/t51.2885-15/e35/s1080x1080/66700937_1198543763681741_4158070695246358911_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.cdninstagram.com)
That style of two-tone paint job is a turn-off for me.
The rear end treatment and deseamed body makes the rear look odd.