Mini Remastered

Words | Emma Johnson

WHAT GOES THROUGH your mind when you start looking at remastering one of the most iconic cars of the last century? How do you decide to pay homage to the considerable craft and skill put into designing and creating something that is beloved by so many? Where do you start? You start, says David Brown, with love. “Mini Remastered was born out of a love for the styling of the classic Mini,” says Brown, founder of David Brown Automotive – a British car manufacturing company renowned for combining precision engineering with a flair for retro, classic design. “We wanted to combine that style with what we are so good at - engineering, handcraftsmanship and luxury.”

Founded in 2013, out of a love of retro styling and modern engineering, David Brown Automotive’s first model to launch was the Speedback GT - a 1960's inspired grand tourer. A lookalike Aston Martin DB5, the Speedback is a beautiful car, offering modern performance and convenience, alongside a beautifully, hand-rolled aluminium body and handcrafted interior. It was launched in 2014 to considerable critical acclaim. “It’s handcrafted throughout in the best materials a man can get, looking a little like a throwback from a distant age but feeling a lot like a premium cabin that’s bang up to date…it has a standard of finish and detail that puts it in the highest echelons of the modern car market,” said Evening Standard motoring editor John Calne.

Each car takes over 8,000 man hours and eight months to make, meaning less than 20 have been sold so far, and David Brown only intends 100 ever to be made. “We are really pleased with the reception we got to the model,” says Brown. “But we are only able to create them in very small, exclusive numbers, so we wanted our second model to be offered in much larger, albeit still very small, quantities.” Enter Mini Remastered, with all the features a classic Mini would, or should, have if it were to have been built in the modern day, but with the added bonus of cleaner lines and a smoother silhouette - thanks to a de-seamed body, a hand-painted finishand an interior that offers considerable luxury, by way of knurledaluminium switchgear, handcrafted leathers and premium fabrics andconveniences, such as power steering, push button start/stop, USBcharging and much more. “Our inspiration came from a desire to addmodern functionality and reliability, alongside luxury, into what is aniconic and much-loved design from the 1960's,” says Brown, recalling theMini’s inaugural decade when it completely revolutionised the small carconcept and changed modern motoring for good.

Created by Sir Alec Issigonis for the British Motor Corporation in 1959, the Mini started out life as the Austin Mini Minor, before becoming the Austin Mini, and then finally simply, the Mini. It was celebrated because its compact features and front-wheel drive mechanism made it attractive to a host of drivers, and it soon became the best-selling British car in history. The Mini was produced in various factories over the years before it eventually ended up under BMW in 2000. As the 21st century dawned, BMW sought to reimagine the Mini, and over the following decade the sportier Mini Cooper was launched, followed by the five door, fourwheel drive Countryman in 2010.

In designing their Mini Remastered, David Brown Automotive were clear that this version had to both echo and pay homage to its roots, but also to be reflective of its contemporary origins. “We asked ourselves what they would have done in the 1950's and 1960's had they had the technology and skills to do what we were proposing. We then combined those responses along with our brand's ethos of the finest handcraftsmanship, beautiful British materials and luxurious and exclusive finishes to create what we think is a true re-imagined icon that meets the demands of modern life.” The Mini Remastered, available in an enviable array of bespoke options, has also been created in two limited editions: ‘Inspired by Monte Carlo’ – a vintage competition rally style which offers a higher level of exclusivity, with beluga and perforated poppy leathers, dark chromed interior details and an exclusive metallic exterior paint finish – and ‘Inspired by Café Racers’ which features a vintage biker style, signature painted twin fender stripes, brogue leather bonnet straps and twin driving lights.

“As a company, we do 'bespoke' really well, our customers truly can have whatever they please, so every week there are really exciting configurations being worked on,” says Brown.

Working on such an iconic car could be considered something of a risky move - the British have very much taken the Mini to its heart, and it stands as a very strong emblem of national identity. But in David Brown’s careful, considered and loving hands, the Mini Remastered has become a striking, memorable and evocative piece of history, and modernity. “For the British people, it was a car of the people and for other markets it's an admired and much-loved British icon,” says Brown. “So many people have stories and memories of classic Minis, it brings a real feeling of nostalgia and is emotive in a way that a lot of cars available today never could be,” he adds u

Celebrating 60 years of the MINI brand, the special edition model is finished in British Racing Green, (limited to 500), priced £29,990.