MY GARAGE
■ Craig on his Mini Moke. Picture: Ivan Kemp
Still life in Mini-ature Long-time photographer Craig Watson shares four decades of adventure and his love of all things Mini with LUKE VOOGT. One look at Craig Watson’s garage and it’s obvious he has a certain type. “Small and with a Mini engine in it,” he confirms. The only surviving Austin Ant in Australia, according to Craig, is the most remarkable item of his collection in his Leopold garage. BMC cancelled production of the Austin Ant in 1968 after the manufacturer became part of the British Leyland conglomerate, which considered the model too close a competitor for the Land Rover range. “They built 25,” Craig says. “Two came to Australia and in 1974 one was cut up and sold for scrap.” Craig discovered the one-of-a-kind car working as a photojournalist for an auto magazine.
20 GEELON G C OA ST HOME&LIFESTYLE
“About 15 years ago I was interviewing a person who worked at the BMC factory,” he recalls. “He said, ‘you’ve got to come out to the garage and have a look at my toy’. “He pulled the tarp off the car and I said, ‘that’s an Austin Ant!’ “He said, ‘you are the first person ever to look at it and know exactly what it is!’ He said he was never going to sell it. He never had it running, it just sat on bricks for 30 years.” But a decade later, the man phoned Craig out of the blue and asked: “are you still interested in the Ant?” “And I said, ‘hell yeah!’ I had to think about it for all of half a second,” he says. “There were a couple of parts in the back that came with it. All I’ve done is worked out
what goes on the car – because a lot didn’t – and bolted it on. “And I’ve given it a thorough clean too – it definitely needed a clean. It looks complete but it still doesn’t run.” But Craig admits his love of all things Mini began with an imposter. “My first car was Honda Scamp – it was Honda’s attempt at building something like a Mini,” he says. “Not enough power to pull the string off a rice pudding – but a lot of fun.” After leaving the Scamp at home and going for a road trip in a Mini with a good mate, he decided: “I had to have one.” He saved up while working part-time in a camera store, which would lead into his other life’s passion, photography.
SPRING 2021
