Mini Remastered: original pocket rocket lives on

The Mini – the original one, not BMW’s modern-day remake – chalks up its 60th birthday this year, and if you have a particularly strong fetish for the pint-sized Brit, here’s something you might fancy.

Pictured above and below is the Mini Remastered, and it’s the handiwork of David Brown Automotive, which also created the Speedback GT that we sampled just over four years ago.

Speaking to carsales.com.au at the Geneva motor show, where a trio of remastered Minis graced the company’s stand, company founder David Brown says the new offering is a continuation of the theme of reinterpreting a British classic initiated by the Aston Martin-inspired Speedback GT.

“We realised our brand had established something (via the Speedback GT) that stands for British quality and Britishness in general,” says Brown. “So, we were looking for another product that was something iconic from the past. And, as soon as you say that, you’re left with just a handful of cars.

“The Mini stood out, in my view, as one of the most brilliantly engineered cars ever. Unfortunately, it was also one of the most badly built. We figured we could deal with the latter, and that was the seed for the project.”

Brown says the Mini Remastered carries through the DNA of the original, but one aspect that clearly doesn’t carry through is affordability. Where the original Mini cost £497 ($925 if we convert at today’s exchange rate), the Mini Remastered starts at £75,000 ($A140k) plus taxes, and that figure can blow out to £120k-plus ($A223k-plus) if you order your car with a high level of specification and customisation.

What’s more, you could safely expect to double these prices if you were to land a car in Australia and get it on the road here. But what you get for this sizeable outlay is a car into which more than 1000 man-hours have gone to turn it into a premium product.

“When we remaster a car, we start with an existing car and then do a comprehensive job of bringing the bodywork, paintwork, leatherwork and trim up to the highest standards,” says Brown. “Obviously, we also massively refurbish all the mechanicals to make the end result much better to drive than the original ever was.”

Brown says the bodyshell of the donor car is replaced where necessary with a brand-new one, as they’re still being manufactured as replacements for the Minis that remain in circulation. The donor car’s chassis number is obviously retained, even if the bodyshell isn’t.

The chassis is de-seamed, strengthened and sound-proofed throughout, and E-coated to prevent corrosion, as Brown jokes the original used to start rusting while it was still in the showroom.

“Over four weeks, levels of hand-applied primer, paint and lacquer are slowly built up, layer by layer, before being polished until its paint has a mirror-like surface,” he says.

The grille and headlights are reinterpreted to reflect “the David Brown Automotive design language”, while the derriere is adorned by jewel-like LED rear light clusters and indicators, framed by bespoke aluminium surrounds.

As for the powertrain, it’s “remanufactured to a level that’s better than when it was new”. The engine is equipped with single-point fuel injection, as Brown says this provides a closer match to the driving characteristics of a carburettor-fed motor than anything else out there. The ECU is mapped to serve up “a nice easy drive”, rather than manic performance. Brown says there’s an emphasis on low-down torque to make it an agreeable companion around town.

The brakes and suspension are as per the last Minis that were built until 2000 under the umbrella of the Rover Group. “We used the best of all the later components,” says Brown, who adds that they had experimented with motorsport-derived suspension components but then found the ride became too harsh.

Inside, the Mini Remastered is big step forward from the original as it features a premium in-car infotainment system, operated via a 7-inch touchscreen interface with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.

No vinyl or cloth seats either, as what you get instead is full-grain leather upholstery embossed with the David Brown Automotive logo on the front and rear seats. The driver is faced with illuminated modern dials with retro styling, knurled aluminium switchgear and a Moto-Lita steering wheel.

Brown says the company has had orders from “everywhere” – including one from Australia – for the Mini Remastered (available in both LHD and RHD), which suggests its stratospheric pricing isn’t a deterrent for everyone.

“We’re just at the start of our order banks but we’ve already shipped two cars to Hong Kong, one to Japan, and another is going to a buyer in the UK”.

“What I didn’t appreciate is how many countries in the world got the Mini – even the middle of Africa,” says Brown. “And everybody loves the car. It makes you smile when you see one, and that smile only gets bigger when you drive it”.