A Personal Project
This is my personal mini cooper project. This first car is a raw expression of my vision and passion. The mini has been all around Europe, has been fully restored and customised into my own personal Restomod.
Despite having a significantly lower budget than my usual projects, this car still deserves the best of the best. It features a custom interior, a fully rebuilt drivetrain, and a completely custom wiring harness. Every single component is crafted to the highest standard, all designed with one vision in mind: delivering pure and beautiful driving pleasure.
The Rebuild
After many road trips and being 50 years old something was bound to go wrong. The engine could use a good rebuild and so my first ever engine rebuild was done fully in house. The block and head were serviced at a machine shop but apart from that every single component was fully restored to new or better!
ince the gearbox was already out of the car, it was fully restored with all-new bearings and baulk rings.
The engine received major upgrades, including bored-out pistons, an ultra-light flywheel, a high-torque differential, and a racing camshaft.
On its first startup, the car fired up faster than ever—even in sub-5-degree weather—and has been running smoothly ever since.
Interior design
The Dashboard
The dashboard has been designed, manufactured, and refined multiple times before reaching its final version. It features fully integrated wireless Android Auto, connecting seamlessly at the turn of the key.
Powered by a Raspberry Pi, the system is integrated with high-end JBL speakers, taking advantage of the Mini’s surprisingly good acoustics. The original speedometer gauge preserves the car’s nostalgic design language, while the floating shelf neatly houses all wiring and PCBs, providing a clean mounting solution for the touchscreen, speedometer, and speakers.
This design takes the original design from the original mini and completely transforms and modernises it whilst still giving it that classic feel.
With the experience of Formula Student Team Delft, where I learned to make withing which had a quality level comparable with a WEC GT3 car as deemed by industry experts, I was able to create a fully custom wiring harness for the mini Using Deutsch DT Connectors and Boots.
The Car had racing seats and a functional dashboard full of rally gear and trip masters when I first got the car. This changed over the year starting with the door panels.
Using authentic Paul Smith fabric, the interior was completely changed by a simple and little change. The fashion brand Paul Smith is an iconic British brand that greatly incorporates the classic mini in its design. Paul Smith started working with Mini early on and has been a key partner in growing the image of the classic mini. Thus, integrating this special fabric into the interior of the car brings the history and design together, which results in a fun and stylish character.
