OWNER PROFILE
26 June 2019 MiniWorld
[ Modified 1979 1275GT ]
of paperwork that was kept for the
car was unbelievable. I still, to this
day, have the original key fob from
when the car was picked up, showing
the row and parking spot where the
car had to be picked up from the
factory! There are even newspaper
articles and adverts from 1979, which
is the original year of manufacture.”
The previous owner had started to
strip the car down ready for a small
restoration. “The engine had been
restored by Oselli and had been set up
as fast road spec with race spec cam and
a lightened flywheel. It was a project for
me and my father to undertake but we
soon realised the scale of the project, and
realised what a gem I had purchased,
and felt it only fair for it to have the
high-quality restoration it deserved. We
employed a company to carry out the
18-month full nut and bolt restoration. I
wanted to keep it as original as possible
in order to keep the value of it. I did not
have the tools and equipment to restore
the car. However, I knew what I wanted
and therefore project-managed the
restoration from start to finish, itemising
all existing parts and any new parts to the
Rob Eldridge
Occupation:
Quality Engineer
Hobbies: Making and
building projects and cars.
I love modifying them. Iam currently converting a
VW T5 into a camper van
Favourite Mini suppliers: Mini Spares;
always great customer serviceWorst moment in a Mini: On London to
Brighton a few years ago, someone in the car
next to me on the motorway was admiring it
and went into the back of someone. Luckilyno Minis were hurt in the accident
Lottery win dream: Buy more Minis, buy a
workshop to keep them all in and work on them
How good does that feel?
Pretty good! Rob Eldridge
drives the pristine GT
he had restored.
off the road for restoration. He had sent
the engine and box off to Oselli in 2001
for a rebuild, to fast road spec., and
dismantled the Mini, keeping the parts
carefully preserved in boxes. That’s when
time and, perhaps, money deserted him.
By the time Rob was 15, his Mini fate
was sealed and plans for his first car were
already well established in his mind. “My
father owned a Mini many years ago. He
told me of some of his adventures. The
original Italian Job film got me hooked!
And we live about 10 miles from where
Minis were made. I went to Mini shows
and became passionate about them. I
come from an engineering background.
A family friend had owned the Mini
from new and looked after it very well.
He stripped the car down in order to
renovate and placed parts strategically
in boxes. However, our friend’s personal
circumstances did not permit any further
renovation so we purchased it from him
in order to complete the renovation and
bring the car back to its former glory.”
Rob’s sympathetic parents gave
their approval to the ambitious project
and the boxes arrived in due course.
“When I purchased the car, the amount
I
n a way, the brilliant GT you see here
is a tribute not just to Rob Eldridge
and his family but also to its first
owner. He’d obviously invested hours
in keeping his GT in very good condition
from new, in 1979, right up to the first
decade of the 2000s when it was taken