nuts so I put them on the replacement
subframe. It’s not as if you see them!”
He even re-used the wheel bearings.
“All the wheel bearings that were fitted
when I bought the car have been
removed and cleaned to find that they
were all good, so I re-greased them
and fitted them with new seals. He also
re-used the brake back plates which
have riveted adjuster brackets. When it
came to the brake pipes, he didn’t want
to use what was available off the shelf.
He had steel brake pipes imported from
America. The source was a tip-off from
Ian Matthews. “The steering rack is the
original one that I took off the car that
I just stripped and put back together.”
The wheels are early riveted steel
items. Some restorers change these
for safety reasons but Dave says that
the Mini will be trailered to shows
and only driven at low speeds locally.
“The wheel trims were a bargain at
£50 from Mini Mail,” he recalls. The
Esso tyres were from Allan Thomas. I
swapped five for a front subframe. He
looks after me. Really they should be
Dunlops but finding those is not easy.”
Dave estimates that he has spent
£10,000 on the Mini, which was back
on the road in 2017, and he sees it as
a good investment. “I call my Minis my
pension fund as there’s no point trying to
save money. The value is shooting up all
the time which is great when you’ve got
them but not when you want to buy one.”
Although the Mini has been restored
so that it can be preserved for future
generations, Dave also hoped to win
trophies in show ‘n’ shine and concours
competitions. “The first show was at
Stanford Hall in September 2017. We’ve
done a bit more to it since and had parts
chromed and I bought the correct replica
longer bumpers, stuff like that and, to
be honest, the car’s getting better and
better every time.” In 2017 it came third
at Stanford Hall, first at Malvern, won its
class and Best in Show at the 2018 Metro
and Mini Show at Gaydon plus MiniWorld
Car of the Year, and its class, at Beaulieu- It has also been successful this
year, winning big at Himley Hall with
a first in class and Mini of The Day.
“It was definitely built as a show car.
I’ve got other cars to use as daily cars if
we need to. With a car like that, now, it’s
not to be used really which is a shame as
it’s 60 years old and should last another
60 quite easily I should imagine.”
Dave does have a dilemma. To impress
concours judges items such as window
glass must have no imperfections. Three
out of the four pieces of sliding door
glass in Dave’s ’59 are original and one
piece is new. His dilemma is whether
to replace the original for new, perfect
glass. “Certain judges like certain things
when it comes to presentation. It’s
hard to do concours with a car like that
as it needs originality. All of a sudden
you get caught up and you are getting
bits re-chromed and you are thinking
about getting new glass made and
you get stuck in it. I may go down that
route but it’s a shame when it’s original.
Those cars should be put back together
as best as but you do get caught up
in it. And it also helps it to last.”
He has made good friends on the Mini
concours scene. “I enjoy showing cars
but it does get a bit competitive I think,
sometimes. I get as much of a kick out
of this now as I did with racing... that,
and it’s a lot less dangerous. Although,
when you’re racing, you don’t have to
spend the next week cleaning the Mini!.”
Dave is keen to keep improving his Mini
to make it more competitive. “It doesn’t
need a lot just to keep on top of it. YouMiniWorld July 2019 39
“It has also been successful this year, winning big at
Himley Hall with a first in class and Mini of The Day.”
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