From a young age, I remember being sat in my Uncle’s Mini with the Italian Job soundtrack on the tape deck. You could see the road whizzing past through the holes in the floor!” These precious early memories are where James’ love of all things Mini stemmed from. Then when a lad at his school got a Mini for his first car, James was keen to follow suit and soon bought the car off him.

“I had it for a month and knew absolutely nothing about them. Something was always going wrong. It was in the garage every weekend so I had to sell it in the end. Then when I started working at Bosch I decided that I wanted another one… one that actually worked! So I asked the bank for some money… and it all went from there!”

James’ 1977 Estate was used as the bridal car for his recent wedding. Since meeting James, his wife Jess has become quite the Mini enthusiast herself. “She wanted one of her own, so picked up a shell from the breaker’s yard. It had the usual rot so had to be plated and silled. We rushed to get it on the road for her 22nd, and she’s been driving it for three years. As soon as we finished that one it was onto the next. We just can’t help ourselves. When we’re not in the garage we’re at the rally.”