DUTCH COURAGE

STEVE HOLLAND OF DUTCHY'S GARAGE BUILT A CAR THAT'S THE VERY DEFINITION OF FUN, WHETHER ON THE STREET OR THE TRACK: A 1961 MINI THAT GOES LIKE A WRX!

- TAS MCMILLAN 

STEVE Holland of Dutchy's Garage (formerly known as Dutchy's Mini) is a bona fide automotive mad scientist. This gorgeous - and ferocious - Mini is testament to that, although his journey to this project started out the same way many do.

"My first car was an EB S XR6, and I did all the usual mods to it," Steve says. "Then I bought a GC8 WRX-being from a Ford family, I was lucky I didn't get kicked out of home! I loved the sound, the power and how it drove like it was on rails. My brother Clint had a Mini and I thought it was so much fun to drive, so I finally bought my first one in 2009."

Steve had a lot of fun restoring and modding the red 1988 Mini, and by the time it was sold to make way for this car, its guts had been swapped out for a Honda B16A.

While the VTEC Mini was fun, Steve found himself wanting more. "I thought, what can I do that's different? Can I stick a Subaru in a Mini?" The answer is evidently "yes"! If you have a look past the NACA ducts in the rear windows, you'll find an EJ255 ripped from a 2011 WRX instead of a rear seat. Yep, this is a fully engineered and registered mid-engined 1961 Mini.