TINY DANCER

You haven't seen a Mini dance like this before, but then you haven't seen a Mini with a 4-litre M Power V8 under the bonnet and rear-wheel drive. Introducing Vini...

- RICHARD MEADEN

WHETHER IT'S A MANUFACTURER's FLIGHT OF FANCY or a wild homebuilt special, the notion of slotting an oversized or unlikely engine into an equally unexpected host is a novelty that never fails to capture the imagination.

There have been some spectacular efforts over the years.

You'll doubtless recall Renault's remarkable money-noobject V10-engined Espace F1. Likewise, BMW's bonkers McLaren F1 V12-engined X5 Le Mans. Nissan GB's one-off 350Z V6-powered Micra and Aston Martin's more recent V8 Vantage-engined Cygnet are other prime examples, while US pro drifter Ryan Tuerck's Ferrari 458-engined Toyota GT86 and Judd V10-engined Supra are iconoclastic indie outliers.

And now there's 'Vini' to add to the Engine Swap Hall of Fame. Brainchild of Powerflex boss David Power, this wild V8 Mini is the result of almost six years' hard graft and testament to the fabrication skills of Eliot Dunmore at EDM, who masterminded the build process.

'It seemed like a good idea at the time,' says Power with a smile when quizzed on what possessed him to embark on the project. Had he known it would take more than half a decade it's doubtful he would have gone through with it, but seeing Vini being unloaded from its trailer in the paddock at Anglesey's Trac Môn circuit we're very glad he did.

The thought of an R56 Mini with a 4-litre V8 stuffed beneath the bonnet is almost too far-fetched to take seriously.

Especially when that bonnet is unaltered. No extra bulges.

No holes. Just a slightly larger air intake. It was clearly paramount to Power and Dunmore that Vini should give as few clues as possible to the crazy powertrain shoehorned inside. The end result is an extraordinary piece of deception.