This summer I was able to take a close look at the Wood and Pickett Mini by Callum. It’s launch certainly made plenty of headlines and lots of appearances at upmarket car shows and events.
But, lets be honest, there is nothing new about remaking the Mini and the design accolades rightly belong to Alec Issigonis. Anything else is just updating and customising. If you want an as new Mini then there are plenty of companies that will build you one or sell you one off the shelf. You can also have all manner of improvements and updates right through to an electric motor.
At the Lancaster Insurance Classic Car show I was able to view the Wood and Picket car alongside it’s latest rival, The Grand Prix from the Cooper Car Company. First up is the Wood and Pickett by CALLUM. Built on a fully restored Mk5 Sportspack body shell and features a bespoke design package .
Externally, the car boasts unique front and rear valances, side sills and an updated rear design but engineered for improved aerodynamics and cooling. Lighting has been completely reworked with new front and rear housings.
Inside is even more striking with a newly designed dashboard, inspired by Wood & Pickett’s famed “Margrave” interiors. A unique ‘Piano’ switch pack, finely finished metal bezels, and CALLUM-trimmed bespoke seats.
Now for the Mini Cooper Grand Prix, a limited edition of 35 cars.
This isn’t just another special edition with a few stickers slapped on. This is automotive history meets modern technology – 35 hand-built tributes to the 1990’s original.
They have taken the A-Series engine and given it the full Mike Cooper treatment. Over 100 horses now live under that bonnet, thanks to a large-valve head that’s been polished and ported to race standard. New roller rockers, a new twin-point fuel injection system with an upgraded ECU, and that magnificent Janspeed exhaust with its twin upswept pipes that’ll announce your arrival three counties away. The exclusive GP Tuning rocker cover is the cherry on top – because if you’re going to do it, do it properly.
GP Tuning suspension keeps you planted while the upgraded alloy billet quadruple piston front calipers (in that rather fetching signal red) and new Super-fin rear drums make sure you can actually stop this pocket rocket when physics demands it. The Cooper 12- inch alloy wheels (yes the original rose petal wheels were designed by Mike’s dad John) in satin black with polished Cooper Car Co etching and Cooper centre badge look absolutely spot-on.
The interior is pure 1990s motorsport – dark green leather everywhere it matters, with black leather where it doesn’t. That new dash houses three proper gauges (oil temp, oil pressure, clock) – while you grip either a modern black with green stitching Alcantara special edition Moto-Lita steering wheel or the rather more classic Leather or dark wood options. They all come with matching dashboards.
The edged and bound carpet, full sound deadening, and those rather clever CCC black alloy door handles with the round holes show someone’s been thinking about the details.
DAB radio with Apple CarPlay means your Spotify playlist can soundtrack your B-road heroics. Bluetooth, sat-nav, phone charging – all the kit you actually need without any of the electronic nannying you definitely don’t want in a proper driver’s car.
The twin rear Cooper Car Co petrol caps on twin tanks are motorsport inspired, while the uprated headlights and white indicator lenses nail that period-correct look.
It is purely a matter of taste as to whether you prefer the Designer Callum Mini or the purer Mike Cooper Mini. I personally didn’t like the Callum Mini which reminded me of the customised Mini’s covered in stuck on glassfibre that were popular in the 1970’s. The car is beautifully made and stands out from other Mini’s but for me, its the ugly sister. I appreciate that you need to stand out in a crowded market and selling the designer element of the car is its USP. But the need to make it different has resulted in forced design choices which are neither pretty nor an improvement.
The Mini Cooper Grand Prix builds on the heritage of the Mini and of the Cooper name which is legendary in the motorsport. The car is so subtle that you could easily dismiss it as a restored Mini. And therein lies the problem. At the end of the day it is just another beautifully restored and improved Mini.
Both cars have similar starting prices at around £80 000. Sounds like a lot but I once costed up a new build Mini Project for a client and you couldn’t really do it for much less, if you want to make a profit. If I was to choose between the two I would definitely go for the Grand Prix.
But I am getting a little bored with the new Mini’s reimagined and would like to see some other cars getting the treatment. My choice would be a Peugeot 205 restomod, perhaps an MX5 mk1 or an early Golf. What would you choose?
My choice of car to be reimagined would be the Austin Healey Sprite MK1 (Frogeye)
Good choice. I am sure that it is feasible.