Mini Driver 148

The perfect way to end the outdoor show season is with the unmissable MiniFest at Stanford Hall, a great day was had by all. Next years show is on Sunday10th September and promises even more from the live arena, stands and displays. November found us at the Classic Motor Show at Birmingham’s NEC, we had some fantastic Minis on display and was another hugely entertaining weekend, and one in which the Mini once again cemented its role as a leading light in the wider classic car scene.

When Matt Jones started restoring his Mini he knew he wanted a 60’s replica show stopper, and we think he’s achieved just that. Duncan Cooper’s attention to detail is commendable, his Mini is exactly how it was when it left the showroom in 1990. The humbled Mini captured Stuart Carey’s heart as he needed to replace his Rolls Royce with something smaller. Everyones big day should be memorable, Ellie Hignett’s certainly was as she had her new husband and her beloved Mini at her side. More MINI news from Steve Moore and finally, how much do you know about the iconic film The Italian Job - our very own IJ master, David Morton has set you a challenge!

Have an amazing Christmas and New Year. We look forward to seeing everyone at MiniFair on Sunday 29th January 2023.

BMC Events

Special places to visit

Why not visit our National Mini events held each year at some of the best venues around.

29th January Mini Fair 2023 Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford. The UK’ Biggest & Best Indoor Mini Show

7th May 2023

Himley Hall - DY3 4DF

British Mini Day is set in a stunning location. Trade, auto-jumble, show n shine and concours

10th September Stanford Hall - LE17 6DH

The Nations favourite Mini show with concours, live arena and plenty of trade and jumble stands.

Dave & Nicky Hollis

Magazine

Contributors

Matt Jones

Duncan Cooper

Stuart Carey

Clive King

David Morton

Ellie Hignett

Steve Moore

80’s Revival Style Icon

Matt Jones Classic Mini

For some time, I wanted to find a classic Mini to tinker with and when I saw this one, I had to have it, although it was about six months sooner than planned.

Three weeks later, on my birthday, I collected and drove it home 135 miles in pouring rain - worth it? Yes! I renamed it Buddy on that drive.

Originally a 1987, Maroon 998cc automatic City E, it’s now a manual Old English White with a MG Metro 1275cc. Near enough to a Cooper, sounds glorious and is so enjoyable to drive.

Starting that October, through to summer 2021, I made several changes, mainly on the interior.

For whatever reason, the rear half of the inside shell was still maroon despite the exterior colour change,

so I stripped it out, prepared and painted it OEW myself. What a difference!

I love working with MDF so I made panels for the boot, trimmed with Newton Commercial red carpet, and a new pre-moulded red carpet throughout, again from Newton, was fitted.

A 1995-2000 Cooper Sport leather interior is doing the job. Long term the plan is to switch to a more 1960s look. A new wooden MotaLita steering wheel is now in place, with new Newton panels to follow.

I wanted a classic 1960s look inside and out but the hassle of a conversion to the central speedo set-up scared me so I went with Optimise Automotive who made me the bespoke dash which I tried to keep as simple as possible adding Smiths chrome bezels.

Some people out there won’t like the fact that it isn’t original, but I see it as a mark of respect to the Mini’s of the 1960s.

bonus, along with the Italian Job 3spot set-up. I actually didn’t want spotlights but these grew on me. I fitted new P700 headlights, adding better, brighter bulbs.

The scratched, faded black roof was treated to a new coat of gloss black and being into detailing, I have spent considerable time getting the Old English White paint up to my high standards.

height set to what I think is the perfect stance, just right without being too low.

Some people out there won’t like the fact that it isn’t original, but I see it as a mark of respect to the Mini’s of the 1960s.

A 1964 number plate was sourced and fitted as a finishing touch.

H590 XMW is a 1990 998cc Mini Flame Red and I am the second owner. At the point of purchase in Nov 1990 from Rover Swindon (I have the original bill of sale as well as a large history file of photos, previous MOT’s, owner’s manual and many other receipts), it had the Rover approved John Cooper Conversion kit fiQed along with many other John Cooper Garages accessories; John Cooper signature Moto-Lita steering wheel, Cooper wheel centre caps, driving lights, grille, bumpers with overriders, Cooper boot badge and Cooper ‘World Champions 1959 and 1960’ decals. I also have the JC conversion fiXng instrucYons, sales pamphlet, conversion cerYficate and cerYficate wallet.

According to write-ups in various magazines John Parnell the Rover Cooper registrar comments that owners of 998 John Cooper converted cars are part of quite an exclusive club. It is believed that there were no more than 150 UK 998 cars (of a planned 500) ever converted. Some 35 of these 150 cars have been accounted for, of which 10 are sMll known to be acMve; data courtesy of Peter Selby and Dean Cocks (Dean runs the Classic Mini John Cooper Conversions Facebook page).

The previous owners lived/worked in the Middle East and the car was used twice yearly (along with their MGB) when they travelled back to the UK for

Duncan Cooper’s Classic Mini

Eternal Flame

their holidays. For the rest of the year the car was in storage and why it is low milage (now currently standing at 16,413 miles). When the Burgesses returned to the UK on a full-Mme basis during 2001, Sue started to use the mini as her daily driver. Within months of returning to the UK she was involved in a low-speed collision and the insurance company wrote the car off as beyond economical repair, with the repair cost that of a brand new Mini at the Mme. The Burgesses had H590 XMW fully restored by Somerford Mini (I have the original invoice from Somerford for all the work that was carried out, as well as photos of the car during its restoraMon). Unfortunately, one item that was unavailable for the restoraMon was the Cooper boot badge as these had been unavailable for some Mme. The Burgesses decided to use the chrome Mini mk1 ‘Mini’ and ‘Cooper’ script badges for the boot instead.

Since owing the car I have had brand new adjustable Gaz dampers, genuine Hi-Lo’s, OE spec doughnuts, adjustable Me bars, lower arms and adjustable rear camber/castor brackets, all supplied by MiniSpares and fifed by Southam Mini and Metro Centre. The car was also put on their rolling road to be set up correctly for fuelling. SMMC also fifed a secondary RH fuel tank kit also supplied by MiniSpares to allow me to drive to the Italian Lakes, south of France and back again in the summer of 2017. All the OE suspension and geometry parts have been kept and will be refurbished and kept with the car.

John Cooper Conversion

Over the past two+ years I have spent much Mme returning the car to how it rolled out of the Rover Swindon showroom back in 1990 to include Rover OE black wing mirrors, OE rear light clusters, OE black numberplate lamp holder, OE black door/ boot handles (these are all OE and not pafern items) and a set of white and green pin stripes. The stripes were a non-standard item that Rover Swindon added to the car when it took pride of place in their central display in the showroom, as they displayed the car as the return to the Mini’s racing heritage. I have also had a set of World Champions rear quarter decals (plus a single smaller boot decal) made to match the originals purchased from John Cooper Garages. Nothing has been required for the interior as it is completely original and has been with the car since new, this includes the OE spec Philips radio cassefe and Philips rear parcel shelf speakers.

The engine is the original item and has not been touched. The engine/bay have not been restored and is all original. There has just been the one addiMon of a fan; the Revotec fan kit, which was installed to assist with cooling (if it was required) during the summer heat on the trip to Italy in 2017.

Current tyres are 165 Yokohama’s. These have plenty of wear lek on them and will stay on the car for now. However, I have purchased a set of 5 brand new 145 Pirelli Cinturato’s which were OE for the car. Pirelli have just recently released a small batch of new stock, so I bought a set whilst they were available.

The one missing item was an original John Cooper Garages ‘Cooper’ badge. These cannot be found anywhere; a brushed aluminium backing with a black Cooper logo and red outline being printed using a hot foil printer (Gerber edge machine) and then fifed with an acrylic dome… creaMng an early incarnaMon of what we all now recognise as a ‘bubble style’ badge.

My only chance to find an original was placing an ad which I did in both MCR magazine and MiniWorld magazine. I let the ad’s run for just over a year with no luck. I decided to pull the ads with the ad last going

to print in the MiniWorld Jan 2021 ediMon. In late Dec 2020 I received a call. Andrew had been an original John Cooper Conversion owner back in 1989/90 and when he sold his car he kept some items for his collecMon. One item he kept was a Cooper boot badge. I was able to purchase it from him a few months later aker chamng at length as to my intenMons for the badge. He was very happy for it to be going back to an original car. I'd been very lucky; he had been bought a year’s subscripMon to MiniWorld as a Christmas present with the Jan 2021 ediMon being the first instalment and had seen my very last ad.

As the mk1 script badges had required four holes to be drilled into the boot lid I have had the lid welded and resprayed to the highest standard whilst keeping as much original paint as possible. This has now allowed me to refit a NOS ‘MINI’ badge and the sourced Cooper badge to the boot lid to return the rear of the car to its Swindon original.

Over the past two+ years I have spent much 4me returning the car to how it rolled out of the Rover Swindon showroom back in 1990

Cheviot Stages Rally

25th September saw the Mini cup head for the Otterburn ranges for the penultimate round. Eight minis had entered but two of the crews had to withdraw due to damage sustained on the previous round in Flanders.

The event had changed the normal format, where they were not allowing any checking the pace notes, this would mean every crew would need bravery pills to commit to the notes.

Some of the crews met up for a meal and several beers the evening before, much friendly banter was in the air, which is what rallying should be about.

Leading the minis away was the Mini Sport backed car of Clive King and Anton Bird, followed by John and Martin Cressey in Mini Sport's own development open class car.

Current leaders were next, Ryan Taylor and Lucy wilding and were hoping for their continued run of form.

Craig King with Claire Jennings, John Nicolson, Harvey Stevens completed the crews ready to do battle.

The first loop of two stages Clive took a small lead from John with Ryan close behind. Harvey had set a quick time to be leading the rest of the contenders.

The second loop Martin and John took three seconds out of Clive on the third stage, with Clive taking time back on the forth stage. This would be a battle that lasted all day.

Craig was suffering with the clutch adjustment but with Pete Ellerby past Mini cup competitor helping out soon had it fixed.

The stages were exceptionally fast, with the little minis reaching maximum revs in top gear for long periods, also the brakes were being stretched as they then had to scrub all the speed off for the bends.

Ryan was complaining that the gearbox was jumping out of gears, with Lucy having to hold it in 2nd

Craig discovered that the wind screen wipers failed just as the heavens opened restricting vision.

John had been suffering with inconsistent brakes, and much activity was completed when they came into service.

After a long day John Cressey managed to finish top mini in his open class car. Clive and Anton finished a few seconds behind, but first historic mini. They also won the historic class on the event, taking time out of the leading BDA escort to just finish ahead.

Ryan and Lucy finished 3rd clinching the championship for Lucy.

Harvey had been enjoying the event with only adjustment of the clutch to worry a fantastic result, beating Craig, who was suffering with too low gearing for the long straights.

The prize draws were completed after the event by Lucy and Claire.

The Yokohama prize on two tyres was won by Clive King

Snap on Prize donated by Andrew O`Hanlon was won by Ryan Taylor

Penrite Oil Prize was won by Clive King

Best improvement on seeding, winning a set of Questmead brake pads was taken by Clive King

By

Clive King

Stuart Carey’s Classic Mini

From a Rolls to a Mini M

oving down to Surrey I have been more than surprised at the sheer volume of traffic on the roads compared with the open fairly less congested roads of East Yorkshire. An upstairs flat with only on road parking saw me hunting and advertising for a parking space for the Rolls and after some enquiries space in an underground car park about a 10 minute cycle ride away was found. Not ideal but at least under cover and relatively safe, and so the Rolls lan’ guished through lockdown and finally made its move and transition down to leafy Surrey.

After several trips to and from East Yorkshire I made the decision to part company with it for something smaller but what do you get? Apart from a plethora of Range Rovers, Land Rover Discovery’s and general 4 x 4’s which seem to dominate the landscape down here, there are some more modern MINI’s, Fiat 500’s and the occasional Smart Car so I began to search for a Rolls replacement which would be easier to fit in parking spaces around here. Ruling out the Smart Car and the Modern MINI ( having previously owned a diesel one with run flat tyres which kept telling me I had a flat and gave a very hard ride) I was contemplating a Fiat 500. I wasn’t keen on a modern car with sensors and gadgets which you will never use so I began thinking of an older Mini

which being small would be easily parkable, be economical and above all retain its initial monetary outlay, if not increase in value ,while owning it.

I started to search for Minis on the internet and found quite a number for sale at what seemed astronomical prices. Doing M.O.T. history searches revealed that many had had problems in the past to get through M.O.T’s especially with the dreaded rust and welding having to be done on floor pans, subframe mounts etc.

I really didn’t want a car I would have to start working on so continued searching. One particular car stood out from the rest.

The pictures showed it to be virtually as new and yet it was 1997 with a low mileage of some 36000. Expensive yes, but at least I wouldn’t need any body work to be done in the near future. Wheel arches looked superb as did the interior of the floor pan and underneath the car all looked in superb rust free condition. I contacted the company who were selling the car Mini Me Classics at Gateshead

It had the Rover approved John Cooper Conversion kit fitted along with many other John Cooper Garage accessories

and found out from Paul the owner that the car was a Japanese import.

I was also looking for a car with a light coloured interior and many modern cars have black or dark grey upholstery. Paul had a mini with a beige leather interior but this one was different.

The car was a Mini Mayfair and had a Balmoral Tweed interior. Green is one of my favourite colours and this car seemed to tick many boxes especially with the wooden dash which reminded me of the Rolls. Everything seemed to be right about this low mileage mini.

Paul wouldn’t take the Rolls in part exchange but he had a friend who would and so a deal was struck. A holiday to Scotland saw us calling in to find Mini Me Classics and this particular Mini which I had begun to think about quite a lot and impressed me. Paul had a number of different Minis in stock all having their own particular characteristics. Yes, there was one with wooden

door cappings, gear knob and wooden window winding handles and steering wheel which was lovely but I preferred the interior upholstery of the one I was looking at. There were a number of Mini Coopers and a variety of minis in different colours and specifications. The wait for reregistration in this country was about 10 weeks and the number had only just come through shortly before we visited Paul.

Seeing the car in the flesh I continued to be impressed by its condition. It was then agreed that following its registration I would drive the car home back to Surrey on our return trip from Scotland which was duly accomplished .

The Rolls departed for its new life with a new custodian and the Mini now has a new life down south in this country. Does it fit on the street? Yes, occasionally, for it still shares the same spot where the Rolls was, underground, safe and dry .

”Seeing the car in the flesh I continued to be impressed by its condition”

As we approach the Christmas holidays the classic Mini fans film of choice will know doubt be listed in the programming schedules. So how much did you know about this iconic film? Here are 20 facts that you may not remember. So, grab yourselves a cuppa (and a slice of Christmas cake/ chocolate) watch the film and see if you spot these……

In sequence to the ,meline of the 1969 classic….

Finding out about a Job in Italy:

1. When Charlie picks up his message from Mrs Beckerman, have you ever no,ced what the room number was? (1666) This is factually incorrect as the hotel in ques,on doesn’t have that many rooms.

2. Did you know that at the start of the film, when Charlie picks up his Aston, that this scene was completely unrehearsed. The ligh,ng of this scene is very patchy and full of shadows, as the ligh,ng crew didn’t know where the actors would be standing.

Ge3ng the Coopers ready:

3. When the Coopers are in the garage being prepared for the job, Freddie tells Charlie that the red Mini Cooper is having is having a problem with its differen,al. The Cooper is jacked up the rear of the car is being worked on. However, all classic mini owners will know the back axle is actually rear swinging arms and Mini Coopers are front wheel drive. The differen,al is upfront on these cars and working on it would mean removing the whole engine/gearbox unit.

Ge3ng the Job done, in Italy:

4. You may never have no,ced a very subtle reference to Paramount in the opening shots of the gang going from London to Turin. As the professor picks flowers, have a look at the snowy mountain above that stays in the shot for a considerable ,me. Yes, it’s just like the mountain in the Paramount Pictures logo!

5. The gang swap a computer tape supplied by the professor. When fi\ed computer tape on the tape spindle turns just as the data apparently alters and messes up the traffic light sequence, the tape is visibly twisted. In the next shot a few seconds later, it is straight again.

6. As the armoured truck is midway from the airport to the Fiat plant, the film crew is seen in the mirrored finish of the stripe running down the length of truck.

7. When the Alfa Romeo Guila police car crashes through the gra,ng that was dropped down in front of it at the end of the tunnel, the occupants are dummies - they just bounce about in the same upright posi,on whilst the car drives into the river.

8. Towards the end of the movie throughout the Mini chase scene through the building, down the stairs and skidding around corners etc, you can see tyre markings from previous takes.

9. Take a closer look at the car transporter when it is being used to break ram the building, where they are transferring the gold from the security vehicle. A single brown car slips off the side of the transporter and lands on a police car. The blue cover from the police light comes off completely in the first shot. But a second later you see the face of the policeman with the light in the foreground, which now has a jagged broken base lec on the car.

10. When the three Mini Coopers are driven onto the coach by Remy’s stunt team, HMP729G(the Red Cooper) doesn’t have fi\ed headlights.

The Italian Job (1969) Did you Know!

11. On a similar shot HMP729G also has a brand-new rear wheel fi\ed that is clean and the rest are dirty, and its side trim is damaged.... then instantly perfect again!

12. The Mini Coopers HMP729G, GPF146G and LGW809G were all fi\ed with three spot lamps on a lamp bar in a triangular forma,on that was actually taken from the works cars of the same period.

13. In part of the chase sequence through the sewer, two of the Minis have the iconic three spotlight forma,ons... however they have a further two lights now on their fronts - one under each headlamp and one in the centre of the grille under the three original spot lights.

14. The tunnel sequence is also home to a few more edi,ng gaffs, as the ligh,ng used internally within the cars is different to that filmed outside the cars. This shows up a few con,nuity errors like the number of people in each mini.... as in one par,cular shot there’s only a driver!

15. As the Mini Coopers start off their escape through Turin, they enter a shopping mall. As the Minis are filmed descending a staircase it can be seen that the door of the red Cooper HMP729G is wide open, and the passenger is gefng in as the car moves off. This con,nuity gaff shows that the Cooper was sta,onary before the start of the shot and did not actually descend the stair.

16. When camera pans round from the Minis exci,ng the tunnel.... have a look at how many people there are in the coach... it’s actually Fred Toms in the driver’s seat.

17. When the 3 Minis are pushed off the coach, if you look carefully there is view shown briefly of the minis interior, which has red door pillars. When the shot reverts to the external view the cars colour is white.

18. When the mafia bulldozer is destroying the various cars, the red jaguar E type has been replaced with a wreck used in the film in previous scenes as it has already has accident damage on it that wasn’t there in previous scenes, and not near where the bulldozer hits it.

19. When the three minis are trying to drive up the ramps onto the coach the shot from outside the cars shows them to be on a twolane road while in the shots from inside the cars they are on a threelane road.

20. Have a closer look at the internal filming in the coach at the end of the film. The camera is going up and down, not the coach, the blinds in the coach don’t move correctly... they would swing as the coach ,pped over the edge and back again.

OK.... so how many did you no,ce? Hopefully all of them, why not test other Italian Job fans over the Christmas break.

Have a great classic Cooper Christmas!

David Morton

A Classic Love Story

From a young age, I was obsessed with classic minis, I even had classic minis for my scalextric set! I was set on having a classic mini as my first car. My dad, a classic car enthusiast with a 1965 MGB roadster himself, was all for it, but my mum was convinced a mini spelled disaster (she wasn't far wrong)!

After some persuading, my parents bought me my Studio 2 mini 'Zackie' in 2012 as my first car. After 6 years of independence, classic car meets and fun I had to sell the car in 2018 to get a more 'sensible' one to assist in my search for a full time job. Not a day went by that I didn't miss my mini, and the sight of one on the street had me pining for mine. Two years passed and my partner and I had recently bought our first house. We were sitting at home watching TV when my phone started ringing persistently - it was my dad. I thought something must be up, so I answered to discover the urgent message was a surprising one: my dad had spotted my car back on ebay! A bidding war ensued, but

between me and my dad, we managed to win the car back. The moment of truth arrived and I travelled down from Birmingham to reclaim him after 2 years apart. To our dismay, we discovered 2 years was certainly long enough to ruin a car. Lots of the original Studio 2 parts had been removed in favour of tacky replacements and cheap bodge jobs. With my dad's help, along with a lot of time, patience and money we managed to restore Zackie to his former glory, or as my dad coined it, his 'rebirth'. As of 2022, I have now had the car 10 years and it was recently my wedding car, a classic love story!

Owned by Ellie

Ellie Hignett’s

Looking to insure your Mini?

All your questions answered

The Mini is a British icon, a little car with a great big heart. That’s why here at Adrian Flux we try to help members of the British Mini Club with all their queries about motor insurance.

Here we answer some of your most frequently asked questions.

What insurance group do Mini’s fall under?

Most Minis fall in the mid range insurance groups from 11 to 40. Despite their small size, some models are quite speedy.

The Mini One is one of the cheapest to insure as it is usually included in insurance group 13, while the Mini Cooper is in insurance group 20. If you’re a new or young driver, have driving convictions or simply want to cut costs on your insurance, choosing a Mini in a low insurance group is a great way of keeping insurance costs low.

Are Mini Coopers cheap to insure?

They can be cheap, especially as they are usually found in low insurance groups. Of course, there are other factors that will affect the cost of your insurance. This includes your driving history and whether you have built up a no claims discount. Other factors that may impact on the cost of your insurance include your location and how you intend to use your vehicle. Regardless of your history, competitive on price.

Is modified car insurance cheaper?

that offer like-for-like performance, custom car insurance cover can be cheaper.

There are several discounts available to

yourself, and for owner’s club membership.

vehicles, most custom cars are also treated as

Should I tell my insurance provider my Mini is modified?

policy if they are not declared, which is why it’s best to let us know when you’ve made a change to your vehicle. This way, we can alter your policy in line with your needs and make sure anything disclosed is covered.

How do I get a cheaper insurance quote for my Mini?

Getting a cheaper no hassle insurance quote for your Mini - whatever the model - couldn’t be easier. Simply call our dedicated British Mini Club insurance hotline on 0800 916 1251

than 81% of customers would have got a cheaper quote if they had called us, instead of getting a quote online, so give us a call.

You will qualify for a discount on the cost of your insurance simply by being a member of the British Mini Club.

Why should I trust Adrian Flux for an insurance quote?

Adrian Flux has been in business for almost 50 years and the company is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

MINI Special Editions

In 2005 MINI added three new special edition models to the range

Mini One Seven: £12,565

Mini Cooper Park Lane: £15,260

Mini Cooper S Checkmate: £17,635

The Park Lane and Checkmate were set colours but the Seven had three colour choices available. No matter which car you ordered you could still add on pretty much any options you wanted to your MINI and now high spec examples of them are very nice finds. Here is the break down of the models

Mini One Seven

The Mini One Seven features exclusive Solar Red, Black Pepper white ‘Seven’ cloth and ‘Seven’ interior trim, Mini Seven decals and 15″ Delta spoke alloy wheels, as well as Automatic Stability Control and Traction (ASC+T), sports

leather steering wheel, rear spoiler, floor mats, passenger seat height adjustment, storage compartment pack, front foglights, manual air conditioning, on board computer, interior lights pack and white indicators.

Mini Cooper Park Lane

The Mini Cooper Park Lane features exclusive Royal Grey metallic paint, ‘Park Lane’ leather and interior trim, ‘Park Lane’ decals, silver roof, two-tone sports leather steering wheel, 16″ Bridge spoke alloy wheels and silver bonnet stripes. Standard features included on ‘Park Lane’ are ASC+T, rear spoiler, chrome line interior and exterior, floor mats, passenger seat height adjustment, storage compartment pack, front foglights, automatic air conditioning, on board computer, interior lights pack, chrome mirror caps, front sports seats and white indicators.

Special Feature

By Steve Moore

features Space Blue metallic paint, ‘Checkmate’ cloth/leather and interior trim, ‘Checkmate’ decals, silver roof and mirror caps, 3-spoke two-tone sports leather steering wheel, 17″ Flame spoke alloy wheels and silver bonnet stripes. Additional standard equipment includes a limited slip differential, floor mats, passenger seat height adjustment, storage compartment pack, front foglights, manual air conditioning, on board computer, interior lights pack, anthracite headlining and xenon headlights.

If you’re on the hunt for something collectible one of these is a great buy.

Out of the Mini Ones I think black or white will be the rarer of the colours. I’ve owned one of the Sevens in black myself, great car it felt special. As for the Park Lane look for heated seats and maybe a pan roof model, both great options the more spec you can find on these special editions the better. Now as for the Checkmate, aero kits look great on them but if

you can find a genuine one that has had the 210 bhp JCW upgrade that’s a dream find I’ve heard that as little as 21 where converted to JCWs keep your eyes peeled guys.

Understanding Winter Tyres

So the most important thing to understand about winter tyres is that they are not ice tyres, or even snow tyres. They do not have metal studs of any sort poking out of the tread. Instead, winter tyres are simply designed to be used when temperatures are low and the roads are slippery. Of course, they are far more effective than summer tyres on snow and ice, but they will provide more

MOORES MINI’s

Winter tyres are different from summer tyres in three specific ways. The first is that the tread pattern has many more grooves, or sipes, cut into it, which displace water and help the tyre to bite into snow and ice.

Secondly, winter tyres are made from a compound that has more silica in it, which means they stay soft and supple even in freezing temperatures. In very cold conditions, the rubber of a summer tyre becomes extremely rigid, meaning it slips across the surface of the road rather than clinging onto it.

Finally, a winter tyre’s rubber blocks are designed to vibrate when on the move,

One last thing, recently I had a sneaky trip to the Nurburgring - I can’t tell you enough how capable the R53 is, my little Red Cooper S is 19 years old I strapped a set of Michelin PS4’s to it plus a set of ceramic pads and it didn’t miss a trick.

For anyone thinking about going to the Nurburgring don’t over think it, it’s the ultimate road trip and a stunning place to visit with plenty more than just the track on offer.