Ground Attack

Although Dan Stokes has been a fan of Minis, since owning one as his first car, he’s had a few love/hate moments with them. We’re glad he wasn’t put offas he has created this amazing retro racer for us to drool over…

- Karen Drury

Dan Stokes’ first car was a was a £250 998cc Mini City bought for him in 1994, when he was 19, by his father. “It was orange and it was an absolute rust bucket. I used it to go to college and back with £2 a week of fuel in it,” he grins. “Then I had a black 850, which I drove into a 200-year old oak tree. I was driving like an idiot and went into a corner too fast. After I got cut out of that I realised I’d dodged a bullet that day and went away from Minis for a bit.” He then joined the Royal Air Force, concentrated on his career and didn’t have time for hobbies for a while. “I then picked up this 1993 white and black SPi Rover Mini Cooper in 2007 for a 30th birthday present to myself.”

First impressions were good, although a bit of cosmetic tidying was needed. There were a few problems lurking, such as over-fuelling, which Dan spent £500 trying to fix. “The SPi engine was absolutely knackered. The head was all coked up and it was belching smoke out the back.” The Mini then failed its MOT in 2009 and was patched up a bit to get it back on the road. In 2010 Dan specced up a fast road engine and straight-cut gearbox but was messed around by the builder and the engine went bang. “I was left with a block that was useless.”