TURNED OUT NICE AGAIN

Cars have got bigger, heavier and more expensive in the electric era. Helpfully, this faithful recreation of the old Mini reverses two of those trends. Matt Prior drives it

I don't think there was an intended allusion in meeting next to Battersea Power Station to try the new Mini eMastered by David Brown Automotive, but still: if one was going for the 'icon with its insides torn out and replaced by something more in vogue', here we are.

DBA already makes a Remastered Mini restomod, with uprated ICE mechanicals that it sources from elsewhere. This is an electromod on the same theme.

The Northamptonshire firm will do up your classic Mini, the condition of which is not too important because it then buys a new shell made by British Motor Heritage. They're from original tooling, so DBA fettles and coats and paints the body so that it stands up to modern luxury levels of scrutiny.

Then it fits an EV system it buys in wholesale from Australian-British firm Fellten, which is one of a few manufacturers to provide classic Mini electric conversions. The important bit about it from a UK registration perspective is that not a single new hole is drilled in the classic Mini's bodyshell.

This is important because even though the body is new and so is the drivetrain, enough other components are retained from the original Mini that it keeps its title and isn't put onto a Q numberplate.

Excuse the pedantic bit but, according to the DVSA, to do that, a 'radically altered vehicle' must score at least eight points from a checklist, five of which have to come from 'original or new and unmodified' chassis, then the remaining three from any of the suspension (two), axles (two), transmission (two), steering (two) and engine (one).