Mighty Mini saved from scrapheap 02 | 12 | 2011
MANY OF US WONDER whatever happened to our old cars? Are they still on the road, or have they gone to that great scrapyard in the sky? Dougie McColm from Stranraer knows exactly what happened to the old Mini he passed his test in at the age of 17, and which he said goodbye to more than 16 years ago.
JOS 107L is now an award-winning example of a customised Mini which packs a powerful punch and draws appreciative looks wherever it goes. But it’s been a far from simple transformation.
The story began in 1972 when Dougie’s grandfather bought the Mini from his local dealer in Stranraer for the grand sum of £270.
After a few years he passed it on to Dougie’s father and in time it ended up in the hands of Dougie’s brother. It was then handed over to Dougie himself, and after passing his test he sold it for £1800 when he needed the cash as a struggling 19-year-old student.
He thought little more about it until four years ago when, at his wedding, an old picture of him with the Mini featured in a slideshow put together by his best man. A guest at the wedding recognised the car and knew it was lying abandoned in a Galloway farmyard.
See more photos of Dougie's £50k Mini
Dougie tracked it down to find that it had been in an accident a few years earlier and had been left to rot. The owner was happy to sell it and Dougie handed over £1500 for it.
Over the past two years, Dougie who is now a product manager with Vauxhall at Luton, has worked with two colleagues to transform the car into a magnificent specimen.
He’s spent around £15,000 on it and it now looks splendid with a carbon fibre interior and roof, and a gutsy 220bhp 2.0-litre 16-valve Vauxhall Astra GTE engine squeezed under the bonnet.
It's won many awards, including top prize from among 2000 Minis at a national enthusiasts' event. Dougie reckons it’s now worth somewhere up to £50,000 – and he still has the original £270 receipt.
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Alan Douglas