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ME & MY CAR


Nick Manson has invested much time and cash in rebuilding his Mini, but he’s convinced it’s been worth it


M


y car was a 1992 mini 1.3 injection A series engine when I bought it


seven years ago. I then rebuilt it over a year after I wrote it off in an accident in 2007. Once repaired, I took it to


Green & White, who are Mini Specialists known for building race engines. The next two years saw the car transformed with a 1430 A series race/fast road engine, 286 Cam and forged internals with 45 DCOE Weber Carburettor, plus an Eaton M45 Supercharger. I also added a straight cut, 4-speed race/fast road gearbox with KAD quick shift and a custom-made stainless race


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exhaust and 13-inch, ultra light alloy wheels with Yokohama semi-slick race tyres. The interior was stripped


and all the glass widows were replaced with polycarbonate windows to reduce the weight of


and handles is like a go-kart. I can do 0 to 60mph in around


4.4 seconds and the top speed is apparently 130 mph. Fuel economy comes in at four miles to the gallon. The car is completely road


“I can do 0 to 60mph in around 4.4 seconds and the top speed is apparently 130mph”


the car, and the bonnet and boot were made of carbon fibre. The car weighs about 650


kilograms and was rolling road tuned to 170bhp, which equates to 261bhp per tonne. The best way to describe how it drives


legal (ish), but mainly used for track days at Croft Circuit, the motor racing circuit in North Yorkshire. My car is still far from finished


and probably never will be, but that is the way of the Mini –


always evolving. Apart from being a fantastic


piece of engineering, the Mini always puts a smile on my face when I drive one, which is probably to do with its association with my family. My brother and sisters all learnt to drive in my granddad’s 1960s Mini, which I used to love getting ferried about in. My Mini has a unique number


plate. It’s the registration from my granddad’s Mini, which was a present from my mum.


Nick Manson is managing director of Mansons Property Consultants in Newcastle.


Tell us about your car. TheNegotiator l March 2012 l 37


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