REKINDLING THE FLAME

I took delivery of G722 URG on 27 April 1990 and I went to town on the Cooper Garages’ optional extras list, ordering the Moto-Lita steering wheel with John Cooper’s engraved signature, Cooper grille, chrome overriders, halogen headlights, steering column lowering clamp, Cooper rear window sticker, tax disc, badges, pens, watch and the shirt… yes I really do have the T-shirt.

So, at 26 years old, remarkably and against all the odds, I somehow now owned a brand-new Mini Cooper – although to be exact the car wasn’t actually called that at the time, being a limited-edition 1990 998cc Mini Flame Red with Cooper conversion.

The John Cooper Performance conversion included a new Janspeed cylinder head with larger inlet and exhaust valves for greater fuel flow, also fitted with bronze valve guides. Janspeed was owned by John Cooper’s friend Jan Odor who had previously trained and worked with Downton Engineering. Cooper Garages stated that the conversion lifted the bhp from the standard 41bhp to 60bhp and gave a 0-60mph time of 12.6 seconds.

Nothing else compared to this Mini on the road and I remember the car receiving a great deal of attention wherever I went. So much so that I thought it wise to have an alarm fitted within weeks of ownership.

Foolishly, I sold