It’s not unusual for a Mini to get passed around a family, and this early Morris Mini-Minor is no exception. “My great grandfather, Alfred, bought it new in 1960,” explains its current owner, Gary Dunster. “It then went to my nan, Kathleen, for a brief while, and then my dad, Peter, had it as his first car. My mum and dad met, and he owned the car while they were courting.”
Peter was determined not to leave his much-loved Mini standard, however, and ended up upgrading it: “He repainted it metallic blue, fitted a 1098 engine, reverse rim wheels, remote gearbox and various other things. He ended up selling it to a friend in the early 1970s, who then sold it on shortly after. I located its whereabouts in around 2006.”
This, of course, begs the question as to how Gary managed to find the Mini: “I did a DVLA search on the registration and realised that it hadn’t been taxed since 1993. I triedcar I was applying for a logbook for. I said I didn’t own it and apologised for wasting his time. He said: ‘I know you don’t own it because I’ve seen it’. My ears pricked up and I explained that I was trying to find it because of the family history.”
