The Road Less Travelled

Scroll through images, classifieds, or any other classic Mini related article in Sri Lanka you would see a trend. A trend that has been followed quite strongly the past few years with so many of the little things trickling into the island,though that is a story for another day.....

But the tide has changed as more and more people are starting to embrace the classic look and retro appeal of the mini and its very refreshing to see an enthusiast breaking the mould.

The local standard of a modified Mini is big 13 inch alloys or infamously known as the Boku allow movement, expensive teak dashboards finished off with wide Sport pack wheel arches and a centre exit exhaust. But there's being a gradual change towards a different route with Classic minis thanks to a lot of influence from the Land of the rising Sun! 

This is where Mudith's daily driven, hill climb bashing retro styled Mini comes in.

Being the 2nd registered Mini in Sri Lanka, Mudith decided to go back to its roots and give the Mini back its original identity. Gotta love the Mustache grille and the purposeful negative camber! 

Diminutive tail lamps and the famous flip down number plate holder are famous Mk1 details which were lost as the model progressed through out its expansive production run.

Instead of alloys, unique steel Weller wheels nestle under fat Group 2 race spec wheel arches.

With fully adjustable Hi-Lo's, rubber cones and adjustable Koni dampers the ride can be tuned to suit the driving conditions and either be a soft cruiser or a stiff hill climber!

 The interior has been tastefully upgraded with the same approach

A snazzy centre binnacle layout greets you,a splash of aluminum gives the black and red lightning fabric seats and door cards some livening up! 

A battalion of old school Smith's gauges and rocker switches ooze character and charm, which is something modern interiors seem to lack today. 

 You cant go wrong with a wooden Moto Lita steering wheel, in any classic car !

My favourite though was the rear angled RAZO gear knob which is more of a function over form upgrade.

Since the owner wanted to run this car everyday in traffic with AC he opted for a late model 1275cc engine sporting a Single point Injection system. Performance is boosted thanks to a fast road camshaft, reprogrammed ECU and a RC40 side exit exhaust. 

Combined with all the suspension mods, Mudiths little Mini managed to set a blazing time at the Classic event held at Mahagastote Hill Climb this year. Only pipped by a more modern and quite faster early generation Subaru Legacy RS. 

This isn't the only retro styled Mini on our roads though, but its an exciting looking example bringing about a long awaited change in the classic Mini tuning scene. The more I look the more interesting cars that I find lurking around, so I shall leave you with this one till I find one worthy of a feature here.

Thank you to Mudith who decided to venture out on a very wet Saturday morning.

Charith Kulasiri