Author: Paul Cowland
Photography: Callum Designs
If you’re in the top tier of the glitterati, car shopping just got a whole lot easier, reckons Cowland…
Apparently, being famous isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Firstly, it’s impossible to leave the house without an ardent fan doorstepping you for a selfie. Or an autograph. Or both. The things that you and I take for granted, like nipping to Tesco for a sarnie, suddenly become a gauntlet of paparazzi avoidance, even if all you want to do is grab a BLT. And as for getting up to no good as a famous face, forget it! Stumble out of the wrong nightclub these days and you’ll be page one clickbait before you’ve even thrown up in the taxi…
Being rich, I am assured, is slightly better. You, at least, have the very tangible benefit of anonymity for starters, but allied to the deep pockets that open doors in many other ways. That said, those with money often wonder whether their social entourage (and occasionally, other half) is with them for their wit and sparkling conversation… or just their innate ability to flex their AmEx Black Card.
It’s why I’d much rather be wealthy than well-known. Sadly, I’ve failed on both fronts, but at least I’m reasonably certain that my mates actually like me…
These aren’t the only problems facing the rich and famous, however. While they may be able to get table reservations that mere mortals like you or I can only dream of, they often struggle with which car they should buy. Because when you’re in society’s upper echelons and in the public eye, it’s not as easy as you’d think. After all, ‘optics’ are a very important part of being a Very Important Person.
For a very long while, actors and media types had to be seen in a Prius. It was very much the done thing. Even if your bank balance eclipsed the national debt of Guatemala, arriving at a premiere looking much like a Heathrow Mini-cab driver was definitely the way to go. It didn’t matter if you longed for the luxury of soft Connolly leather, or deep pile carpeting, telegraphing to the planet that you, as a Hollywood ‘A’ lister, cared deeply about its welfare, by lugging 120 pounds of carefully-mined lithium around, was widely considered as ‘on message’ for the time.
As worthy as the Prius is, in transport terms, celebs quickly tired of this automotive hair shirt and reverted to type, driving in limos and luxobarges, many of which could suddenly be ordered in environmentally conscious, 2.5 tonne, hybrid variants. Champagne flowed once again, for the passengers at least, reclining was done in suitable deep-pile luxury, as before, and Greta aside, all was right with the world…
These things were much easier in the 1960s, of course. Back then, top-level celebs would order their Rolls, their Aston Martin, and for nipping into town for a Mayfair party, or for appearing at a Leicester Square premiere, a coachbuilt Mini was just the thing. No need to trouble the chauffeur, or work out how and where to park your Lagonda when you could simply arrive in your Wood & Pickett or Radford Mini instead, achieving the exact same presence, luxury and style, in only ten feet of required space.
It was a phenomenon that quickly exploded. Chart toppers like The Beatles, Lulu and The Monkees all had them. Actors like Peter Sellors and Britt Ekland, even Supermodels like Twiggy all realised that equipping a humble Mini with high-level coachbuilding and trimming made for an irresistible combination. Then, as now, the Mini exuded a classless cool that simply worked anywhere, and by creating a truly bespoke, high-class, luxury version of it, often with body tricks like gutter deseaming or even full hatchback conversions, allied to a level of interior appointment that made the average Bentley feel like a Turkish prison, a genre was born…
The idea of a bespoke Mini for top-end clientele seemed to gently disappear in the late 90s, notably once hot hatches had arrived to offer diminutive thrills with tinier bills, but thankfully it has recently been revived – and by none other than the automotive ‘Avengers’ style pairing of Callum Designs and the welcome return of original Mini tweakers, Wood & Pickett. Of course, when I say ‘Avengers’, I mean the ’60s British glamour of John Steed and Emma Peel, not this new-fangled American nonsense. I bet they don’t own a Bowler hat or brolly between the lot of them…
The resulting offspring of this predictably perfect pairing is every bit as good as you’d hope. Each car is built into a brand new Heritage shell and augmented by a rather shapely bodykit and superb deep-dish rims. Colour is up to you, of course, and as for interior appointment, it starts with full leather, walnut and air conditioning and extends to whatever your personal feng-shui consultant recommends. Like their forebears, the only limitations here are the boundaries of legality and taste. And the latter is negotiable.
The first customer for this delightfully analogue, petrol engined, full-fat return to form? None other than supermodel, all-round nice guy and serial car collector, David Gandy, who ordered one in a Steve McQueen-esque metallic brown. (The Hollywood star famously had a Radford in the same shade) It’s literally like history has repeated itself.
Having caused jaws to drop at events like the Heveningham Hall concours, and the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed, it’s evident that a coachbuilt Mini still has the minerals to cut it in the crowded restomod space, not least of all as you can order one for around 10% of the cost of a brand-new Singer. If you’re a budding supermodel, actor, raconteur or celeb looking for your next easy-to-park commuter solution that also looks nice outside your mansion, and comes with all the accoutrements and exclusivity of your supercars, then from £75,000 I can heartily recommend one. If the residuals of the original cars are anything to go by, often fetching around £35-40,000 at auction, with one 1970 Radford Cooper S De Ville even being sold for £125,000, it might very well be one of the cheapest cars you’ll ever own. And just think of the money you’ll save in chauffeur costs…
Would you trade in a flashy supercar for a humble hatchback if it meant keeping a low profile? Let us know in the comments below.
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