The 25
years of inactivity up until 2006 had done POP 22 no good at all. The pistons in the engine were seized such
that even Coca Cola would not budge them and almost all the braking system
needed replacing. It took two years of
intermittent work before POP 22 could be driven away from its garage, during
which time most of the mechanical parts were replaced or, at least, cleaned and
inspected. However, no significant work
was performed on the body and so it looked a little rough around the edges even
though it was a fun car to drive.
It was still painted British Racing Green (the dark Jaguar/Bentley
variety), a colour it had gained in the 1970s when Chris Nightingale wanted to
change its initial lime green colour.
A very
fortunate introduction to Chris Spennewyn took place as plans were being
hatched for the second phase of restoration, namely the bodywork. Chris Spennewyn runs a Mini restoration
business just outside Hitchin and produces work of the very highest quality. He advised against respraying in the same
darker version of British Racing Green as before. Instead, he identified a lighter version,
namely Aston Martin Racing Green, as used by the Aston Martin Le Mans sports cars of the 1950s. Also, on his advice, the steel wheels were
changed to rose petal alloy wheels. POP
22 emerged in May 2011, after many hours of preparation and spraying work, just
in time to attend the Mini Cooper 50th anniversary celebrations at
the National Motor Museum.
The 25
years of inactivity up until 2006 had done POP 22 no good at all. The pistons in the engine were seized such
that even Coca Cola would not budge them and almost all the braking system
needed replacing. It took two years of
intermittent work before POP 22 could be driven away from its garage, during
which time most of the mechanical parts were replaced or, at least, cleaned and
inspected. However, no significant work
was performed on the body and so it looked a little rough around the edges even
though it was a fun car to drive.
It was still painted British Racing Green (the dark Jaguar/Bentley
variety), a colour it had gained in the 1970s when Chris Nightingale wanted to
change its initial lime green colour.
A very
fortunate introduction to Chris Spennewyn took place as plans were being
hatched for the second phase of restoration, namely the bodywork. Chris Spennewyn runs a Mini restoration
business just outside Hitchin and produces work of the very highest quality. He advised against respraying in the same
darker version of British Racing Green as before. Instead, he identified a lighter version,
namely Aston Martin Racing Green, as used by the Aston Martin Le Mans sports cars of the 1950s. Also, on his advice, the steel wheels were
changed to rose petal alloy wheels. POP
22 emerged in May 2011, after many hours of preparation and spraying work, just
in time to attend the Mini Cooper 50th anniversary celebrations at
the National Motor Museum.