It wasn't until the last decade of the Mini's long, long life that its manufacturer offered an official convertible version. Crayford, on the other hand, had rolled out their first convertible version before the car had reached its fifth birthday...
Once the public had taken the Mini to their hearts, it didn't take long for a whole new industry to emerge – the Mini converters.
Whether you wanted an open-top version, a luxurious interior or just wanted to make your Mini go faster, there was a company out there ready to make your dreams come true. The craze reached its zenith in the mid-1960s, fuelled by the endorsement of a string of A-list celebrities who seemed to be competing with each other to own the ultimate Mini.
On these pages, we take a look at some of the companies that specialised in making the Mini that bit more individual.
NB: Further pages covering conversions by Broadspeed, Daly Cars, Radford and Wood & Pickett will be added over the next few weeks.
Crayford
It wasn't until the last decade of the Mini's long, long life that its manufacturer offered an official convertible version. Crayford, on the other hand, had rolled out their first convertible version before the car had reached its fifth birthday... |
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Downton
Daniel Richmond's Wiltshire-based firm had a way of making Minis go faster. Ian Nicholls tells the story behind Downton Tuning's special arrangement with BMC. |
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Radford
Radford's Mini De Ville was the first high-spec Mini to be offered prêt-à-porter, and it soon won a high-profile following amongst the Sixties glitterati. |
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Minissima
The Minissima was futurist designer William Towns' vision of how the Mini should have looked by the end of the 1970s. Asopèe Simeli explains why that didn't happen, and how the design eventually reached the marketplace in a different rôle. |
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Paul Banham Conversions
Banham produce two Mini-based models: the Roadster and the Sprint. The former is a cool but fairly straightfoward attempt at turning the Mini into a speedster, while the latter (pictured here) perfectly encapsulates the style of the Austin-Healey 'Frogeye' Sprite. |
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