Did you know, the Italian Job wasn’t the only time a Mini was involved with a heist? In 1994, to celebrate the anniversary of Paddy Hopkirk’s iconic win at the 1964 Monte Carlo rally, the Rover group chose to re-enter Paddy and other iconic drivers like Timo Makinen in that year's rally.

The entry was a collaboration between the Rover group, some of Britain’s finest engineers and the community that had poured love into these tiny terrors for decades. But drama struck just three days before the rally, when the car Timo was meant to drive, the car built in conjunction with Rover Japan and British Aerospace, was stolen.

A hastily built replacement was prepared just in time for the rally, and whilst the original was eventually found, stripped of its radical components. It would become just a footnote in the Mini’s everlasting story. This car was built with inspiration from those 1994 entrants, by the team at CCK Historics.

Starting life as a cookie-cutter Mini Sprite, it held little motorsport prowess. Likely owned as a run-around, it could never have been expected to be transformed in such a way. Finished in flame red with a contrasting white roof, door squares and bonnet stripes, it honours the motorsport Minis that have come before it.

Colour-coded arch extensions are a tasteful improvement over those original cars, as well as the boot-mounted reverse light to honour the original Mk1 rally cars of the 1960s. A thin-slat grill has been used to maximise airflow, and quick-release fasteners for ease of maintenance during stages.

The car comes with two interchangeable bonnets, one with a four-light pod for night stages and one without. There are three sets of wheels, for gravel stages, tarmac and road driving, each with appropriate tyres.

Inside you’ll find a colour-matched Safety Devices FIA-approved roll cage, OMP bucket seats, harnesses, fly-off handbrake and a deep-dish Mountney steering wheel. The original Mini sprite gauge binnacle remains but now houses a Racetech tachometer.

Under the bonnet, CCK have built a 1293cc engine to Group A standards. Utilising expert gas-flowing techniques, forged pistons, ARP hardware and a Walboro performance fuel pump to achieve 116bhp at the crank.

The Mini’s revolutionary space-saving design meant the gearbox was mounted underneath the engine, thus transferring the engine’s power to the gearbox required a set of drop gears. In this case, they’re straight-cut items, for minimal power loss and maximum strength, as is the main gearset inside the gearbox. The result is a close ratio gearset that is tough, reliable and provides that iconic Mini whine.

For stopping power, Mini Sport’s billet alloy four-piston brakes up front and lightweight alloy Minifin drums at the rear. Another weight saving is made by using KAD alloy radius arms, which are not only stronger but lighter than the original cast items. AVO dampers and adjustable suspension arms throughout allow for greater setups and better driveability.

The combination of skill and components is clear. This is an excellently put-together competition, Mini. Complete with its Motorsport UK passport, spares and equipment, it’s ready to enjoy on the road, in competition or at a local track event. The Mini community is, ironically, huge. Filled with welcoming faces and massive component support, with almost every component still manufactured.

As with all our vehicles, an entire digital folder is available upon request and contains more images, walk-around videos, and scans of the service history. The car can also be viewed by appointment at our West London showroom.

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