My Passion With Sam Abbotts: Getting maximum joy from the restoration of a Mini classic

Sam Abbotts, an apprentice in the south machine shop of Sheffield Forgemasters, talks about his passion for restoring old Minis

I have been around cars from a young age. My dad has got an old MGB and I developed this love for British built cars – British Leyland, MG, Rovers, anything like that.

I bought my first Mini when I was 13. It was all I wanted when I was younger so I was determined to save up until I could buy one of my own.

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I got part-time jobs, helped out at my uncle’s garage in Rotherham, and saved every penny I earned until I could afford to buy one.

Whenever I had a spare minute I spent it at my uncle’s garage. I was there at weekends, after school and during the holidays.

I’d spend hours helping to fix the vehicles which not only helped me save up enough money to buy the car but it helped develop my knowledge about mechanics as well.

It wasn’t long before I started helping out at a specialist Mini garage and began to work on my own car.

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I spent hours and hours working on the Mini – I stripped it right back until there wasn’t much left and started to rebuild it again from scratch.

It took me a long time, a lot of effort, and a lot of money, but now the Mini is finished I use it as my everyday car.

I started taking driving lessons as soon as I turned 17 and passed my test last November.

The Mini is considered a British icon and I love the styling which is why I bought one.

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The first Mini was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1959 but different varieties have been made over the years and there were a number of redesigns on the original.

They still have a distinctive look that makes them stand out and I didn’t want to change that about mine.

I modified some parts but tried to keep it as close to a standard Mini as possible – I didn’t want to turn it into some kind of boy racer car.

The only downside to my hobby is the expense.

I have spent quite a lot of money on this car over the years, but I love it.

I’ve built it so it is exactly how I want it to be.

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It gets me to and from work and I love driving it – I drive it everywhere, so I definitely get my money’s worth.

I have just bought another one. It’s a Mini pick-up, so something a bit different, and there is a lot of work to be done on it but it’s what I enjoy so I’m looking forward to putting the hours in.

A few of my friends have similar hobbies, but they don’t understand why I spend all that money on old cars when you can buy new ones for less.

Those who aren’t interested always want lifts in it though, so they obviously don’t think it’s that bad.

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