Maximum Mini: Tony's Jem: Restoration finished and up for sale

Thursday 11 November 2021

Tony's Jem: Restoration finished and up for sale

Reader Tony Fysh restored a Mk2 Mini Jem a few years ago and enjoyed the job so much, he decided to do another! Well, his second Jem had in fact been in his ownership for decades and was waiting for a restoration for quite a while. Tony did it in two years time and now that he's finished it, he's ready to take on the next job: an originally factory built Midas Gold Coupe! "Just another challenge", he told me. It means the freshly restored Jem has to go. Over to Tony:

"Hi Jeroen. My Mini Jem is now finished and due to many reasons I am going to put it up for sale. I am in my late 60s and if I am honest I prefer to build them than use them. I have owned the car for almost 30 years in which time it has followed me from home to home and always planned to keep it but the reality is I have too many projects and not enough time to enjoy them. I purchased it from a guy in the North East of England (Sunderland) who was preparing it for grass track racing, hence the bulkhead and dash removal. Interestingly the OMP bucket seats I purchased new from a chap in Newcastle and he told me that he tried to buy this very car way back in the late 1970s / early 1980s when it was still a complete running car. He even told me the reg number that he remembered. Apparently he used to drive past it parked outside the then owner's house every day on his way to work. It was obviously built very early on, when control and documentation was not really controlled as it is now. I did initially build the car with a lightweight beam and coil overs but the ride was far too hard. And despite a spring change I decided to replace it with an almost brand new subframe which improved the ride significantly. It is a very nice well built car which hopefully someone will appreciate and enjoy in the future."

"It has undergone a totally bare shell, nut and bolt restoration with hundreds of photos to follow its progress. I estimate between 90 and 95 percent of the car is brand new. Possibly only the shell, speedo and steering column are original. The car is tax and MOT exempt in the UK and is registered (historic) in my name as a 1961 Morris Mini. The registration number is 948 VTB, which I believe could be transferable. It has taken around two years (excluding Covid lockdown) to complete and is now ready to go. Cheers and very best regards. Tony."

I can only admire the man for his work and great enthusiasm to restore these cars! I have now placed an ad for the Jem, which you can find here on the Maximum Mini Marketplace.