Bill's 1982 Mini HLE 1000 mk4 is the result of hundreds of hours of hard graft, all carried out by a spectacular chap who prior to acquiring the car had very little experience with working on cars. The car was an impulse purchase by Bill's son, Josh - He had been learning to drive in a Mini and thought it was the perfect idea to purchase a slightly dishevelled example that lived just a few houses away.
Unfortunately it became apparent that the car was actually in far worse shape than Josh could have imagined. This left the car in limbo for a short while before Bill decided to take the bull by the horns to get the car road-worthy. What started as a small project to get the car back on the road for his son has turned into a decade long journey in self improvement. Bill has learnt everything from scratch and in the process has created a real head-turner.
I don't think I've met a thriftier chap than Bill - absolutely nothing goes to waste! If there's a chance to save something, Bill will save it. In this world of trying to achieve sustainability, keeping these old girls on the road is really the greenest thing you can do. Thanks Bill!
If you've got a cool car/bike/plane you'd like to have filmed then drop me a message via - www.yeahdawgie.com/contact - I'm always on the look out for more cool car projects!
Gear Used:
Panasonic GH5
Panasonic Lumix G X Vario Zoom 12-35mm F/2.8
Assets from Envato Elements
Edited on Adobe Premiere Pro & Adobe After Effects
Zhuyin Weebill-S
Deity V-Mic D3 Pro
The Mark IV was introduced in 1976, though by this stage British Leyland was working on a new small car which was widely expected to replace the Mini before much longer. It had a front rubber-mounted subframe with single tower bolts and the rear frame had some larger bushings introduced, all intended to improve the car's mechanical refinement and to reduce noise levels. Twin column stalks for indicators and wipers were introduced, as were larger foot pedals. From 1977 onwards, the rear light clusters included reversing lights.
In July 1979 the lower end of the Mini range was altered. The basic Mini 850 (which had featured in various forms since the original launch 20 years before) was withdrawn. Its place was taken by two models at slightly lower and slightly higher price points. The new base model was the Mini City, with black-painted bumpers, an untrimmed lower facia rail, part-fabric seats and wing mirror and sun visor only on the driver's side, plus unique 'City' body graphics and boot badge. Above the City was the new 850 SDL (Super Deluxe), which had the same specification as the standard Mini 1000 but with the smaller engine.
For August 1979 the Mini's 20th anniversary was marked by the introduction of the first true limited-edition Mini, which was the Mini 1100 Special. This was a 5000-car run with the 1098cc engine, broadly to the specification already in production for the European market as a standard model with the same name. However this was the first time a UK-market 'round-nose' (i.e. non-Clubman) Mini had been available with the 1098cc engine, and the UK limited edition was also fitted with unique Exacton alloy wheels - the first time these were fitted to a factory-produced Mini - and plastic wheelarch extensions. Inside was the 1275GT's three-dial instrument cluster and a leather-rimmed wheel with a rectangular centre from the Innocenti Mini hatchback.
The 1100 Special and 850 City models were phased out by 1980, and during the same year the engine was upgraded to the improved A-Plus unit from the new Metro in 998cc form, which was now the only engine available in the Mini. This was then followed by a number of incremental developments.
In 1978, the Mini was one of the key cars made available to disabled motorists under the new Motability scheme.
Reports of the Mini's imminent demise surfaced again in 1980 with the launch of the Austin Mini-Metro (badging with the word "mini" in all lowercase). Faced with competition from a new wave of modern superminis like the Ford Fiesta, Renault 5, and Volkswagen Polo, the Mini was beginning to fall out of favour in many export markets, with the South African, Australian, and New Zealand markets all stopping production around this time. Buyers of small cars now wanted modern and practical designs, usually with a hatchback. The Metro was therefore in essence, the Mini mechanicals repackaged into a larger hatchback bodyshell.
26 ноя 2021
