If you’ve got to a stage in life when dropping £100,000 plus on a Mini isn’t a problem, first… congratulations. Second, go have a word with David Brown Automotive, because it has something to sell you.
David Brown Automotive has been around a while now. Its first car, the Speedback GT is a modern take on classic sixties GTs (Astons, mostly), and is for people who love the look of the old school but hate having to fix classic cars all the time. The firm’s second motor is the Mini Remastered, a classic Mini with all the mod cons, and a ‘what do you want it to do?’ options list. With a de-seamed shell, lights that actually work, gentle steering assistance, air con, a touch screen Apple CarPlay/Android Auto equipped infotainment set up, perfect paint, a sumptuous interior, and a powertrain tuned to perfection it’s the ultimate Mini for people who want a taste of their first car but don’t necessarily want the work that goes with it. What was fun back in the day is a huge time suck in 2021. Like the Speedback GT it's built with utmost care and attention by hand. The leather perfect, panel gaps non existent, and just… wonderful.
David Brown Automotive (DBA from here on out) decided that the Remastered Mini, while wonderful, could be a little… more. Many who owned Minis way back used to tweak, fettle, and poke them until they were basically little race cars. Why not team up with legendary tuner Oselli and make DBA’s super luxe Mini a rorty little angerbox then?
Here, the Mini’s tiny A Series motor’s been bumped up to 1.5-liters, given a pair of SU carbs, a wider track, AP Racing brakes, a five-speed manual, and the shoutiest exhaust this side of a McDonald’s in the small hours of the morning after the night before. Power’s rated at 125hp with 113lb ft of torque. Enough, says DBA, to push the Oselli Edition’s 790kgs from 0-62 in 7.8 seconds, and top out at 100mph. For reference, the R52 MINI Cooper S (BMW’s first) did the same run in 7.4 seconds. There’s a lot of engine squeezed in to a small space, and it’s capable of much quickness.
With a natty grey (and immaculate) paintjob, it looks the part for sure. When it comes to driving… it likes to make noise. Lots and lots of noise. After pressing its starter button, forcing the tricky lever in to first, and rolling off, the car makes it known that its carburettors aren’t fans of the engine doing less than 3,000rpm. You’ll want to oblige them because it’s sounds incredible. Not in a showy pop bang supercar way, but in a pure, fun, ‘remember the old days’ way. As there’s no turbo assistance the power delivery is linear, but you need to throw out any notion of modern mechanical sympathy when you’re giving it some stick – though the engine sounds pained at 5,000rpm, it has more to give. And it enjoys giving it. Keep the hammer down and you’ll marvel as the needle winds round the speedo in a hail of noise. It feels as quick as the numbers suggest, too.
When it’s not making noise going quickly, the Oselli Edition squeals delightfully round corners. Its tiny 13-inch wheels enjoy rubbing their tyres on the wide arches, or squealing as they scrabble for grip. To get the best out of the car in the corners you’re advised to brake in to bends and keep weight over the nose so the front wheels can effectively use the power. Brake too early and turn in without setting the car up first and it’ll take a beat, shift its weight appropriately, and fire you around. Once its limited slip differential has worked itself out you’ll grip enough (with a fistful of squeal) to drag you around each corner. The general rule is ‘the rear will follow the front… eventually.’ Pedal response is cracking, though you need to be careful not to bury the unassisted brakes unless you want to lock up the fronts and become a passenger. Steering isn’t the most communicative, as its power assistance seems to mask what’s happening at the front of the car. This isn’t too much of an issue, as once you’re pointed the wheel where you want the car to go it’ll swing round once the Mini knows what’s up.
It’s a hugely playful car, one that moves around enough to make you feel like a 60’s rally hero, but not enough that you worry you’ll run out of road.
It’s a delight to hurl around on track, its relatively low speed and power work well with its set up, but on the road is where it’s at. You need to make pedestrian-annoying levels of noise to keep the motor happy, but it feels so much more alive when there’s tight scenery to blast through. You also notice people waving, taking pictures, and generally enjoying a slice of the 60’s blasting through their neighbourhood making noise.
And that’s where the Oselli Edtion, and the DBA Mini Remastered makes sense. It isn’t a serious car, and shouldn’t be viewed as one. It’s a car that exists because it’s what DBA’s customers want. Its wide track (though covered by glorious metal wheel arch extensions) is almost cartoonish, the (optional) roll cage looks cool but will likely never be put in a situation where it’ll be tested, and its dual fuel tanks mean you can have more fuel on board and make more noise for longer. It’s a work of pure fun. Ok, the LED headlamps, sat nav-enabling shark fin on the roof, and rear light treatment may not be to everyone’s taste, but this isn’t a car for everyone. It’s for a very specific group of people.
If you’re in the market for either a regular DBA Mini Remastered, or the one-of-sixty Oselli Edition, you’re unlikely to be troubled by its six-figure asking price, nor will you care that it doesn’t roam free of London’s ULEZ charge. You’ll want it because it’s the idealised version of the car you had, or wanted, back in the old days. It’ll make you happy every time you see it, and it’ll make others happy by noisy osmosis. It’s the Mini you imagine when you think of your perfect Mini.
Keyword: The David Brown Automotive Mini Remastered Oselli Edition is a perfect slice of an idealised past