About 12 years ago, Bob Sturges cut two feet from the middle of this 1975 Mini for sale on Hemmings.com. He started out by taking patterns created with the help of a scaffold and designed to keep as many of the original body dimensions as possible, then cut those 24 inches from behind the handbrake and in front of the rear bulkhead using a Dremel and a cutoff wheel (make that a lot of cutoff wheels). He then MID welded the front and rear sections together, reusing the original B pillar and notching out the doors for the rear wheelwell. Still powered by the original 1-liter four-cylinder engine, Bob said he’s used it for daily transportation just about every day since, save for the last few weeks. From his description:
Unique and Functional! Original Right Hand Drive! Chopped 24-inches into a 2-seater. You can park it “the other way”. Original headroom and legroom. Opera windows custom. This Mini MK3 has been impeccably maintained: no dings or dents, one small rust spot, undercoated. Running gear all good. Current inspection sticker. All lights working precisely except the dome light. Radio-CD added under the dash. No tears or cracks on the seats, and the headliner is like new. Brightwork all excellent. I listed it as Good because the car is perfect in all respects except one: it recently developed a no-spark problem, which has not been diagnosed. This accounts for the attractive price. It will need a little work, but it’s otherwise fully restored and not a “project” car needing other parts. I have used it for daily transportation for years, and it has always been garaged.
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