Over 60 years after the success of the famous special series built in Great Britain by Radford and Wood & Pickett and Milan from the Pavesi bodywork, a truly exclusive and consequently expensive super-luxury mini cooper returns (it starts from 88 thousand euros).
The Mini WP CD was precisely devoted to the CD (Callum Design) initiative which belongs to the former head of the Jaguar Ian Callum style and the collaboration with the Motaclan Limited of Birmingham which owns the former spare parts division of the MG Rover and also of the Wood & Pickett brand, that is WP.
It is a concentrate of attention to detail, of craftsmanship but also of care in mechanical processing, a sort of restful that transplants in the characteristic look of the British icon and better today offers technology in terms of performance and quality of life on board.
The definition of ‘almost Restomod’ derives from the fact that most of the basic elements of the car comes from the catalog of the new spare parts of the Motaclan, such as the body of the Mini Sportspack MK5 (built from 1997 to 2001) and which is now sold as a assembled laminate and ‘naked’, that is, without doors and cokes, at about 15 thousand pounds.
This first specimen, commissioned by the British model and creative director David Gandy – also known in Italy for the advertisement of the scent of Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue – opens a series that CD will create at the request of the customer, with the possibility therefore to request paintings and internal compared to Gandy’s specimen.
Under the hood, deeply modified to bring the displacement from traditional 1275 cc to 1310 cc there is an engine in the Serie A. It has been equipped with a new head, electronic injection, a double tube exhaust and other technological improvements to be able to deliver 110 HP, a real jump compared to the original 63.
To cope with the changes, the gearbox (which remains manual) has been updated as well as the elements of the origin suspension of racing but calibrated for use on the road.
In the Mini WP CD there is also a set of brakes increased with 8.4 -inch grooved and ventilated discs.
The only detail that horrifies the ‘purists’ of the 60s and 1960s mini cooper are the 13 -inch alloy wheels with four -spoke design (Callum work) that have replaced the splendid original minilitis. with the same diameter of 13 inches.
CD also intervened on the external details, such as the increased passaruotes, the sportiest bumpers and the LED lights that I know – in order not to alter the original look of the Mini Cooper – in the classic circular headlights, in the ‘gems’ of the direction indicators and even in additional headlights. In the queue, however, a lighting moves stands out that combines the LED with a wider and more modern design than the classic mini.
Inside, an elegant dashboard with traditional design stands out (far from the round dials of the old mini) in which, however, the wooden finishes and the switches for the different functions (such as the wipers) refer to the mini margrave of Wood & Pickett of the 60s and 70s.
The only concession to modernity is a small touchscreen with Mirroring for Apple Carplay smartphones, which therefore also allows smartphone management, an unknown object in those years.
Recall that the historic British bodywork Wood & Pikett was founded by Bill Wood and Les Pickett in 1947 and immediately established himself for his conversions of Jaguar and Land Rover.
The pinnacle of success – testified by having the stars of the stars of the level of Mick Jagger and Elton John – arrived at the beginning of the 1960s with the boom of the mini and above all of the Cooper sports versions.
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Source: Ansa
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