- Phil Mires, 29, from Ottershaw in Surrey started his classic car business in 2021
- He specialises in late-generation Minis, identifying the most desirable examples
- He’s sold 50 examples in three years for a total of £700k – here’s how
At the age of 29, Phil Mires might be one of the youngest classic car dealers you’ll come across.
And the motor of choice he’s been trading over the last three years was born 36 years before he was – the iconic Mini.
Despite being almost four decades its junior, it hasn’t stopped the 6ft 4 entrepreneur learning everything there is to know about the comparatively diminutive cars – including which are worth investing in.
In fact, he’s already making a big business out of the tiny British legend, having sold more than 50 examples for an estimated total of £700,000.
Phil’s Mini venture started out during a Covid-hit 2021.
Then aged 26, he took his love for sixties blockbuster movie, The Italian Job, and turned it into his next business venture.
Having launched his first successful online antiques company at the age of 19, Phil already has experience trading valuable old items – as well as developing an encyclopedic knowledge of which ones are worth more money than others.
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Phil, from Ottershaw in Surrey, says his new-found operation of selling desirable Minis under his company name Phil Mires Classic Cars is recognition of a ‘true ambition’.
He focuses primarily on limited edition, rare and highly sought-after examples from the latter generation of the car, which was eventually ceased production in 2000.
This includes his own 1994 John Cooper S conversion, which had only one owner and 7,695 miles on the clock from new when Phil acquired it.
‘Most of my buyers are collectors and enthusiasts, as well as people reminiscing about learning to drive in a classic Mini, or fondly remembering a Mini that a relative once owned,’ Phil explains.
And it seems there’s plenty of demand for the cars he specialises in.
‘I have an ever-increasing client waiting list for particular Minis.
‘Prospective buyers contact me with their desired specification – including model, colour, mileage – and budget, and I subsequently inform them when a Mini potentially suitable arrives in stock.’
‘The great thing about classic Minis is that parts are predominantly cheap and readily available,’ says Phil.
‘They can be straightforward to work on and maintain, and they take up about half the storage space of a modern-day car.
‘Thanks to their ingenious design and configuration, they are surprisingly spacious within. I should know, I’m 6ft 4.’
The Mini has always been a firm favourite among enthusiasts, many of them falling for its go-kart-like driving characteristics.
It’s ‘sprightly, agile and easy to park in tight spaces,’ Phil waxes lyrically.
And his love for the compact British car started from an early age.
‘I fondly remember my mum’s black Mini Mayfair, named ‘Matilda’, from when I was a young child. It was a shame when she sold it to buy a Metro, and my mum was deeply upset as Matilda was her first car and she’d developed a bond and created a sense of personality for the car,’ he said.
‘This is something that resonates among most Mini owners, who see their Minis as more than just cars,’ says Phil. ‘They are almost part of the family, like a faithful pet.
‘Both of my parents learnt to drive in classic Minis. My nan, who was in her 50s when she began driving, also learnt to drive in a classic Mini and owned one as her first car.’
What to look out for when trying to find the right Mini?
Phil sells Minis to customers around the world. As such, his global client list has discerning taste and only want the best, so he says he needs to be very selecting when sourcing and acquiring his stock.
And this can be painstaking.
‘I’d say that a good 90 per cent of the Minis I view aren’t up to scratch,’ he tells us.
‘Rust is, without doubt, the biggest issue when it comes to classic Minis.
‘The first thing my buyers do is check the car’s online MOT history record.
‘Any sign of corrosion and many prospective buyers are deterred straight away, regardless of how well the corrosion has been addressed.
‘Ultimately, there is far greater demand for examples in original, preserved condition rather than heavily restored.
‘But such Minis are few and far between, and that’s why genuine low-mileage, original examples are worth so much more.
‘The model of the Mini is also a major contributing factor. As with anything collectable, the rarer it is, the more desirable it is, so a greater price it will command.’
How to become a Mini collector and find the best cars
The main contributing factors when it comes to value are: desirability and rarity of the model, mileage, provenance and condition.
An original, preserved example is more appealing than a highly restored example, Phil says.
And its the newer cars that he has an especially keen interest in.
Various special limited edition – and now highly collectable – models were released towards the end of production, including the Mini Cooper Grand Prix, Mini Paul Smith, Mini John Cooper LE 40, Mini Cooper S Works and the Mini Cooper Sport 500.
The Mini Cooper Sport 500 was the final edition of classic Mini (the last 500 classic Minis ever built) and is probably the most universally desirable of all the special editions – mothballed examples on delivery miles can achieve over £50,000.
‘The Minis I sell now are typically priced from £12,000 to £30,000,’ he explained.
‘I predominantly stock Mk6 and Mk7 Minis with fuel injection as they are better equipped for modern day driving.
‘Fuel injection models (standard on Mini Coopers from circa 1992 up until the end of production in 2000) are smoother, more reliable and more efficient than their carburettored predecessors which have a manual choke.
‘What’s more, the multi-point injection engine, introduced in 1996, has a taller final-drive ratio and this makes driving at higher speeds and cruising on the motorway more relaxed.’
Step back in time with the Mini: The history of Britain’s most iconic car
On 26 August 1959, the original Mini was launched to the world.
Penned by Sir Alec Issigonis, it’s a design that broke the mould; tiny in dimensions but spacious enough for four passengers, it was aimed at the masses to provide affordable motoring at a time when the cost of driving had escalated for all.
It still lives on today – be it under the ownership of German giants BMW – in the shape of a not-so-dinky retro range that has seen the traditional three-door hatchback joined by a raft of variants, from the SUV Countryman to sporty Coupe and Roadster models.
While it might not be the same diminutive original that was built to a budget, its continuation does mean we can cast an eye back 65 years of almost unbroken production to mark what is, without doubt, Britain’s – and arguably the world’s – most iconic car.
The Mini was commissioned by BMC (British Motor Corporation) because of the fuel shortage caused by the 1959 Suez Crisis.
Petrol was rationed, prices soared and typically large British cars became instantly less desirable.
Elsewhere across Europe, ‘miniature’ model sales started to boom as buyers looked to downsize their vehicles and motoring costs.
Bubble cars in Germany – like the BMW Isetta and Messerschmitt KRs – became a big hit while Italians flocked to buy the Fiat 500 when it went on sale in 1957.
BMC president Sir Leonard Lord set out a design brief for the car maker to produce its own small-scale vehicle, which importantly needed to have box-like measurements, offer ample space and – in order to keep costs down – use an existing powerplant.
Issigonis, who had been drafted in for the project, sketched out a design that was a mere ten feet long, four foot seven and a half inches wide and became the epitome of ‘Tardis’ design.
That’s because despite the puny external dimensions, inside the original Mini was unfathomably roomy – which was all down to clever architecture.
With the tried and tested BMC A-Series four-cylinder, water-cooled engine turned through 90 degrees and mounted transversely, and the use of a monocoque instead of a traditional chassis – with the suspension and engine gearbox assemblies being carried on sub frames – it had freed up the majority of the cabin floorplan for passenger space.
BMC anticipated that orders would flood in and so, having previewed a production version of the vehicle to the press in April 1959, had already assembled 7,000 examples for the official launch four months later on August 26.
On its introduction it was offered under the Austin and Morris names – as the Seven and Mini-Minor respectively.
It wasn’t until a decade later that Mini became a marque of its own (though it went back to the Austin Mini name in 1980).
It was produced at Oxford until 1968 under the ownership of BMC before assembly was moved to Longbridge near Birmingham, where it continued to be built until October 2000 under the guise of British Leyland (1968-1986) and Rover Group (1986-2000).
In total, the classic-shape Mini went through seven different iterations and included the Traveller, Clubman, Countryman and Van variants – though all retained the same character, dimensional formula and legendary design.
Given how responsive it was to drive and the efforts of racing car designer John Cooper, motorsport accomplishments also came.
Most notable of them was the Mini Cooper S winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964 in the hands of the late Paddy Hopkirk.
The Mini repeated the feat in Monte Carlo again in 1965 (driven by Timo Mäkinen) and 1967 (Rauno Aaltonen) – and was controversially disqualified from the results after placing first to third in the 1966 event.
And there was, of course, the car’s memorable appearance alongside Sir Michael Caine in the 1969 hit caper film, ‘The Italian Job’ and its regular feature in ’90s TV sitcom ‘Mr Bean’ played by Rowan Atkinson, both of which helped to cement its stardom.
Between 1959 and 2000 – when the Rover Group was eventually broken up by BMW – more than 5.3million classic Minis were built.
Assembly returned to Oxford in 2001 following the takeover by the German auto giants, where it remains today.
In August 2019, Mini celebrated the production of the 10 millionth model, marked by a gathering of 60 vehicles at the Cowley factory – one for every year the car has been manufactured.
And the Mini Hatch is still very popular today.
In 2023, it was Britain’s seventh most-bought new car, with Mini dealers selling 33,385 examples.
While they no longer keep to the compact scale that made the classic so famous, it is at least fitting that Mini’s bold step into the next generation of passenger cars – electrification – will continue at Plant Oxford.
BMW and the UK Government will invest a combined £600million to transform the Cowley factory into an EV production site – a move described by both BMW and the Government as ‘a vote of confidence in Britain’ and one that will safeguard a national automotive icon.
The announcement in September 2023 said the move will secure 4,000 UK jobs and see the Oxford site become an electric-only production line from 2030.
Government sources have declined to set out the level of taxpayer support being offered to BMW, but did not dispute the previously reported figure of £75million.
While the question of whether Alec Issigonis – who died at the age of 81 in October 1988 – would have approved of BMW’s Mini of today will remain unknown, it’s testament to his design that many refuse to consider the latest examples as a continuation of the much loved and revered original.
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Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
