Mini restoration was a labour of love

I ONCE stumbled across a car I used to own. Sadly it was in a scrapyard and obviously had not enjoyed the loving attention from the subsequent owners that I had given it when it was in my care.

Like your previous home, you never quite lose the attachment you had to your old set of wheels. Who’s now parking it outside their home, where is that home, are they remembering to get the car serviced regularly and has that annoying rattle from the depths of the glovebox re-emerged?

It’s sad, I know, but I firmly believe that each and every car has its own character, personality and indeed soul, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who wonders what has happened to all the cars that have been so much part of my life in the past, seeing me through the ups and downs.

Actually, I know that I’m not alone. Dougie McColm from Stranraer missed the old family Mini in which he passed his test in the late 1980s. But unlike the rest of us, he found it again 17 years later and has restored it into a magnificent customised flying machine which has gleaned a host of awards and trophies.

The story begins in 1972, when Dougie’s grandfather bought the new Mini – with the plate JOS 107L – from his local dealer in Stranraer for just £270.

After a few years he passed it on to Dougie’s father and in time it ended up in the hands of Dougie’s brother. It was then handed to Dougie himself and, after throwing away his L-plates, he sold it for £1,800 when he needed the cash as a struggling 19-year-old student at Dundee University. It was gone but not forgotten.

Then, four years ago at his wedding, his best man had put together a slideshow. One of the pictures showed Dougie with his pride and joy. A guest recognised the car and knew it was lying abandoned in a Galloway farmyard so Dougie tracked it down to find it had been in an accident a few years earlier and had been left to rot. The owner was more than happy to get rid of it and be handed £1,500 for the privilege.

Since then, Dougie, who now works as a product manager with Vauxhall at Luton, has spent hundreds of hours along with two of his colleagues to transform the wreck into an award-winning specimen which has delighted enthusiasts at specialist shows around the country. He has spent a total of about £15,000 on the restoration and the Mini now looks splendid with a carbon-fibre interior and roof, and a gutsy 220bhp 2.0 litre 16 valve Vauxhall Astra GTE engine squeezed under the bonnet.

Of its countless awards, the one Dougie is most proud of is top prize among 2,000 Minis at a national enthusiasts’ event. The car is now worth around £50,000 and Dougie still has the original £270 receipt. He’s holding onto that – and his revived pride and joy.