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2005 Mini Cooper S
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The Project

This 2005 Mini Cooper S convertible arrived at Carrosserie HQ in August 2022 for a full refurb on the suspension, wheels, full repaint, headlights, sub frame replaced and a new hood.
1st September 2022: Prepped and ready for respray back to black. New hood to be fitted, engine needs new clutch and various other body work carried out, as well as wheels resprayed.
 
27th October 2022: Full body respray has been completed. New skin for the roof is ready to be installed. This roof skin was tough to track down and is the last one in Europe for this model.
 
1st December 2022: Finally the car was valeted, ready for the customer to collect. The car has had a full respray, new roof, wheels resprayed, seats cleaned up, along with an engine refresh.
Three years after the introduction of the hardtop version of the MINI came the Convertible, a vehicle that once again rocketed the Cowley-built but Munich-bankrolled car onto the must-haves list. Two versions were on offer from the outset; the entry-level 90bhp MINI One Convertible and the sporty 116bhp Cooper Convertible. A few months later, MINI surprised everybody by launching the supercharged 170bhp Cooper S drop top. Demand was strong, although, as with any model that is a fashion item, demand can drop off as quickly as it ramps up and with newer rivals now rivalling the MINI Convertible in terms of high street chic, now could be a good time to pick up a cut price used bargain.
 
The roof itself is a fully automatic fabric affair, MINI wisely choosing to reject the far more complex folding hard top fashion. Opting for this more complex engineering solution would not only have ruined the MINI’s shape but also severely impinged on its luggage space. As it stands, the MINI retains a characteristic profile with the roof in place yet looks appealingly cheeky with the hood down. Press a button once and the roof slides back by 40cm, creating a sunroof effect. Press it again and the hood retracts fully, folding down behind the rear seats. It’s not the neatest stowing arrangement but it only takes 15 seconds to get there and you’ll retain a healthy 120 litres of storage space in the boot.
2005 Mini Cooper | Classic Car Restoration | Carrosserie
Karen Innes
Friendly, helpful, extremely knowledgeable, patient enough to explain the processes and reasons for doing things and highlighted even more how approachable the team are. They tried to accommodate our needs and requests to get our beloved old riley back on the road as soon as possible despite the ups and downs that were thrown our way and into the teams path! We could not have wished to deal with a more personable company after encountering some other teams that really made a botch of stuff, seemed uncommitted and were not professional at all. Carrosserie as a team were totally the opposite . . would we recommend them ? ABSOLUTELY !!! We would not go anywhere else now, THANK YOU TO Steve, Neil, Graham and Nicola . . Oh and Karen who spilled the beans about the the birthday surprised to my partner (whose car it is ) . but made the experience all the more special when a bottle of wine was presented as well as a treat to Simon for his birthday AND made it all the more worth dealing with the team ! THANK YOU AGAIN !!!
Graeme Phillips
My car was the subject of some body and paint repairs here in Spring 2024, to address corrosion plus some substandard paintwork. An annual service was also carried out. There was good responsive communications, advice, and attention to detail throughout, to ensure a high quality, durable result, with the final paintwork being indistinguishable from factory finish, and easily better than any franchised dealership repairs. If you are invested in your classic car, want to make it last, with an exemplary finish to be proud of, then you need look no further.
Steve
I can't recommend Carrosserie highly enough, the service was exemplary from start to finish and the workmanship is second to none. I highly recommend giving the team a call for any work you need doing to your classic car, no matter what it is, you will not be disappointed!

4th August 2022

1st September 2022

27th October 2022

1st December 2022

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