Callum Designs' Latest Creation Is This £75k Mini Restomod

Life’s probably pretty good if you happen to be internationally successful model David Gandy. You’re rich, handsome, renowned around the world as a style icon, and now, to top it all off, you’ve got your very own bespoke Mini restomod created with input from one of the world’s greatest car designers.

This is the Wood and Pickett Mini by Callum, the very first example of which is this rather fetching brown one that’s been commissioned by noted car nut Gandy. Callum Designs, you’re probably familiar with – it’s the design house established a few years ago by ex-Jaguar design boss Ian Callum, responsible for things like the Vanquish 25 restomod and the Skye electric off-road buggy thing.

Wood and Pickett might need a bit more introduction if you’re not deeply entrenched in Mini circles. For pretty much as long as the original Mini has existed, it’s been supplying accessories and cooking up luxe coachbuilt versions of the little car.

The two companies have come together to create this restomod which, on the outside, gets a new bodykit all round, apparently designed to enhance aero and cooling as well as looks. New housings surround updated lighting front and rear, and it’s topped off with a set of Wood and Pickett’s classic arch extensions and a set of neat 13-inch four-spoke alloys.

On the inside, meanwhile, there’s a whole new dash design housing things like a small infotainment screen and – luxury of luxuries – cupholders. It gets new front seats, too, and the whole lot’s been retrimmed in sumptuous Bridge of Weir leather.

But really, you want to know what’s going on underneath, right? The transformation starts with a rebuilt 1.3-litre version of the A-Series four-pot engine complete with a new cylinder head and twin-point fuel injection. Breathing through a new twin-pipe exhaust system, it delivers 110bhp through a re-engineered gearbox, now a five-speed manual.

Meanwhile, there’s overhauled suspension, set up specially for road use, and uprated brakes with vented and grooved 8.4-inch discs. The NVH – that’s noise, vibration and harshness, if you’re not up to speed with your car industry initialisms – is said to be greatly improved from the original.

Perhaps the best bits? You don’t have to be an internationally successful model to own one of these, nor does it have to be brown. You just need a minimum of £75,000 for the conversion which, in the grand scheme of silly restomod prices, actually feels… quite reasonable?

You’ll need to be quick, though: the W&PMBC (as we’ll henceforth be calling it for the sake of our word count) is only going to be built in “a limited production run”, with each owner set to work closely with Callum to get their spec just right. We’ll have ours in blue, thanks. No, wait, green. No, wait…