Loyal Young UK Owner Sees His Mini Through Rust & a Rebuild

Owner: Jordan Koroknai

Age: 21

Location: Sompting, West Sussex, United Kingdom

Year, Make, and Model: 1986 Austin Mini Chelsea

Photographer: Jordan Koroknai

At the age of 21, Jordan Koroknai has already spent years loving and working on this Austin Mini Chelsea. He was given the Mini for his 13th birthday by his grandfather who owned a body shop at the time. It began as a fun, little project projected to last a few years, but it turned into more than that; at a young age, Jordan became very fond of the car and hasn’t been able to let it go.

Until he was 17 and able to drive the Mini, he was content to work on the car; he had a respray and a few other shiny parts added. When at last he could legally drive, he drove it constantly for next four years until some rust became noticeable and the paint started peeling. Jordan decided to take it off the road and added a new front end, rear valance, doors, hood, and even another trunk lid, because all of these parts were too far gone to the point that rust holes bigger than his fist were evident under the doors.

Jordan then spent every day of his summer break from university (where he studies car design) in his dad’s workshop sanding and filling the car at until it was ready for the painters. Five months later, after coming down from university on the weekends to work on the car, it is finally complete and has far exceeded Jordan’s expectations.

He loves driving his little Mini in the English countryside, where he enjoys guessing the correct gear for the very hilly roads. He also frequently drives along the coast on his trips out to Brighton, where the Mini is a real head-turner with the tourists, and where he hopes to take part in London to Brighton Veteran Car Run next year. One of his favorite things about the car is that it doesn’t have to be fast or low down with a big engine, yet it still turns heads and is a car he plans to keep forever.

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