I’m a 6ft 4 antiques expert – I’ve sold more than 50 Minis for a total of £700k, here’s my tips to make profit…

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 already making a big business out of the tiny British legend, having sold more than 50 examples for an estimated total of £700,000.

Making a big business from a small car: Phil Mires started trading Minis at the age of 26 during the pandemic. Here, he shares his tips on finding quality, desirable examples of the classic

Phil’s Mini venture started out during a Covid-hit 2021.

Then aged 26, he took his love for this favourite film, 1969 blockbuster, 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 a experience of trading in valuable old items – as well as developing an encyclopedic knowledge of which ones are worth more money than others. 

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 in 2000.

This includes his own 1994 John Cooper S conversion, with only one owner and 7,695 miles on the clock from new.

At the age of 29, Phil Mires might be one of the youngest classic car dealers you’ll come across. The car he specialises in is 36 years his senior, with the Mini first launching back in 1959

Having launched his first successful online antiques company at the age of 19, Phil already has a experience of trading in valuable old items – as well as developing an encyclopedic knowledge of which ones are worth more money than others

‘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 trades 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.’

Phil’s love of the small car is despite his contrastingly massive height. At 6ft4, he say he can still travel comfortably in the compact British classic Mini

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 marque

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.’

The Minis Phil says you should treasure if you have one: The Cooper Sport 500 was the final edition of the classic Mini, released in a strictly limited production run of 500 units. They’re not extremely desirable 

The special edition Mini Paul Smith is another Phil says are worth big money. Released in 1998 in a strictly limited production run of 1800 cars, only 300 were earmarked for the home market

What to look out for when trying to find the right Mini?

Phil sells Minis to customers around the world. As such, he global client list has a discerning tastes 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.’

Phil recently sold this 1996 Rover Mini ‘Cooper S Touring’. It was supplied to the publisher of MiniWorld magazine and became a special feature project. It was subsequently sent to John Cooper Garages in Worthing for the Cooper S Touring 85bhp conversion

The John Cooper LE 40 is another modern-era Mini Phil tries to source. Launched in 1999 with a production run of 300 units, it was a tribute to 40 years of the Mini and to mark the 40th anniversary of the Cooper F1 World Championship

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

The original Mini was the brainchild of Sir Alec Issigonis (pictured). The design 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

An early sketch of the Mini by its designer, Sir Alec Issigonis. The aim was to produce something light, compact in size but roomy inside for passengers

A longitudinal cross section of the 1959 Austin Seven Mini-Minor shows how Issigonis managed to squeeze the most interior space out of the compact dimensions

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 launch of the Mini Austin Seven in 1959

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. 

Sir Alec Issigonis with the new Austin Mini. He was commissioned to design the small car by BMC (British Motor Corporation) because of the fuel shortage caused by the 1959 Suez Crisis

The first of many: The new Austin 7 (Seven) being tested for stability at the Chobham, Surrey, proving ground skid-pan by designer Alec Issigonis

Alec Issigonis, creator of the British Motor Corporation Mini, driving the 1,000,000th Mini off the production line at the Austin factory at Longbridge, near Birmingham

The tiny dimensions made it incredibly easy to drive and park. It’s still remembered as one of the best-handing cars of all time

Left: Mr H. Kennerley, of Cheshire, winner of Daily Mail Mini car competition. Right: Mrs L. Reynold, of Offerton, Stockport, winner of Daily Mail Mini car competition

Mr Donald Dolan, of Kingstanding, Birmingham, being presented with the keys to a new Mini Minor, which he won in a Daily Mail competition, by Jean Morton, an ITV announcer

Denise Lilly in a Leyland Mini – a car won as a prize in competition at Ideal Home Exhibition, 1981

Michael Nesmith of pop group The Monkees, with wife Phyllis Nesmith and his new Mini motor car

From the archives: Austin-Rover Mini 25 committee give the special-edition Mini 25 the lift-off

Thirty years on: The Rover Group marked the third decade of the Mini with this celebratory picture

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.

The oldest remaining  Mini, the Austin Mini 1959 (left) pictured with a Mini 35 SE outside the Longbridge factory in 1994

Back view of a Mini Cooper S owned by Bruce Reynolds who masterminded The Great Train Robbery on 8 August 1963

Footballer Kevin Ball photographed with his first Mini at his Farnham home in the 1980s

Numerous variants of the classic Mini were produced, including the Clubman and Countryman estate. They all retained the diminutive characteristics… until BMW took over in the late nineties and began producing new versions in the early 2000s

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.

American actor Gene Barry – best remembered for his leading roles in the films The Atomic City (1952) and The War of The Worlds (1953) as well as his portrayal of the title characters in the TV series Bat Masterson and Burke’s Law – pictured sitting in a Mini

Former prima ballerina, Dame Margot Fonteyn, stage name of Margaret Evelyn de Arias, pictured with her Mini

Lord Frederick Windsor, 13-year-old son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, learning to drive a Mini on the Queen’s estate, Windsor

Prince Michael of Kent leaving Cambridge Theatre in his Mini years later

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).

The Mini has seen plenty in its 65 years. This shot shows a just-crashed Mini on the A6024 on the Derbyshire/Yorkshire border

The aftermath of a Mini left in reverse by the owner in a London roof-top car park. The vehicle went straight over the edge, landing 15 foot down on top of another car below in Old Street

An almost fully submerged Mini during torrential weather in 1983. This picture was taken in Morecambe

John Cooper (pictured) famously transformed the Mini into a competition car. Performance versions of the roadgoing Mini have carried his name for years

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.

Motorsport success was among the achievements of the Mini, though not for this driver pictured at Brands Hatch in 1965

Rally driver, Paddy Hopkirk taking Barbare Castle (Baroness Castle) for a spin in his Mini Cooper S rally car that famously took victory at the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally

Mr Bean, played by Rowan Atkinson, drove a Mini in the hilarious ’90s TV sitcom

A scene from the 1969 film, The Italian Job, starring Sir Michael Caine. The movie helped to cement the Mini’s global fanbase

Three original 1960’s Mini coopers, used by Paramount Pictures to promote the 1969 film The Italian Job

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. 

Left: The first Mini motor car by Austin. Registration 621 AOK is still being used for promotional purposes by BMW Mini today. Right: The same car featured at the British Design 1948-2012 exhibition at the V&A, London in 2012

Mini owners celebrating the 50th anniversary of the car drive through Crystal Palace Park at the start of the annual London To Brighton Mini Run on May 17, 2009 in London

Birmingham City Council covered this Mini in flowers as a focal point of the 2011 RHS Tatton Flower Show

The Mini for the next century: BMW’s not-so-Mini has been on sale since 2001 and is currently in its third generation

Certainly not Mini anymore: For some, the idea of a Mini being of this size (pictured, the latest Countryman) is not fitting of the name

In 2019, Mini arrange a meeting of every generation of Mini at Plant Oxford. It also marked the celebration of the 10 millionth model built (front, green). One car from every year of production from 1959 to 2019 features in this picture, including the very first – the 1959 Morris Mini-Minor (front, white)

The classic returns: British firm David Brown Automotive is currently creating bespoke, high-end, Mini Remastered models. They retail for around £75,000

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.

New unregistered Mini vehicles are parked at the BMW Mini car plant in Cowley, Oxford, on February 16, 2009

Production of the Mini Hatch at the Cowley factory near Oxford. BMW and the UK Government will invest £600million to transform it into an EV assembly site from 2030 onwards – which is when the brand says it will sell only electric cars

Mini dealers in the UK sold almost 33,400 examples of the three (pictured left) and five-door hatchbacks in 2023. The arrival of the new Cooper C and S petrols and Cooper E and SE (pictured right) EVs should keep it towards the steep end of the sales chart in 2024 and beyond 

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk