Gareth Davies Cars

Here is Gareth’s first Mini in original factory colour had already been modified with SuperLite wheels, black vinyl roof, wood & pickett seats and dash board with a nicely tuned 1070 S engine. In the spring of 1987 in his second home garage near Reading he began a total ground up restoration.

POJ 121G was originally a 1969 Mk2 998 Morris Mini Cooper converted into a MK1 by changing the rear panel, bonnet and boot the bright work and painting it Island Blue to look like a 1967 MK1 “The Italian Job” film Mini. He purchased the car in Balsall Common in 1974 just over five years old to custom paint it a few times before his final plan to build the World’s first ‘Italian Job Minis’ in 1989. My first car (I'm Gareth) was the blue Mini POJ 121 G which I learnt to drive in, it was many different colours before I settled on Island Blue.

The late Ernie Dougmore who tuned engines for the B.M.C. works rally team rebuilt mine after it went bang due part to wear and tear and lack of maintenance. A hard lesson, who knows how to look after a car engine going on 18. The engine was the 970 Cooper S revving to over 7,000 and is the sweetest A series engine I know. It is the engine to go for, if you can still find one ?

Gareth's first mini POJ 121G back in 1975. Obsessed with design and colour Gareth prepard his mini for a total body colour change in the new special Ford colour Candy apple red metallic then hiring a compressor and gun custom painted the gold with the white pin stripping by brush at home in his fathers lean-to but this was to change again in 1976 to Butter Cup Yollow and new graphics.

 This is how I found the Red and White Minis from the first set I built, below are two pictures like the green and white mini I restored then sold the green one to eldest brother Daryl which was later painted red by my youngest brother David. I used every available re-manufactured panel on the red mini all work carried out at my parents in the bespoke Mini garage I converted in Balsall Common (was originally the same green) no heritage MK1 shells back in 1979, white Mini just needed new wings and a re-spray, POJ 121G need the same amount of work as the Red mini which I rebuilt in Reading to primer stage and had painted on a farm workshop in Maidenhead…

September 1989 Cranford Balsall Common first ever pictures of the three minis since filming

It was in spring 1987 when Gareth decided it was time to build all three Italian Job Minis having restored the green mini 10 years previously as pictured above in 1979 complete with mock up spotbar.

This was later owned by David in 1984 who had it re-painted Tartan Red so was off to a good start so provided the build funding as well as the total convertion of the Blue and White Mini's.

With Gareth living in Reading and no plans to move back to the midlands it was the following year after the Bafta rally in 1991 that David would set up a Business called 'Ménage Motorsport' sponsored by Mr. T. Davies making and selling The Italian Job Mini kits along side vehicle maintenance & restoration.

Gareth only had two weeks before the 30th Anniversary at Silverstone to turn the three cars into 'The Italian Job' Minis.

The Blue and Red minis were almost finished only requiring a weeks work to complete but the White mini had just come back from the paint shop as a bare shell not having time to do the body work ourselves.

The final two weeks were flat out, it was literately two weeks 24/7 to get the Job done.

Gareth had almost completed the ground up restoration of his Blue mini in his home garage Near Reading, much to the relief of his wife Allyson and neighbors as the welding and grinding had stopped

In the final two weeks leading up to the films Annivessary at Silverstone in 1989 Gareth left Reading (Mini POJ 121 on his trailer) to complete the build at his parents home in Balsall Common asking for help from his brothers and friends who we were still working on the cars as they were loaded onto trailers as there was no time to get MOT's

This was Gareth’s first Mini as it looked in 2005 which had been put back to the film mini Gareth re-built in 1989 as it was sold with a white roof and with the lights bar and sraps removed when sold in 1998

Concept design I didn't get round to completing...