All that glitters is not necessarily gold (sometimes it doesn't even get close to tin) and shiney-ness is not next to godliness when it comes to buying a classic car. Take those rose-tinted spectacles off, and get a bit hard nosed about this bit of metal that may just end up causing you 1 or 2 bigger problems than it may appear on first look. Unless the provenance looks good of course......................

When my friend John Moss told me that the car I was thinking of buying was a Police Car,
(Mini -Icon Of A Generation page 73), I knew I had to have it, and that had nothing to do with re-sale value or anything crude like that. I  discovered that it was built on February 26th, 1968, my fathers 43rd birthday, and it was then that I decided  to restore it to original spec. Having introduced us to Minis in 1964 with a brand new red 850, AYF 616B, he would have been thrilled if he'd have been able to see it now.I was totally in the dark as to how to research the history of these cars; equipment and mechanics were surely different to those normal production models that had catapulted BMC to the top of the tree in the 60’s – until it was discovered that you could buy the Monte winning car specification from your normal BMC dealer, as the French were to find out when they tested one against a Works car of the time. The same was to be true of the Police vehicles – the mechanics were unmodified save for an alternator, but the bodyshell had various tell-tale hints that this was no ordinary Cooper S. Unlike the more romantic Works cars, the Police cars are virtually impossible to research due to the total lack of archivists, as all efforts to find such a section at Police stations drew a blank. For now though, I paid my money, drove it about 3 miles from Great Dunmow where I had purchased it, and it broke.

It’s not as if, unlike the Works enthusiasts, you can pick up the phone and ask for advice from somebody who happens to own one either; at the present count, the register knows of only four area cars that exist, (excluding Pandas). As a result, on getting the car back to my house, deciding on what was, could be, or definitely wasn’t, original, was going to be an interesting journey.

Putting the ‘originality’ question firmly on the back burner, I wanted the car to be mechanically overhauled so as to get some immediate enjoyment in the winter sunshine. I wasn’t to be disappointed (even though Shauns first comment was 'Have you got any comeback on this?')as Shaun and Andy at Sevenoaks Minis took apart the 1275 S engine and box and set about the rebuild. After dry storage of 20 years, and some more than dubious d.i.y attempts at restoration by the previous owner, the job was finished within a couple of months and hasn’t missed a beat since, and it is a testament to their outstanding knowledge of the marque that the car has been enjoyed by so many thousands of people over the last 3 years.

 On the drive in Essex, complete with a seized clutch, and different sized reverse rims. The typical 'iffy' sale - it was really shiny. And I was told it was OK to drive home -

 'but if it was me I'd probably tow it' said the owner.

I didn't take his advice; it got about 2 miles, then stopped.