In this episode of Shiftaholics we are going to check out my friend’s modified 2004 Mini Cooper. As you will see in the video this is no ordinary Mini. This one just happened to fall into the hands of a car nut and a Mini cooper enthusiast that spared no expense on transforming this thing to the awesome machine that it is today.
I just want to apologies for the poor sound quality. I guess we forgot that the sun roof was open. All in all this is a fun little ride, we did not intend to give you the impression that this Mini is the ultimate drivers car however, it was built by a mini enthusiast and it was done right. The car was an absolute joy to drive. We had a blast taking it around some curvy roads and blasting around the city.
To understand the scale of this Mini Cooper project and the passion with which it was brought back to life you must first get to know the man behind the vision. The man that has spent countless knuckle-busting hours slaving over the car to make it what it is today.
The owner of this car is Arman Simonyan who is a local auto body shop owner that I have known for years. His meticulous attention to details and what some may describe as obsessive need for perfection has made his automotive creations into stunning show pieces. As an accomplished Armenian painter, mechanic and body man Arman applies his God given skills to each and every car that he restores and brings back to life. His amazing custom car builds and restoration projects are a testament to his tenacious spirit and an unquenchable appetite for quality and precision.
The story of the Mini Cooper really started with a joint venture project between Arman and myself. Granted this was a few years ago, I can still remember shaking hands and drinking a few beers as we celebrated what would become a new and exciting business. Withholding all of the minute and boring details, the idea was simple. I would use my existing car dealer license to purchase used vehicles from dealer auctions and he would service them and get them ready for sale and export to other countries.
It just happened to be that the first car we ever purchased together was what he now refers to as his “baby”, a naturally aspirated 2004 Mini Cooper. I remember it sitting on the auction floor amongst many other old and tired pre-owed vehicles. It had all the toll-tailed signs of a car put out to pasture, having outlived its practical usefulness, discarded and most likely replaced with something newer, faster and possibly even better.
With over 150 thousand miles a bad transmission and a slue of other momentous problems the car was not in any shape for the retail market. However, where I saw fault Arman saw potential and he urged me to bid on the car asking me to make a genuine attempt to buy it. I knew that at that time (a few years ago) similar mini cooper models were going for around $5000 at the auction but in its current state I gave it an evaluation of being worth no more then $2000 bucks.
As luck would have it the car sold for $2000 (not counting auctions fees, of course). As you might of already guessed the owner of this derelict old Mini was non other than my best friend Arman. He was very clear from the beginning that he wanted that car all to himself however, I was not sure if he really grasped how much money and work it would take to bring this car back from the afterlife.
Needless to say, Arman saw things very differently. Work began as soon as the car was towed back to the garage. He started with a complete teardown, removing everything but the interior. The car was literally scattered across the shop in a million pieces. I figured with his current volume of customer car jobs there was no way this car would ever be whole again.
Boy was I wrong. Every night around the time the shop would normally close for the day Arman would lock the shop doors and barricade himself inside. Having worked a full 8-hour shift fixing customer cars Arman would slave away for many more hours, dissembling, painting, repairing and modifying his beloved Mini. He would stop at nothing but absolute perfection. He had a clear vision of what he wanted the car to become and followed through with concise action.
You know the saying “If it’s not broken don’t fix it”. Well apparently Arman is not too familiar with that saying as he replaced parts of the car that did not require repair or replacement. Every time I would stop by his shop I would see countless boxes and crates of parts. It was almost hard to believe all of that stuff was meant for such a little car. Beyond mechanical repairs and changes he went ballistic with the paint job, chemically striping the car of its original paint and priming, sealing, undercoating and clearing the entire car on a rotisserie. He even went so far as to replacing and adding new sound dampening materials. He packed the car with countless upgrades, from a custom exhaust and larger brakes to subtly modified fenders and quarter panels.
Running the risk of repeating myself, I just want to again accentuate the monumental undertaking it was getting this car in the condition you see in the video. Arman literally left no bolt untouched. But don’t think for a second he is done with this car yet. He has a long to do list and one of those to do’s just happens to be a turbo upgrade.
I will post updates on this Mini Cooper project and try to give you some new and cool Mini Cooper vids as this project progresses. I only wish I could have properly documented the car for you in its originally purchased condition and throughout the entire built but unfortunately that ship has sailed.
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