Bangers & Cash Mini Cooper Restoration

[larrysimon]

Good grief ! How can you spend £ 69,000 and IMHO get a car so wrong, so many mistakes to numerous to mention.

I suppose the auction was the true verdict on this rebuild as it made £ 30,500 plus fees, perhaps that was a good price for the buyer but I could not believe a £ 39, 000 loss for the Bangers & Cash team is anything but terrible.

[Peter Laidler]

Was I seeing things...... were the open frontdoor handles from an early Mk1

[Old English White]

I didn't notice the door handles I must admit. Partly because I was looking at the more glaring omission of the missing stainless window surrounds
To me, that is one of those distinctive differences between a standard Mini and a Cooper model.

Having said that, there were many aspects of the restoration which seemed pretty well executed. Lots of small errors too though .....

[Andrew1967]

Can’t say I was overly impressed with the finished article.

Loads of inaccuracies, although many could be corrected to be fair, apart from the dry suspension conversion.

£28k on parts and materials !!!

[Polarsilver]

They seemed to be happy to take the LOSS.. suppose that Loss then gets listed on the Company Tax Return

[iain1967s]

Shame they didn't get the hydro re-hosed at https://hahsltd.co.uk

Just laziness slamming on a set of hi-lo's and donuts, when they could have gone the extra mile to do it properly.

[floormanager]

The front panel was wrong as we all know but from looking at it at Beaulieu, both doors were not flush with the bodywork, which shocked me.

[floormanager]

Was I seeing things...... were the open frontdoor handles from an early Mk1

No you were not. I noticed it at Beaulieu.

[mk1]

The price achieved was absolutely ridiculous for a car of that standard. B&C May have made a crushing loss, but the new buyer still had his pants pulled down. Just shows how gullible people can be once a car has appeared on the idiot box.

[floormanager]

I wonder who was the original restorer that started on the car but stopped due to ill health?

[Andrew1967]

They seemed to be happy to take the LOSS.. suppose that Loss then gets listed on the Company Tax Return

For someone as cynical as me, I didn't think of that Norman

['S'-type]

I've no idea what the budget is for TV programmes like this, but I imagine losses like this are almost incidental to the overall production costs. It's still probably relatively cheap programming. Since becoming mildly popular with the public in a crowded market segment they no doubt had their budget increased. Playing with corporate money leads to a fairly cavalier approach to the whole process. They almost seem to be trying to lose money for the sake of the audience hook - mild peril over the will they/won't they get their money back? Of course they won't.
The problem is, the mere appearance on TV can give a car a certain kudos despite all the faults. No doubt each time it is sold it will be billed as the B&C car, as seen on TV. Almost as seductive as tea stained old documents to potential suckers, but to be fair, at least more transparent.
Nothing in TV land is at it seems.

[mk1]

Having a few mates involved in programs like this, most people would be surprised how small the budgets usually are. Making niche progs for satellite channels like B&C is certainly not how it used to be back in the old days of the regional independent broadcasters & BBC (who were always comparatively tight). The production companies are invariably tiny outfits with 2 or 3 full-time employees, everyone else is employed on a contract basis. Yes, even with losses like they revel in making, it is still cheap programming, but take it from me, they WILL Have felt a £30,000 loss on the restoration But it will certainly help the end of year accounts!

[GraemeC]

Also, lets not forget it's television. There'll be lots of things that don't get told - like how much of the declared cost did MiniSport actually bill them, given the amount of advertising they got out of it.
They won't have lost as much as they claim, that's for sure.

[larrysimon]

Me being a regular Tight Ar*e, the thought of losing £ 39 k on a car ( A Mini) ! Brings tears to my eyes.

I take on board what everyone says about end of year balance sheet etc etc, but still professional pride must be bruised at the size of such a loss.

They cannot go into a restoration with that size safety net surely ? because it totally makes it a farce and a bit nonsensical ?

But what the hell do i know ?

[snoopy64]

I still struggle with the original cost.. trust me I know how expensive it is to restore a MK2 Cooper when you can’t do it yourself but that figure seems crazy!

Oh and they braided the rear loom to ‘keep it as original as possible’ well it’s an entertaining programme and a welcome distraction these days

[Peter Laidler]

I also got the impression that MS took over the job and made it THEIR restoration as opposed to what the B&C teams idea of a restoration was. Did it really need S brakes and alloys? I remember thinking, as I was watching '.....just watch the costs rocketing upwards....'

Mk2 Cooper...... Maybe the B&G team should have spoken to Snoopy or Daz before they embarked on the job. Talking of which, where are you Daz?

[GraemeC]

Did it really need S brakes and alloys?

Again - all part of the advertising that MiniSport got - the brakes and the loom making were quite a cute way of showcasing what they can do in house.

[hanlminiman]

Also, lets not forget it's television. There'll be lots of things that don't get told - like how much of the declared cost did MiniSport actually bill them, given the amount of advertising they got out of it.
They won't have lost as much as they claim, that's for sure.

Cost of TV programmes includes loss of equipment!
As an Italian Job fan since 1969, one of my cars was used filming in the early 2000s of a BBC pilot "What happened next?" It was based on what happened to the coach on the cliff - next! The location was a chalk quarry in Bedfordshire. Lots of driving involved (me, as the presenter couldn't cope with my Mini!).
a replica coach was set up on the edge of the cliff and very expensive video cameras were set up below the cliff.
We were all issued with ear protectors and told to put them on. Then we had to lip read the H&S instructions. We think the explosion was going to be LOUD.
Lights, cameras and ACTION.
BANG, the coach was launched with explosives and fell very quickly down the cliff and landed on top of the VERY EXPENSIVE video cameras below. OOPs.
Cliff (capital C)
ps Never did get paid, and spent HOURS cleaning all the chalk from the underside of the car. But I had a great time all day being an apprentice stunt driver. I don't think the pilot was ever produced.

[Sixty2B]

Was I seeing things...... were the open frontdoor handles from an early Mk1

YES!