Mini Clubman: Jacqui’s “baby” will never be sold

Home / Mini Clubman: Jacqui’s “baby” will never be sold

When Jacqui and Graham Flynn bought their then 10-year-old Mini Clubman in March 1986, it had a relatively low 32,621 miles on the clock.

But that now looks well-travelled, with the couple adding only a further 3,355 miles over the past 37 years – an average of just over 90 miles a year.

For many years, Jacqui used the Mini almost entirely for short runs to the local farm shop, dentist or doctors, while Graham got about in a company car.

Its longest journey was the 12-mile trip from their Norfolk home to Great Yarmouth, where Jacqui – who worked as assistant manager at Mothercare’s Norwich shop – was sent to help out at the store’s new seaside outlet.

The Mini has always been MoTd and serviced at Mike Page’s garage in the next village, where they got used to the odometer barely moving from year to year.

“Mike’s late wife, bless her, used to laugh and ask if it had done any miles this year,” says Graham. “There was one year when Jacqui had done about half a mile.”

These days, the car’s only real action is to be picked up by the garage for its annual MoT – even though it hasn’t needed one for some time.

Sadly, Jacqui, 79, can no longer drive after she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, while Graham doesn’t find getting in and out of the Mini easy, the legacy of a knee replacement 15 years ago.

But despite the car’s lack of use, the couple are adamant that it’s not for sale.

Jacqui finds it hard to speak for long but, when asked why, her answer says it all: “My baby.”

The Clubman is not the couple’s first Mini, Graham buying a 1961 Mini 850 in 1964, registration 10 LKL – “I wish I’d hung onto it!”

After they were married in 1966, the 850 served them for another three years when it was replaced by a Vauxhall VX4.

“We moved from Essex to Norfolk where I worked in boat construction, and the business was doing well so I decided to get a bigger car,” says Graham.

A series of articles on our Cult Classics site.

“Apparently the Mini caught fire not long after I sold it.”

The Vauxhall lasted a couple of years before Graham was seduced by another Mini 850 belonging to a colleague at the boatyard where he was working.

While he drove a company Morris Minor, Jacqui drove the Mini for years until it failed an MoT in early 1986.

“It was going to cost too much to put it through the MoT, so we sold it for about £100 to a friend of a colleague who was going to put it right,” says Graham. “I never knew if he did.

“Jacqui said she wouldn’t mind another Mini as a replacement, so I said I’d keep an eye out for one.”

By then, Graham had swapped boatbuilding for a career in agricultural produce, and he was on his way to see a farmer about his onions when he spotted a Mini Clubman for sale in a garage forecourt.

“Just by chance I saw this for sale, so I popped in and had a look and thought it would be ideal,” he says. “The next day, we had a run over there and she liked it, and gave it a road test.

“The poor salesman nearly soiled himself to be honest. She said ‘well, I’ve got to see how it goes’. And it goes like the clappers.

“She said ‘oh yeah, this is just what I want’.”

The Clubman was British Leyland’s attempt to restyle the Mini with a squarer front end protruding four inches further forward than the original car.

It was brought in to replace the Riley Elf and Wolseley Hornet, the two badge-engineered, upmarket versions of the Mini which came with a saloon-style boot.

As such, it was better equipped – and more expensive – than the ‘round-front’ Mini, although it shared the classic design’s 998cc, 38bhp engine, upgraded to the 1098cc unit used in the Allegro in 1975.

It’s this 45bhp engine that gives Jacqui’s ‘76 Mini, described on the logbook as ‘gold’, its extra zip.

Graham says Jacqui’s father gave her “a few bob” towards the £925 cost of the car.

“She didn’t have quite enough herself, and that’s another reason why she won’t part with it,” he adds, making one immediate alteration to the Mini.

81.5% of customers could get a cheaper quote over the phone

Protect your car with tailor-made classic car insurance, including agreed value cover and discounts for limited mileage and owners club discounts

“It had C41 crossply tyres, and to me they were a bloody danger, so the first thing we did was put new proper radials on.”

The garage told the couple that the previous owner, one of only two, had used the car for local running around, and would always wipe the car down before putting it away.

Apart from Jacqui’s local trips, and occasional longer journeys to Yarmouth or Wroxham, the Mini was little used.

“If we ever went on holiday to Devon or Cornwall, we’d take my company car, which had things like power steering,” he smiles. “The car’s never left Norfolk, and it’s never been far enough to let us down!”

Still clothed in its original paintwork, with only one or two minor spots of rust, Graham has made only a couple of alterations over the years.

“I got Jacqui a sporty little steering wheel for her birthday one year,” he says. “She says it made it easier to drive, but I have the original in the loft if someone in the future wants to put it back on.”

Screwed on black wheel arches and sill trim is the only external modification.

Under the bonnet, the A-series engine has needed a few replacement parts, and starts up first time when Graham moves the Mini a few yards for our photoshoot, and then drives it up and down the road.

It’s probably the furthest it’s been for years other than its annual trip to the garage.

“Jacqui has laid out some money over the years,” he says, “on a starter motor, water pump, a new radiator, tyres, battery, that sort of thing.

“I bought a battery in 2014, but because it doesn’t get used much I needed to buy another one a couple of weeks ago.

“When I went down to the garage back in the ‘80s for its MoT, they said ‘you do know Graham, that’s not undersealed, it’s oil sprayed’. He said that in 1976 they had a load of Minis that went to South Africa, where they didn’t need them undersealed, and this could be one that was supposed to go there but never did.

A series of articles on our Cult Classics site.

“So she’s been oil-sprayed when required, and she’s as good as gold underneath.”

In August 1997, when the new R-registration cars came out, the Mini enjoyed its 15 minutes of fame when it appeared in The Sun newspaper.

“They wanted people to send in pictures of their old R-reg cars, so I sent off a picture and they used it along with half a dozen other cars,” says Graham.

Despite its lack of appearances on the road, the Clubman still manages to attract admirers, and cash offers.

“About six or seven years ago, I was out the front doing something or other, with the garage door open, and this young fella came by and said ‘do you want to sell your Mini mister?’” says Graham.

“I said ‘no, not really mate’. He said ‘if you do, I’ll give you 10 grand for it’ and I thought ‘you haven’t got 10 bob let alone 10 grand’ but he said his mum would buy it for him.

“Then about a year ago the chap who comes round with the hoist and equipment that helps Jacqui said to me ‘if you ever want to sell that car Mr Flynn, give me first offering’. I’ve got his phone number somewhere.”

Family members have also tried to pry the Mini away from Graham and Jacqui.

“My niece’s husband, who judges classic Mercedes cars at shows, visited Norfolk in the autumn for a break, and he was looking at the car and he went ‘you don’t want to get rid of that Graham?’” he says. “Then my niece Debbie said ‘that might be ideal for investing in for my grand-daughter. I said ‘you can invest in what you like, it ain’t going’.

“It means too much to Jacqui; it’s like a kid in some ways. That’s her little baby.

“And she made a good point Jacqui to me that if you’ve got the money and you put it in the building society, with the interest you’ll get you’ll probably make more money on the car sitting in the garage.”

Indeed, had the couple invested the £925 purchase price in a building society in 1986, they would now have £5,860 based on a 5 per cent annual compound interest rate – and the car is valued at about £10,000.

“If it had been a Mini Cooper I’d be laughing,” says Graham.

“It’s a good little car and, if we ever did decide to get rid of it, I’d like to see it go to someone in a Mini Club or something, an enthusiast, someone who’d appreciate it and use it.

“But I can’t see us selling it – touch wood, we don’t need the money.”