Meet the lightweight classic Mini with a 230bhp Honda VTEC heart

The incongruous concept of a luxurious, coachbuilt Mini Cooper hit the Swinging London scene in the early ‘60s, a few years after the original Mini did. On this episode of American Tuned, we turn up on the US side of the Puget Sound to check out a Canadian Mini restomod that recalls those heady times. Call this one North American Tuned.

From comic legend Peter Sellers’ Hooper-built 1963 Morris Mini - featured in the Pink Panther sequel A Shot in the Dark (although, the movie car was a replica) - to the “Mini De Ville” by Harold Radford & Co, one of which Sellers gifted to then-wife Britt Ekland, to Wood & Pickett’s leather-and-walnut-rich “Margrave” Mini favoured by Messrs Lennon and McCartney, coachbuilt Mini Coopers were a product of an intense pop-cultural moment.

Fast forward, oh, 60 years or so, and this Mini project takes the ethos of those originals and puts a 2020s backspin on it. Add a sports-car performance target and some ingenious interior flourishes inspired by minimalist furniture design, and you get the Type 10: a richly appointed, Vancouver, B.C.-born Mini which gets power from a thoroughly modern drivetrain.

A flipped-around 2.0-litre Honda K20 four-cylinder, plus a limited-slip differential and six-speed manual gearbox provides a relatively extraordinary 230bhp. With total mass in the 800kg range, the power-to-weight ratio of this Mini is closer to Porsche Cayman territory.  

The Type 10 project, born from a fertile collaboration of technical and design expertise, transcends the typical car modification. It’s the prototype of a repeatable formula that could cost upward of $200,000 per car if the project is fully realised. A princely sum for a run-of-the-mill Mini, to be sure, but considering the man hours required to achieve the Type 10’s level of interior detail and performance, double six figures doesn’t seem so far-fetched. If it was good enough for Inspector Clouseau…

Indeed, the Type 10 maintains the Mini's "Bulldog stance" and compact charm but injects it with contemporary flair and on-road vigour, a tribute to the Mini’s performance potential and place in popular culture. It exemplifies the mysteries of automotive alchemy - a perfect blend of historic charm and the possibilities of modern tech.