JLR Classic marketing and PR manager Alistair Sommerville’s dream Mini
MAN & MACHINE
MOST CAR OBSESSIONS are probably formed during childhood. Favourite Matchbox toys with eroded paint from over-playing, hero cars in film, computer games, or the cars we sat and rode in of our parents, family and friends. The models embedded in my deepest ‘want list’ come the theoretical lottery win have all been embossed on my psyche from a young age.
As the son of a motor trader, it was predictable that I’d grow up a car nut. From the age of four, Saturdays were spent with dad at work, dressed up in a shirt, tie and braces, pretending to work at one of the numerous franchised dealerships he looked after. Dealer staff even phoned through pretend enquiries for me to handle, and I vividly remember being excited to pick up the faux call for a Citroën AX ‘Splash’ special edition that was sitting on the showroom floor. Naturally, I ended up working in the industry, and today I sit in the impressive JLR Classic Works with colleagues taking calls from clients around the world for our collectable vehicles, restorations, experiences, parts and services.
Despite my dad representing a wide number of manufacturers throughout my childhood and bringing home an assortment of ‘nice’ cars from demo fleets, which included Range Rover Classics, Lotus Esprits and Dodge Vipers, the car that made the biggest impression was a humble Mini British Open Special. In the summer of 1993, dad came home in this little icon, fresh from the forecourt in British Racing Green with a beige tweed interior, topped off with an electric Webasto roof. I’ve been a Mini fan ever since.
I spent a lot of time in Rover dealerships in the 1990s and it’s this era of car that interests me most. I was lucky to attend both Mini 35 and Mini 40 celebrations at Silverstone, sitting with John Cooper and his son Mike at the latter, all the Japanese VIPs (most Minis throughout the decade were exported to Japan, where there was massive fandom)
