Hi all, as you know I don't waste any time when making decisions. After MITP I caught myself looking at autotrader which meant one thing, the Clubman just wasn't doing it for me. Cant quite put my finger on it, I had great fun transforming that car in just a year from a bashed about, pov spec clubby into what you saw at MITP. I learnt a lot from doing it, it helped promote my youtube channel youtube.com./tweedbean but I just didnt have a connection with it. So having put the feelers out I sold the clubby as a whole within about 24 hours to Simon Radford who's already in the process of building a forged N14 to go into it so keep an eye out for that build as its going to be epic.
Replacement, I've spent a long time thinking about the new Supra, however the UK allocation for 2019 has already sold out and also I now work from home permanently and have another car as the family car. Therefore any car I own right now will not get many miles on it other than for the occasional weekend/evening blast with friends. Therefore getting a new Supra and not driving it seems an utter waste of money right now, maybe in a couple of years if I end up changing jobs to one with a commute etc. Therefore I decided to go back and get an F56, a car I have unfinished business with.
For those that saw my last one, I purchased it from James J, aka R99 on here a few years ago, it was one of the first Cooper S' out at the time and he pretty much did everything visual on the car. When I purchased it I then addressed the performance side working with companies such as Scorpion, Airtec and Manic, where they used my car to develop their parts that are now on sale today. It was a great car but for me it was always in the back of my head that someone else started that project and I was continuing it. I tried changing up the colour scheme etc but I still had that gremlin in my head. Therefore I ended up pulling the trigger and selling it on.
Come to this week I set out a spec list of what I wanted spec wise on my new F56, must haves included HK, XL Nav, LED headlights, antracite headlining, volcanic orange/white silver/moonwalk grey paint. This was a tough spec to find as HK was often missing but was a must for me. I settled yesterday on a Challenge 210 as I worked out these covered that entire spec list.
Well that was until I got a couple of photos of an F56 JCW that was currently with Millsy. This peaked my interest, then I saw the spec sheet, it pretty much has every option you can get on a JCW bar a sun roof and front sensor from what I can see, the list was huge. Then came the price, lower than any other JCW I had seen but this was due to the fact it was a CAT S. It had been fully repaired by the bodyshop/repair company approved by the local Mini/BMW dealership and put back on the road. I know Millsy wouldn't recommend a dud and after a little due diligence I decided to go take a look. So literally within 24 hours of saying goodbye to the clubby I purchased its replacement. I totally understand the concerns about buying a CAT S and the implications on insurance etc but I've ensured at all points the car is 100% as did Millsy. So what did I get:
2016 F56 Factory JCW in White Silver with 10k on the clock
Summary of factory spec:
Adaptive suspension
JCW cup spoke wheels
JCW steering hweel
JCW spoiler
Red roof and mirror caps
Reversing CAmera
Privacy Glass
Height adjustable passenger seat
Front Armrest
Storage package
Heated Recaro seats in alcantara/leather/fabric
Antracite Headliner
Interior Firework dash
Red colour line dash
Excitement pack
Driving mods
Rear parking sensors
Rain sensors
cruise control with brake function
Light package
LED headlights with extended scopes
REar fogs
XL Navigation
DAB
HK Audio
Heads up display
Mini Connected
Obviously being a JCW you get the JCW brakes, bodykit, JCW dial surrounds, factory engine upgrades like lower compression, different turbo etc resulting in 230bhp as standard
None Standard Elements
There are a couple of none standard elements, not mods but just painted parts. When it was being repaired the owner made a couple of colour choices I'm not 100% sure on but they are easily solved so bare with me when I post up photos.
Plans
I'm collecting the car later today, its currently with Millsys being serviced and having new front pads fitted, plenty of pictures to follow but here are a couple of teasers for now:
Roll on new car day by James Baker, on Flickr
Roll on new car day by James Baker, on Flickr
Replacement, I've spent a long time thinking about the new Supra, however the UK allocation for 2019 has already sold out and also I now work from home permanently and have another car as the family car. Therefore any car I own right now will not get many miles on it other than for the occasional weekend/evening blast with friends. Therefore getting a new Supra and not driving it seems an utter waste of money right now, maybe in a couple of years if I end up changing jobs to one with a commute etc. Therefore I decided to go back and get an F56, a car I have unfinished business with.
For those that saw my last one, I purchased it from James J, aka R99 on here a few years ago, it was one of the first Cooper S' out at the time and he pretty much did everything visual on the car. When I purchased it I then addressed the performance side working with companies such as Scorpion, Airtec and Manic, where they used my car to develop their parts that are now on sale today. It was a great car but for me it was always in the back of my head that someone else started that project and I was continuing it. I tried changing up the colour scheme etc but I still had that gremlin in my head. Therefore I ended up pulling the trigger and selling it on.
Come to this week I set out a spec list of what I wanted spec wise on my new F56, must haves included HK, XL Nav, LED headlights, antracite headlining, volcanic orange/white silver/moonwalk grey paint. This was a tough spec to find as HK was often missing but was a must for me. I settled yesterday on a Challenge 210 as I worked out these covered that entire spec list.
Well that was until I got a couple of photos of an F56 JCW that was currently with Millsy. This peaked my interest, then I saw the spec sheet, it pretty much has every option you can get on a JCW bar a sun roof and front sensor from what I can see, the list was huge. Then came the price, lower than any other JCW I had seen but this was due to the fact it was a CAT S. It had been fully repaired by the bodyshop/repair company approved by the local Mini/BMW dealership and put back on the road. I know Millsy wouldn't recommend a dud and after a little due diligence I decided to go take a look. So literally within 24 hours of saying goodbye to the clubby I purchased its replacement. I totally understand the concerns about buying a CAT S and the implications on insurance etc but I've ensured at all points the car is 100% as did Millsy. So what did I get:
2016 F56 Factory JCW in White Silver with 10k on the clock
Summary of factory spec:
Adaptive suspension
JCW cup spoke wheels
JCW steering hweel
JCW spoiler
Red roof and mirror caps
Reversing CAmera
Privacy Glass
Height adjustable passenger seat
Front Armrest
Storage package
Heated Recaro seats in alcantara/leather/fabric
Antracite Headliner
Interior Firework dash
Red colour line dash
Excitement pack
Driving mods
Rear parking sensors
Rain sensors
cruise control with brake function
Light package
LED headlights with extended scopes
REar fogs
XL Navigation
DAB
HK Audio
Heads up display
Mini Connected
Obviously being a JCW you get the JCW brakes, bodykit, JCW dial surrounds, factory engine upgrades like lower compression, different turbo etc resulting in 230bhp as standard
None Standard Elements
There are a couple of none standard elements, not mods but just painted parts. When it was being repaired the owner made a couple of colour choices I'm not 100% sure on but they are easily solved so bare with me when I post up photos.
- Fully colour coded arches - Not 100% sold on these, I'm going to wait until its lowered before I decide to change back to stock textured arches or not, one thing I do know is that it needs the pro lip kit front and rear as it looks a funny shape at the front, too rounded without them
- Gloss Black Belt Line - This has been done with tape and isnt the best. With time I need to decide if this chrome should actually be on show and not covered up, easily removed anyway
- Lipstick covered front grill - They decided to paint the chrome grills red for whatever reason, it just doesnt work for me so will be done in either body colour or black, plenty of photoshop images to follow, not going to rush into decisions
- Black front and rear light surrounds - Not sure if these are a factory item or if they have just been painted, either way, Panda eye look is not for me so these will go body colour
Plans
- Lots
- Seriously, I want to drive this car a lot so I can appreciate every little change I make, unlike my last two projects I am starting from a drivable base thats not high mileage or tatty
- It looks like its on stilts so coilovers will be done ASAP
- Already looking at exhausts/downpipes, I loved my old Remus/Decat combo
- It needs so of the JCW pro elements like front lips/corner pieces, same for the rear aswell as a pro diffuser, currently the look is too soft for my liking, it needs more aggression
I'm collecting the car later today, its currently with Millsys being serviced and having new front pads fitted, plenty of pictures to follow but here are a couple of teasers for now:
Roll on new car day by James Baker, on Flickr
Roll on new car day by James Baker, on Flickr