The historic Crayford coachbuilding name has been revived with a new machine that strips a classic Mini back to its essentials for seaside use. The Crayford Mojito Mk2 removes the doors and rear side bodywork to create an open-sided beach car, and it is priced from £35,000 — roughly the cost of a well-equipped Volkswagen Golf.
The original Crayford company was known in the 1970s for converting Minis into convertibles and for putting soft tops on everything from Triumph TR7 estates to Mercedes-Benz CE Coupés. It also imported the eight-wheeled Argocat amphibious vehicle. The firm faded after its owner, David McMullan, retired in the 1980s. The name has now been brought back by Paul Osborn, a lifelong car dealer who previously ran the high-end retailer Chequered Flag International in Los Angeles. The McMullan family has lent its approval to the revival, a decision Osborn describes as evidence that a genuine connection remains.
The conversion process is deliberately straightforward. Crayford takes a classic Mini — ideally one not too badly corroded, because restoration is costly and Heritage shells are considered too expensive — and removes a door, the rear window and some of the bodywork beneath it. Three new panels are added: one where the door hinged, a taller sill structure and an angled rear panel. Osborn says none of the removed material was load-bearing. For EU use, a rope can be fitted across the gap, and while the car shown has lap seatbelts, buyers can opt for a bar behind the front seats that allows full inertia-reel belts.
Mechanical changes are kept to a minimum. Osborn says the aim is to keep the car as close to Mk1 character as possible. The engine receives a minor retune for low-end torque rather than outright power, and this example has front disc brakes. Inside, the seats are trimmed in material used on yachts, while Flexiteek, a company also based in Essex, supplies synthetic marine flooring. A sunroof is fitted, sourced from a supplier in an arid part of the United States that was initially alarmed to learn its canvas tops were heading to the UK, where they are not exactly watertight. In a car with no sides, a few drips are unlikely to matter.
The Mojito is explicitly modified to a price point. Osborn, a car seller rather than an idealist, describes the project as a basic version of what Porsche 911 modifier Singer does, while acknowledging that customers will not pay Singer prices for a Mini. He admits to cutting corners to keep conversion time short and costs practical. The car tested began life as a 1986 Austin Mini City E or Mayfair, which cost £3,447 or £4,075 at the time, and would today sell for £37,500. Prices start at £35,000, though it is possible to spend £50,000.
On the road, the Mojito remains unmistakably a Mini. At just over three metres long and probably under 1.5 metres wide even with its wheel arches, it feels incredibly compact by modern standards. The driving position is bent of knee, the steering wheel is held like a plate at a buffet, and there is no assistance for anything, making the car direct, interactive and precise. Weight is largely unchanged from the original 650kg or so. The ride is bouncy in its primary phase but rounds off edges deftly for such a light car. The four-speed gearbox is fun in a long-sticked way, and there is ample torque, or at least very little weight.
Owners are buying the car for second homes, beach houses or partners, and typically use it for only a few weeks a year. Crayford is making one a month for short, fun town journeys. The next step is to make the formula more accessible. Osborn says automatics are tricky because few Minis of this era were fitted with the optional £699 automatic gearbox, which was not very good anyway, and fewer drivers are used to a manual. He sees an electric conversion as inevitable, noting that most existing EV conversions cost £15,000 to £20,000 and that leaving an old car in a garage by the sea over winter does it no favours.