Salute ’80s Bond with this Mini Remastered from David Brown Automotive

All you Bond fans are, we’re guessing, in some significant emotional turmoil given the delay of No Time to Die. Here’s a little treat for those who don’t mind some indulging in some shameless retro aesthetics: David Brown Automotive’s latest creation, a Mini Remastered whose livery takes inspiration from the Lotus Esprit Turbo in 1981’s For Your Eyes Only.

More specifically, this restomod Mini is tricked out after the fashion of the movie’s second Lotus Esprit Turbo (you know, the one that didn’t blow itself up.) And before you get excited about a retro-fabulous city scooter, there’s more to this Mini than meets the eye, including a six-digit price tag that means it’s reserved for the deeper-pocketed Bond fans.

Speaking of Bond and Britain, keep in mind that David Brown Automotive, while very British indeed, has no affiliation with Sir David Brown of Aston Martin fame. The latter left his legacy in Aston’s “DB” cars, owning and managing the company for nearly 30 years in the mid-20th century. (Before that, he built tractors.) The David Brown who loves fussing with Minis is still around today and has a passion for high-end restomod Minis. No relation.

Like other David Brown Automotive Mini creations (each is known as a “Mini Remastered”) this bespoke model started life as a regular ol’ Mini. Now, it wears a new shell from British Motor Works that various technicians have realigned and smoothed to top-notch build quality spec. Over a thousand hours of work go into each build, from body upgrades to performance to engine rebuild to paint and interior. For this particular Bond-inspired build, David Brown Automotive painted the refitted shell in Copper Glow, adding the completely inaccurate but very fabulous Turbo graphic in Sahara Gold and bolting on intricate, color-coordinating 13-inch alloys.

The Mini’s 1275-cc powerplant got some love, too. David Brown Automotive bumped up the little four-pot’s displacement to 1330 cc. It’s not the highest tune the company offers—a 1420-cc tune is available—and we’re not entirely sure of the 1330-cc engine’s output. Given that the 1420-cc block makes a little over 100 hp, we’d guess a few ticks below that.

Inside, you’ll enjoy your own “mini haven.” (Their words, not ours.) Upholsterers swathed most of the interior in white leather and Alcantara and other interior designers opened up a sunroof and spent quality time polishing American walnut for a glossy dash. Since this is a restomod, you’ll find convenient, very out-of-place technology: a seven-inch touchscreen compatible with your iPhone or Android, plus a range of Bluetooth functions. Naturally, there’s also a new speaker system.

Given the chance, I’d totally get this as a tongue-in-cheek city cruiser—so much for understated British motoring heritage. Ideally, this Mini Remastered would match a Bond-liveried Lotus Esprit with an actual turbo. What do you think? Does a $100K+ Mini just contradict the entire point of the original car? Let us know in the comments below.