David Brown Mini Oselli Edition Revealed

Back in August 2019, I took a look at the David Brown Automotive 60th anniversary celebration of the Mini, but there wasn’t much information around at the time, apart from Brown’s lovely Mini Remastered which it had evolved from of course. Fast forward to the present and we now can show you the Mini Remastered Oselli Edition in all it’s glory.

Oselli of course, go back a long way with the racing Mini and all the way back themselves to when they were named in less glamorous fashion as Oxford Engine Services (OES). Oselli has specialised in tuning cars for racing – and specifically MG Rover/BMC automobiles – for a very long time, so a collaboration with Silverstone-based David Brown Automotive is bound to get a few eyes and ears twitching. Riding in the slipstream of those Mini 60th anniversary celebrations, the Mini Remastered Oselli Edition will be produced as a limited edition with just 60 units of the Oselli being produced as a further nod to the anniversary of the Mini.

The power will come from a BMC A-Series 4-cylinder unit tuned up by Oselli with the standard 1275cc increased to 1450cc capacity. With this and a strengthened crankshaft and free-flowing exhaust along with new pistons and camshaft, the engine will push out 123bhp and incorporate 113lb ft of torque. If that sounds just a little underwhelming for 2021, remember the rather dinky little car that it’s powering. The Mini Oselli Edition will reach 62mph in 7.8 seconds on its 13-inch alloys thanks to a 5-speed manual transmission, with the ride made more comfortable thanks to Bilstein damping. Brakes are courtesy of AP Racing, and a hand ported polished cylinder head completes the engine.

So far, this is the most powerful special edition of the Mini Remastered that DBA has produced, and the attractive colour scheme hints at the Mini’s historical race credentials. The dark grey base and contrasting rich Competition Red racing stripes are certainly a fine combination – but if you don’t agree, then you could opt to go for off-white as the base colour and change those stripes to either Racing Green or Royal Blue. The body itself is deseamed like a good old Cal Look Beetle and LED lighting and a restyled mesh front grille help to justify the price. Badging is of course all about 60 years of the Mini along with the rather nice DBA Union Jack logo badge.

Inside, as you might expect, we get the luxury feel of an Alcantara steering wheel and leather seats (and boot lining!) and aluminium pedals. The dashboard has been tweaked and features some rather nice classic style Smiths gauges.

David Brown also offers matching helmets and racing suits if you take your track days seriously, which is a nice touch. If you do find that too much of a temptation, then consider too the option of removing the rear seats during your order and replacing with a full racing roll cage and Sabelt bucket seats that will each come with a 4-point race harness.

We won’t see any of these lovely Mini Remastered Oselli Editions until some time in 2022, but if you want one then you should get in touch with David Brown Automotive now. Be prepared to stump up around £98,000 for the basic model, with the mentioned racing extras pushing the price up to at least £10,000 more.

Let us know what you think in the comments section below!

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