Also in my garage: classic Minis and memorabilia

By Mario Laguna

| 2 Apr 2025

Classic & Sports Car – Also in my garage: classic Minis and memorabilia

“It is a disease,” admits Giuliette Wirtz, obsessive collector of all things Mini.

“I buy models not only because of their rarity or value, but also because I like the forms, the colours – or simply to remind me of the place or the occasion where I found them.

“Every one of my models, even the most ordinary and the cheapest, brings back a happy memory because I don’t use the internet to find them, so I can remember the shops or the people who sold them to me.”

Classic Mini fan Giuliette Wirtz has a big collection of memorabilia dedicated to the little classic car

Giuliette’s Mini collection now numbers a few hundred miniatures, but she also gathers period marketing brochures, parts catalogues, books and magazine features focusing on Alec Issigonis’ pint-sized marvel, along with workshop manuals, black-and-white press photographs, promotional items and almost anything with a Mini printed on it.

“I’d say the rarest models in my collection are the plastic toys made in Japan, which are hard to find in Europe,” continues Giuliette, “but I really wouldn’t be able to choose a favourite.

“The ‘unicorn’ for most Mini collectors appears to be a 1:43-scale Morris Mini-Minor Pop Art, number 349, which was briefly available only to Corgi Club members by mail-order.

“I think it’s totally crazy to pay £5000 for a model, even in pristine original condition – mine is far from perfect, but it was a lot cheaper than that.”

This collection of Mini cars and models also includes Innocenti items, such as this spare parts catalogue

Another miniature worthy of note is the 1:10-scale Mini Sport Rally car, NCK 453P, said to be the ultimate road-rallying Mini.

It was created by MAD to celebrate 50 years of Mini Sport, is one of only 20 made and was bought at auction.

“Perhaps one of the biggest in the collection, and for sure the heaviest,” says Giuliette.

Giuliette is mother to a son whom she hopes will carry on with the hobby, and is happily married to Jim, who is not only very supportive but also a huge Mini nut himself: the couple founded the Luxembourg Mighty Mini Frënn (friends) club in 1999.

The 1960 Morris Mini-Minor (left) and 1967 Innocenti Mini are Giuliette’s daily drivers

“I met Jim in 1987 when I was in a showroom buying a secondhand Mini – my first,” she recalls.

“It was a 1985 Innocenti in Mayfair spec, which I still drive today. The seller didn’t know all the details I was asking for, and Jim, who was only there browsing, was very helpful in answering my questions.”

At present the couple has amassed a huge, 21-strong collection of full-sized Minis, including a pair of genuine rally cars with impressive histories.

“Both are true gems for Mini aficionados,” explains Jim, “but delving into the history of our ex-Julien Vernaeve 1969 Cooper ‘S’ was thrilling because we hadn’t known about it when we bought the car at auction.”

“I buy models not only because of their rarity or value, but also because I like the forms, the colours – or simply to remind me of the place or the occasion where I found them”

In it, Vernaeve came first in class and 24th overall on the 1969 Tour de France.

Giuliette’s daily drivers are a highly original, right-hand-drive 1960 Morris Mini-Minor and an unrestored 1967 Innocenti Mini with 91,700km on the clock.

“Only 37bhp might not seem like much by modern standards, but it is enough for commuting, shopping, weekend fun runs and club meetings,” she smiles.

“A highlight in my Mini life was welcoming the late Paddy Hopkirk to our marque tribute at the LuxExpo event in March 2020.

“Paddy was such a charming, unpretentious gentleman and a captivating character.

“He became a hero when he won the Rallye Monte-Carlo in 1964, but to me his biggest achievement was the third in class and seventh overall he took on the Tour de France the previous year, behind two Ferrari 250GTOs, a 250GT SWB, two Jaguar E-types and an Alfa Romeo Giulia TI. In a Mini, of course.”

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