Josh Smith:

When our young preservationist was aged 9, a family friend suggested that the two of them rebuild a Mini together.  Unfortunately that did not happen because of the friend’s illness, and so it was not until he had reached the age of 15 that a Mini was purchased for restoration.

Josh set about teaching himself the skills necessary to restore the car, particularly welding in a new floor and sills, subsequently painting the car, plus mechanical work on engine and brakes.

The restoration was recorded and broadcast on Facebook and Instagram, reaching almost 2000 followers.

When we received the nomination (which incidentally seemed to be endorsed by most of the population of Sleaford where Josh lives) we were rather surprised by the idea of a potential Young Preservationist being firstly quite so young and secondly quite so ambitious, so we asked an engineer and professional car restorer based not far from Sleaford to meet Josh, give us his opinion of Josh’s work, and to confirm that it was indeed all his own work.  The result was a very positive report, emphasising the self-taught nature of the skills involved in the restoration and praising the quality of the work given the limited resources and experience available.

Our final picture here shows the car at the MOT testing station after passing its test.  Bear in mind that Josh is not yet old enough to drive it!  Josh has been accepted for an electrical apprenticeship to start after he leaves school, which is a more secure line of work than car restoration, but he can always return to that in the future.  He has certainly made a very strong start.