Our story
Our shop started as a passion project between two friends in the small fishing village of Steveston; tinkering on vintage cars and motorcycles.
Years later, what emerged is our love of the classic mini and the unique ability it has of bringing joy to people of all walks of life.
Our mission is to extend the life of every mini that comes into our care and to cultivate the bond between the car and their owner.
our team
Philip Ogilvie
Co-owner, Technical Director
Philip grew up loving all things with wheels. He has owned and built dozens of cars in all different drivetrain layouts. When he ended up purchasing a 1975 1275cc mini, he found what he was looking for in a car.
1973 Alfa Giulia 2 door shorty on NA Miata chassis
Marco Lii
Co-owner, Creative Director
With 15 years in animation, Marco brings a perspective to SMCO that is all about simple shapes and communicating his weird point of view in a blink of an eye. The mini was always his first love as that was the car he started with over twenty years ago, which he still owns and experiment new concepts with to this day.
1989 Carbureted D16 powered centre seat mini
Adam Trinder
Owner and operator of AMT Machine Shop with decades of experience building the weird and the unique. His extensive knowledge and experience has helped us problem-solve our way through some of our toughest projects.
2022 GR Corolla
Krys Le
With extensive knowledge in the early days of EV manufacturing, architecture and where the good bakeries are in town, Krys is our lead mechanic and our shop barista.
1992 mini 1275
Jacob Champion
After graduating from UWE Bristol in 2024, he left his Cornish pasties behind to join us at SMCO as a CAD designer and engineer, already leading the charge on designing our latest RWD creation.
1991 mini 1275
our Partners
Ocean
Chikara Motorsports - Engine Specialist
With engine building and race prep training with Maruha motors in Japan, Ocean and K2 Motorsport is a treasure of the racing community in Vancouver. Phil first met their team 15 years ago when they worked together on completing his first Miata. Now, SMCO is proud to have them as our partner in engine building.
2001 E55 AMG
Billy
Paint and body Specialist
Having ran one of the biggest bodyshop in the city for over two decades, Billy has chosen to pare back and focus working only on cars he loves and on projects that challenges him. Fortunately for us, he is also a long time fan of the classic mini.
1976 mini 1275
Derek
Custom Creations - Interior Specialist
We first worked with Derek on a one off, highly conceptual mid-engined mini. Derek and his team has proven to be an invaluable asset in raising the bar for all of our mini builds that have passed through his hands.
2014 Cayman S