PLUMSTED — As an excavator's claw clenched the driver's seat of an Austin Mini Cooper that had been illegally imported last spring, the mangled body of the British-built vehicle swayed back and forth before dropping into a heap on the wet ground.

The claw then immediately went back to work, ripping apart what remained of the two-door car and adding the twisted pieces of metal to a pile filled with shopping carts, water heaters and car doors.

The car's destruction today on a snowy December afternoon marked the end of a journey that began in early May, when Leon Hayward, the assistant director of trade & cargo security at the U. S. Customs and Border Protection's New York Field Office said the Mini left England destined for the Newark seaport. Hayward said the Mini was likely manufactured in 2000 but the Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN, had been changed to disguise the car as a 1988 model in an effort to skirt federal safety and emission standards. Vehicles that are at least 25 years old are exempt from those standards.

"Since the vehicle's VIN was intentionally manipulated, destruction of the vehicle is our only recourse," Hayward said. "We do not take such action lightly."

The vehicle was seized and destroyed as part of "Operation Atlantic," a collaborative effort launched in March between the United States and the United Kingdom that has targeted illegally-imported Minis and Land Rover Defenders.

Brenda Smith, assistant commissioner of the Office of International Trade at U. S. Customs and Border Protection, said more than 500 imported vehicles have been targeted for examination through the partnership and nearly 100 vehicles were prevented from entering the country because they failed to meet U.S. safety standards.

A Land Rover Defender seized at a Baltimore port last year was destroyed at a Maryland salvage yard just a few months later. That vehicle was also illegally altered to make it appear older than it was, according to officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Hayward said a number of factors led to the conclusion that the Mini destroyed today was not from 1988, including that the VIN was for a right hand drive car but the Mini was a left hand drive vehicle. Also, he said, the engine was not built for a 1988 model and the dashboard had a light for the airbag system that would have not been found in the older model.

The classic Minis were built up until 2000. BMW Group, which now owns the Mini brand, introduced a new model to the United States in 2002.

When that new model was introduced, Don Racine, owner of Mini Mania in California, said that the desirability of the classic Minis exploded.

"The Mini stayed the same from '59 to the year 2000. The body design had changes but for somebody that wasn’t a car person, you can’t tell from one another," he said. "It’s still a Mini."

A Mini like the one ripped apart today often has a resale value in the United States of two to three times what it would have been sold for in the United Kingdom, according to Hayward. A Mini could be sold for up to $20,000 here, he said, adding that if that type of vehicle were sold for parts it could bring in up to $30,000.

Though Hayward said there is no evidence that the person who planned to buy the Mini was involved in manipulating the vehicle, that individual will not be reimbursed for the seized car.

"Buyer needs to beware and confident of their purchases before they let them come into the United States," Hayward said.

Ryan Price, who was operating the excavator that destroyed the Mini at his family's business — Price's Auto Recyclers — in New Egypt, said he had to make certain that "everything is demolished and you can't reuse any parts. So the transmission, motor, everything is crushed apart."

Price said the mangled pieces of the vehicle will be go with the rest of the pile to a shredder yard and then shipped overseas to be melted down and reused.

Gordon Roberts, deputy chief Inspector with the Association of Chief Police Officers Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, called the Mini "good, old British engineering."

"If that vehicle is legitimate and lawful, it would break my heart. But because I, as a a law enforcement professional, know that vehicle is not safe to be on the roads because the Vehicle Identification Number has been changed. It may have stolen parts on it. It's just something we have to accept," he said.

Still, he said, "I don't want to see it again because when I did see it being smashed it does make you think, 'what a beautiful car being smashed.'"

U.S. Customs destroys a seized Austin Mini 21 Gallery: U.S. Customs destroys a seized Austin Mini

Erin O'Neill may be reached at eoneill@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter NJ.com on Facebook.