Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2016 i Mini Magazine

How many years have you spent restoring Minis? Most of us start out with a vision and boundless enthusiasm, but in some cases life stands in the way of swift progress and a project gets measured in years rather than months. Don't despair though, for this issue proves that there's light at the end of the tunnel. The build of Rick Jessop's amazing spaceframed cover car started out with a blaze of activity before stalling, but it's well and truly on track now almost a decade after it began. And we've got another example of this trend in Ashley Rice's cool custom City. Having started the rebuild at the age of 12 he found distractions easy to come by, but the finished result has surely been worth the nine-year wait.…

• Plant Oxford marked 15 years since the first new MINIs rolled off the production line with a special celebration on April 26. More than 2.5 million MINIs have been built in Oxford since 2001, with the three million milestone expected to be hit this year. The first generation MINI was voted ‘Car of the Year’ in 2001 by Auto Express, and nearly 40,000 MINIs examples were sold worldwide in that first year. By 2015 this number had risen to nearly 340,000, with more than 63,000 sold to customers in the UK – the highest since the brand’s launch. The first MINIs – which were registered with ‘Y’ prefix numberplates – are now considered by many enthusiasts to be modern classics, with the British Mini Club hosting a special display…

• One lucky Mini fan will get the chance to drive the Mini in the Park prize Mini away from the event on August 14, but don’t despair if you can’t make it to Santa Pod – there are plenty of other chances to buy a raffle ticket! As well as Mini in the Park, the car will appear at the National Mini Cooper Day at Beaulieu on June 12 and Mini World Live at Rockingham on July 10. You may have seen the car on the Mini Magazine stand at the London to Brighton Run, too. In addition, it will also appear at the Bromley Pageant of Motoring on June 5. Our publisher, Kelsey Media, has recently taken over the running of this multi-marque event, which takes place at…

• Wiltshire-based Moles Mini Club hosted its popular Moonraker Run on Sunday April 23. Open to all Minis classic and modern, this meticulously-planned charity drive continues to grow every year, both in terms of the number of cars taking part and the money it raises for charity. The start point was the Pheasant Inn in Chippenham, with 30 cars gathering for the 11am start. The convoy set off towards Warminster via some fantastic rural roads, passing the Westbury White Horse and taking in the highly underrated Wiltshire countryside. The car count swelled to 34 soon after, although an impromptu working party was needed to fit a replacement distributor to one car following a breakdown. Back on the move, the convoy navigated twisty country lanes set amongst beautiful countryside and passed…

With the opening championship rounds at Castle Combe abandoned due to a waterlogged circuit, the Mini 7 Racing Club’s 50th Anniversary season kicked off on the circuit where it all began half a century ago – Brands Hatch. A pair of races on the full Grand Prix track saw a mixed grid of both Se7ens and Miglias head into battle on April 17. An impressive 48 cars were out for qualifying, including Stockhatch champion Shayne Deegan, who took to the wheel of the famous Pete Baldwin Miglia having won the 50 Plate series at Snetterton last November. Impressively, Deegan took pole position for both Miglia races, with Max Hunter and Ashley Davies sharing the front row for both the Mini Se7en encounters. Each race would start with a 10 second…

There really is nothing in the Mini event calendar quite like the MkI Performance Action Day. For the third consecutive year, an incredible array of classic Minis and derivatives gathered at the Blyton Park Driving Centre in North Lincolnshire on April 31-May 1 for two days of unique retro-themed fun, both on and off the track. Helping this event to stand alone is its superb, relaxed atmosphere. You won’t find club stands or a concours competition, but you will find a host of great cars, top Mini personalities, track action and plenty of like-minded enthusiasts. It’s a real back-to-basics affair where Minis that would usually be deemed too precious are put through their paces, just as they were in the heyday. And because this event fills a void in terms…

May 28-30 Minis on the Prom Mini convoy beginning at B&Q Cardiff Gate at 9:30 on the Saturday, heading for Aberaeron on Wales’ west coast. The main event takes place on Aberaenon’s pretty harbour side on the Sunday, including a show and shine, charity raffle, club events and much more. For more info search Facebook for ‘Minis on the Prom’. minisontheprom@gmail.com May 29 Thistle Run The Mini Clan’s annual run will begin at the Falkirk Wheel and conclude in Anstruther. Funds raised for Cleft Lip and Palate Association and RNLI. www.miniclan.com May 29-30 Motorsport at the Palace Annual sprint racing event on the historic Crystal Palace circuit. www.motorsportatthepalace.co.uk June 3-6 24th Slovak Mini Meeting Annual three-day event, taking place in a beautiful mountain area in the north west of Slovakia.…

Name: Ray Cartwright Car: Clubman Estate Location: Lincolnshire • My very first car in 1969 was a light green Minivan and I’ve owned many more since, doing all my own repairs along the way. Following the death of my father in 2010, I wanted a project and soon got an urge to get another Mini. Friends suggested I go and see Colin Davis, who restores Minis locally. A full restoration of a saloon followed before I found this Clubman Estate. It had been off the road since 1989 and Colin described it as ‘marginal’. However, he managed to fully restore this one too, and by July 2014 it was in like-new condition. We went for Nightfire Red paint in place of the original yellow, I fitted out the boot with…

At first glance you’d never suspect anything. Sure, there’s a dirty great intercooler hanging out of the grille, plastic windows and slick tyres, but the perfect shiny paint, steel front end and even the proper narrow sills belie the true nature of Rick Jessop’s stunning Mini. It’s obviously a pretty serious bit of kit – a Clubman-fronted Miglia rival perhaps – but it’s only when you peer inside it becomes apparent that there’s a whole lot more to this striking creation than initially meets the eye. A lot more, but paradoxically a lot less, too. You won’t find the normal exposed floorpans, inner sills or rear bulkhead you’d normally expect to see in a stripped-out Mini, but a beautiful web of intricate metal tubes and aluminium panelling in their place…

MINI MODEL £9.99 If HM Queen Elizabeth II’s recent 90th birthday has got you feeling all patriotic, Corgi (the model company, not one of the royal dogs) has recently launched a commemorative model to celebrate the occasion. The 1:36-scale die cast features replica 10-inch Minilite alloys, a purple and gold colour scheme and a private reg plate. It’s a must-have for the Mini model collectors and carries part number CC82107. • 01843 233525 • www.corgi.co.uk DIGITAL SPEEDO £349.95 Fans of the original centre-clock speedo will be pleased to see that Smiths has completely redesigned the unit as a digital version. Drive input no longer comes from an awkward cable to the gearbox, but either a digital pick-up or GPS unit. The speedo comes as a sealed unit with LED lighting…

I've not had chance to do much on my Mighty Mini racer since my last update and its appearance at the Autosport Show in January. It's been dumped at the back of my unit as a non-runner for months, with no flywheel after an appointment at Slark Race Engineering to get the timing sorted out had to be cancelled. I had to miss the first round of the new season at Brands Hatch due to family commitments, but I had booked in to race at Cadwell Park in May, so I set aside a few days to get the last few bits sorted out in time. First up was the engine. Despite being a fully rebuilt unit, I and others had noticed it was burning some oil on the overrun…

The name ‘Crayford Mini Sprint’ will probably confuse many people from the outset. We’re more used to the Mini Sprint moniker being applied to the cut-down, low-slung specials pioneered by Neville Trickett and co, while Crayford is better known for the 57 Wolseley Hornets it converted for a Heinz promotion back in 1966. None of that should detract from the appeal of the Heil family’s beautiful 1963 example though, which is one of a mere 21 survivors known to the Crayford Convertible Car Club worldwide, and several of those are much later examples. Basking in the Devon sunshine, Sonia Heil’s Crayford looks every bit as hip and happening as it must have when it first entered an optimistic and exciting Britain back in the swinging ‘60s. And remarkably, it’s been…

• An iconic Mini Cooper S used by Newton Commercial for prototype products, catalogues, fitting instructions and website photos is being offered for sale. The founder of the Suffolk-based trim company, Richard Newton, purchased this car in 1979 and had it rebuilt into a brand new bodyshell in 1983. Mechanically, this car is original save for a conversion to dry suspension, with the engine rebuilt and fully balanced in 1982. The car was also recently repainted in the colours of the German Wooding Hamburg racing team that Richard managed in the early 1970s. The interior trim is obviously of Newton Commercial design, with replica reclining front seats. The car was well known on the show calendar in Newton Commercial’s early years, but in Richard’s words it now “needs driving and…

• There was plenty of anticipation ahead of the annual Pride of Longbridge event this year, especially with it marking a decade since the sad collapse of MG Rover. Keen to mark this occasion and pay tribute to all the cars made at the Longbridge plant, a bumper turn-out of cars was expected at Cofton Park on April 16. Sadly, the weather threw a major spanner in the works early on Saturday morning, resulting in Cofton Park being ruled out as the venue. However, with so many cars already en route it swiftly relocated itself to other locations, including the Coventry Transport Museum, the Marks and Spencer car park in Longbridge and Lowhill Lane outside the plant, while the annual Cowley Convoy went ahead as planned, albeit with a last…

• The future is looking bright for West Country Minis following a recent revival by its original members. As well as staging regular meetings the club is always looking for interesting events to go to, with the recent Breakfast Club meeting at the Haynes Motor Museum on May 1 one such opportunity. The Breakfast Club meets offer a great chance for like-minded petrolheads to gather for an early morning chat. The run down to Sparkford is also a nice drive in itself, so members started from two points in the east and west of the region before converging at the Bath and West Showground near Shepton Mallet. On arrival, the club members parked up alongside fellow Mini owners and a wide range of cars including Bentleys, American exotica, Ferraris, and…

With thousands of Mini fans booked into the Belgian International Mini Meeting the following weekend, we weren’t expecting huge crowds at the British Mini Day, but unseasonably great weather attracted an impressive gathering. Really we shouldn’t have been surprised – the British Mini Club certainly knows how to put on a show, with plenty of traders, club stands and the very best concours Minis around. The show is held in the scenic grounds of a stately home, so once shopped-out, Mini fans grabbed a 99 and sat in the sun by the lake. It was a very pleasant way to spend a sunny Sunday in the Midlands! The special display this year celebrated the recent 15th birthday of the MINI with a range of first generation cars lined up around…

Name: Richard Bryant Model: MkI Cooper S Location: Sydney, Australia • Here’s some pics of my cherished 1968 MkI Morris Cooper S, which has all matching numbers and the original 1275cc engine. I’ve owned it since 2001 and have kept it in tip-top condition since it was fully restored in 1998. I’m told it was originally a New South Wales Police car in its former life, although I’ve no photos of it before it went to the current Island Blue and white paint job. Along with the car I also have two sets of original Contessa alloys and the original steels if I ever need to go right back to standard. The climate might be kinder to Minis here in Australia but these MkI Cooper Ss are still a rare…

PROJECT PROFILE THE OWNER NAME: Andrew Horne AGE: 27 OCCUPATION: Building surveyor LOCATION: Hartlepool THE CAR: CAR: 1970 Mini 1000 START CONDITION: Modified and melted CONDITION NOW: 90 per cent complete TIME TAKEN SO FAR: Nine years ESTIMATED TIME OF COMPLETION: July 2016 Don’t let the plasticky feel of Carbon-fibre fool you – the woven graphite inside the resin makes the stuff as electrically conductive as metal. Obviously that’s no real issue to go-faster car builders, who love the lightweight yet strong material, but it can catch a few people off guard every now and then. Unfortunately that includes Andrew Horne, who was happily relaxing at home, blissfully unaware of the shorted-out wiring under the bonnet of his project Mini and the inevitable fire that followed. Thankfully a neighbour alerted…

Readers of a certain age will likely have mourned the passing of Peter O’Toole, who exited stage left for the final time in December 2013 at the age of 81. Acutely-handsome, charismatic, hard-drinking, fast-living and hell-raising, but above all a consummate actor, O’Toole found stardom in the ‘60s thanks to playing the lead role in David Lean’s ‘62 cinematic epic, Lawrence of Arabia. And it was during this hedonistic and hugely-transforming decade that he bought a Morris Mini Cooper S, registration GOY 758D, from BMC dealer Stewart & Arden on North London’s Finchley Road. Despite the Mini’s trendy appeal for ‘60s hipsters, this wasn’t some random choice borne out of mere affectation. O’Toole didn’t just go for any Mini, he went for the Cooper S – the hottest of the…

We can never help but get drawn in by the cool gadgets and flashing lights of the digital dash displays and instruments at the shows. They can look perfect in a modified car, and can be especially handy if you’re building a non-A-Series Mini and need a higher rev range or more warning lamps. For a more original car, it’s tough to beat a Smiths centre clock speedo though, as fitted from ’59 right through to the mid-‘80s on certain models. Not only do they suit the Mini’s basic aesthetics, they also include an integral fuel gauge and all the essential dash warning lights. It truly keeps things simple. Caerbont Automotive Instruments, the manufacturer of Smiths instruments, has recently launched a new digital version of the classic centre clock, and…

Without any specific deadlines to meet on the grey Mini and a selection of half-finished awkward jobs staring back at me, I’d run out of enthusiasm. At which point both my housemates handed in their notices, I was faced with being turfed-out with an incomplete car in the garage and boom, that’s a deadline if ever I needed one! So it’s been all hands to the deck once again. The jobs have been quite bitty, starting off by connecting up the fuel line from the modified Filter King pressure regulator to the new carbs. The neatest way I could see to do that was to buy a 12G292 fuel pipe from Mini Spares, an original fitment part to ‘60s Coopers, which splits the fuel line to feed both float chambers.…

This year’s Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, billed as the world’s toughest endurance rally for classic and vintage cars, will feature a Mini for the first time in the event’s history. The 1972 Austin Mini 1000 has been entered as a last minute replacement for Car 34 after Paul and Chris Hartfield’s pre-war Packard couldn’t be readied in time. Concerned for the Packard, Paul contacted Owen Turner from the Rover Centre, who he met on last year’s Sahara Challenge. Seeing how much work still needed to be done on the old American car, Owen advised against taking it on the gruelling 36-day, 8500-mile event that journeys through extremely difficult terrain. Needing a car in a hurry to meet the shipping deadline, the best option was to buy the Mini Owen…

• Mini enthusiast Jake Dennis has recently started up a new group called Mini Run UK, with the intention of organising Mini drives and outings. It’s not a club as such, but something for all Mini and MINI owners to get involved with. The group recently staged its first run with great success, with people travelling from many different parts of the country. More runs are planned, with the biggest set to take place at the end of July as the group embarks on a camping trip to the Elan Valley in Wales. For details, search for ‘Mini Run UK’ on Facebook.…

A record 20 Minis were entered as the latest round of the HRCR Mini Sport Mini Challenge took place as part of the Dixies Historic Challenge in Wales on May 1. Held on the military ranges just outside Sennybridge in the Brecon Beacons, the event consisted of 40-plus stage miles, with the 12 stages taken two at the time and a quick service in between. With the weather forecast promising rain, the 20 crews all managed to make it through scrutineering just before the heavens opened. The wind and rain made the stages extremely slippery, with the situation not helped by oil being dropped on one of the stages by a preceding car. Nevertheless, Clive King and Anton Bird had an excellent result in their Mini Sport-backed steed, becoming the…

A THREE-WAY CELEBRATION A date in the diary for every Mini and MINI enthusiast has to be Sunday June 12 and the Mini Cooper Register’s ever-popular National Mini Cooper day, which takes place at the Beaulieu Motor Museum in the heart of the New Forest. “The focus of this year’s 30th anniversary show will have three principle themes,” says event organiser, Tony Salter. “The first is a joint celebration of the modern MINI R50 models, namely the Cooper and Cooper S, as well as MINI One, since they will all have been in production for 15 years this summer. So, we will have a great selection of these models in a special display area to mark this milestone. “Then our second theme will be an appreciation of the commercial Mini…

Name: Mark Woods Car: 1992 Mini Cooper Location: Ipswich • My 1992 mainstream Mini Cooper was bought as a project, as the previous owner had stripped it out ready for the bodywork to be sorted. I replaced the front end and carried out repairs to the boot floor, inner and outer sills, and bulkhead. The shell wasn't too bad at all really. The front end was resprayed and I cleaned the rest up, although the engine wasn't so good. However, after an overhaul it now runs really well with a Stage 1 kit installed. The Monte Carlo alloys and Group 2 arches set it off a treat. Like any Mini, there's always more to do! Big thanks go to Simon at Wattisham Mini Club for use of his trailer and…

“I was still only 13 when I stripped it down to a bare shell on my mum’s driveway...” By their very nature, it’s not uncommon for Mini projects to take the best part of a decade to complete. Plans change, life gets in the way and things have to take a back seat sometimes. So when Ashley Rice told us that he’d finally finished his custom Mini build after nine long years, we weren’t particularly surprised. But when we discovered that he was just 21 years old, we took a bit more notice... Starting a project a couple of years before taking your driving test is nothing new, but Ashley wasn’t even a teenager when this one got started. Over the following years the build stalled a couple of times…

Continuing our series on the Mini 7 Racing Club’s 50th anniversary, this issue we’ve delved into the club’s fascinating image archive from 1970 through to 1975, a pivotal six years of entry-level motorsport before things took on a whole new square-fronted flavour. But more on that in the next instalment; for now here’s a look at the turn of the decade, one that brought about big hair, even bigger flares, the end of The Beatles and the rise of ABBA. Mini sales figures were at an all-time high, still riding the publicity wave of ‘60s rallying success and of course buoyed on by the return of a global fuel crisis, tempting new car buyers to go small and frugal once again. Meanwhile, the Mini Cooper had been phased-out in favour…

LONG-STROKE ENGINE Q I was shocked to read Keith’s recent reply to a reader in a previous issue regarding the build of a long-stroke engine, where he said they are rough at idle. Why would this be? Also, the P21521 piston is lower by 0.0587-inch compared to the P21253 type. Could it be good for the stroked crank? Balazs A There are some very pertinent laws of physics for why the longer-stroke cranks are rougher at idle than shorter-stroke cranks, but I am not going to get all technical here with a chapter or two on that. And I’d have to go and read up on it again as it is a very long time since I studied it in any depth. It is a feature of just about any…

Time to work on the Minis in my collection has been in preciously short supply in recent months. An overflowing order book at Calver ST, a new website under construction and issues with the day-to-day cars has kept me more than slightly entertained. Karin's Clio has required a chunk of work to get it through the MoT test this time around, amounting to half the price we paid for the car originally. One revelation did occur though; fitting a new engine mounting has stopped the 'hunting' feeling of the engine at idle! The downside was more hints from Karin about having a Mini as her daily driver. This means tackling the last lemon I bought – the £1000 'just needs an MoT test' purchase. Rewinding back to when I first…

With the hotter months fast approaching, my thoughts have turned to potential summer Mini adventures. Regular readers will know I'm partial to the odd roadtrip into the far reaches of Eastern Europe, and I'm hoping this year will be no exception. Now I could take the Sprite as I've done in previous years, but having owned it for 10 years now it's like a member of the family, and I'm always nervous that something might happen to it. That's why I've been building the red Mayfair up – something that's still tidy, but I'm a little less attached too. A good three or four days work should easily see it finished, too. So that's why the following makes no sense whatsoever. I'd been searching online to find a Mini for…