Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2020 i Mini Magazine

There was an obvious theme across the Minis featured this month - they were all built with performance in mind, whether for the track or the street. All of the owners we met were looking for more from their Minis, and it was fascinating to hear their different approaches and the methods they'd applied, just as it was great to see the finished Minis in the metal. There was also a not so obvious theme, and it was a pleasure to discover it. As Minis have always been the perfect candidate for a first car, they have also always made great parent/child projects. Over the years, I've lost count of the number of feature car owners who have got into Minis because of family connections, because they remembered helping out…

• The new MINI John Cooper Works GP, the fastest model ever produced in the 60 year history of the brand, will be offered in the UK at a price of £33,895. Built at MINI Plant Oxford in a limited edition number of 3,000 vehicles,the GP sets new standards for performance in the premium small car segment. It features a four-cylinder turbocharged engine delivering 306 bhp, individual chassis technology and aerodynamically optimized body features. Complete with the racing know-how of John Cooper Works, the new GP also recorded a lap time on the Nordschleife at the Nürburgring of less than eight minutes. The new MINI John Cooper Works GP made its world premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show in California, which was open to the public from 22 November…

The Mini racing season concluded at Brands Hatch on 9-10 November with the now traditional 0-Plate Trophy and with new champions in the revived Winter Challenge. The event was supported by Mini Spares. After making a brief debut at Brands a couple of seasons ago, Stuart Wright brought James Cuthbertson’s borrowed car home second in class on all three occasions, and in doing so secured the Miglia Novice award for his efforts. The battle among the Mini Se7ens was a lot more intense, National Champion Jeff Smith doubling his major trophy haul for the year with a trio of class wins too, and joining Peacock for the honour of carrying the coveted #0 in 2020. However, he was made to work hard by Dom Burger each time, but who unfortunately…

Wednesday 16th October saw us leave Oxford and head to Folkestone for our 3rd Italian Job. This was an extra long anniversary Italian Job, but before you get to Italy, there is plenty of adventure to be had en route. We decided to take the Service Van route - meaning that from the second we left the UK and until our return, we would have the reassurance of knowing that if we had a problem, big or small, the Service Van and its crew would not be very far away to come to our rescue. Of course, you do need your own European breakdown cover should the very worst happen, but for most classic Mini problems, the Service Crew will fix you and get you back on the road again.…

BIG DADDY Name: Lee Pegrum Car: Monster Mini Location: Oxted • Purchased in 1993, Sumini was re-born as a Monster Mini in 1999 ready for the Mini’s 40th Birthday and has been both on and off the road ever since. Sumini is based on a rare 1980 LJ80 Suzuki Jeep, with Suzuki SJ413 and Vitara running gear, topped off with a Limited Edition Mini 30 body. A lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into getting the car on the road, and the project is ongoing – as is the case with most classic cars! Weighing in at 920 kilos Sumini really is a Sumo compared to the Classic Mini weight of 580 kilos. At 5ft 7 inches Sumini’s impressive stance towers over a Mini roof height of 4ft…

Julian Harber's first car was a humble Austin A35, bought in 1966, when he was just sixteen-years-old. He spent a year rebuilding it. On those occasions he wasn't spannering on the A35, he busied himself working for his mother's catering business, washing dishes, peeling potatoes, laying tables etc. Soon, he had saved enough money to buy the very car he had wanted in the first place, but had been unable to afford: a Mini. "This was 1968, and it was a Tartan Red Mini 850 Deluxe," recalls Julian smiling. "I did a few road rallies in this car. A pal of mine was an engineering apprentice and we got lots of parts machined during night shifts! It eventually ended up with a 1275S engine, mated to the standard 'magic wand'…

For automotive use, carbon fibre was once the preserve of Formula One. Bringing benefits of its ultra low weight and massive strength, it’s a highly specialist material requiring specialist equipment to manipulate. And due to this, it wasn’t cheap. This is still true of composite products which contain a large proportion of the wonder material, and we regularly feature cars with carbon fibre panels, wheel arches, seats and trim panels manufactured by the leading names in the business. You don’t have to dig very deep to realise though that for many people the strength and low weight properties of carbon fibre products are nowhere near as important as the aesthetics – it just looks so good. If your budget doesn’t run to true carbon fibre panels, but you’re desperate for…

MINI SPARES BAULK RING £13.98 This baulk ring is to original Rover spec pre-2000 and is for classic Minis. It is CNC grooved and machined for accurate concentricity. The rings use the original type fixings and are heat treated. Mini Spares has worked from the original drawings to match the quality of the parts that Rover were producing pre-2000. • 01707 607700 • www.minispares.com BROWN & GEESON STEERING WHEEL HUB KITS £71.99 For BMW MINI R53/R56. B-G Hub Kits are produced in Italy from the finest cast aluminium materials and are dual drilled to be compatible with various steering wheels featuring either a 6 x 70mm PCD pattern (such as MOMO, Sparco, OMP, Simoni, Mountney M-Range) or a 6 x 74mm PCD pattern (such as Nardi, Personal, Raid). • 01268…

Since beginning his career as a race mechanic, Jordan Godsman has certainly climbed the ranks. Quickly too. Having spent three and a half years at club level racing, he moved to Team BMR in 2017, and went on to win the British Touring Car Championship title with Ashley Sutton. In 2018, he joined Hitech GP as Number 2 mechanic. He is now Number 1, currently looking after FIA Formula 3 Red Bull Junior Team member, Jüri Vips and travelling the globe in the process. PRACTICAL Of course, working in motorsport, especially at the higher echelons, means that Jordan is dealing with cutting edge technology. Technology that requires the very best of skills. Well, Jordan undoubtedly possesses such skills. Some he acquired whilst at college. The others however - the practical…

• In November, Mike Brewer returned to British Motor Heritage but this time he brought a TV crew with him. As part of a brand new Wheeler Dealers spin-off Mike Brewer’s Skill Shops, Mike filmed an episode on British Motor Heritage and the reproduction of Mini shells. Martin Davies of BMH enlisted the help of Tanya Field to round up some Minis and their owners to be part of the programme. A great day was had by all. Mike Brewer’s Skill Shops will look at specialists (mostly in the US) but with some focus on the UK.…

• The Revving Red Carpet have announced their expert panel to find the top 20 tuned cars of 2020. They are the Director of the Automotive Lifestyle brand SlammedUK, Jordan Clarke, Coventry based car meet ‘Dub Club’ organiser Ian Cook and Liberty Walk Director, James Pearman. The panel will judge categories including exterior, interior and mechanical quality as well as taking into account the owners individualism and technological expertise. The Performance & Tuning Car Show 2020 takes place at the NEC, Birmingham, on January 11 and 12, 2020. Tickets for the show are also valid for the Autosport International and the Live Action Arena. www.autosportinternational.com/tickets/…

When 1964 Monte Carlo Rally winner Paddy Hopkirk agreed to loan his Mini Cooper S 6 EMO to Steve Entwistle for the RAC Rally of the Tests, he did it on one condition. “They’d better win!” And after finishing third and second of previous Tests, Steve and navigator Mark Appleton made it onto the top step of the podium with a superb victory on the 2019 event. They did it in fine style too, leading from start to finish in what was widely acknowledged as the toughest Rally of the Tests ever. After a champagne celebration at the Chester finish, Steve’s first thought was to ring his mentor. He said “I wanted to give Paddy the news firsthand, so interrupted him on his cruise to tell him. He seemed pretty…

There’s no denying that Karl Reynolds is a petrolhead. He’s owned more than his share of the fast and the exotic over the years, and had long fancied adding a Mini to his garage, but he’d never quite got round to it. That changed when he bought a ’92 saloon from a friend who was moaning his son had moved to London and not taken it with him. Karl reckons it was a bit of an impulse purchase, and just as many have found before him, sometimes buying the first one you look at is not the best idea. Standard Mini power was never going to keep him happy, so the Mini was treated to a carefully built 1293 with a supercharger bolted on for good measure. Joe Holloway –…

This Pickup in Lamborghini Super Fly Yellow is undeniably something special – and that’s before you even lift the bonnet or get behind the wheel! With its Specialist Components 1380cc K1100RS engine tuned to give 139bhp, it goes like the clappers. To get to this stage, three very passionate owners have made their mark on the car – taking it on a journey of evolution that has resulted in it being where it is now… happily in the hands of Mini enthusiast Richard Sharp who finished off the project. When Richard got hold of the Pickup, he could have stripped it back and started from scratch but instead he decided to take the build further and finish off what the original owner had started back in 2011, while adding his…

“I realised that these should have been soaked in penetrating fluid weeks earlier” It was the first time of many with the Downton. That point in a project where you think you’ve reached a significant milestone, and it’s all going to be downhill from there on. Then reality bites… After realizing that a complete strip down and repaint was the only sensible option, we’d got stuck in and quickly reduced the car to a rolling shell. Our old mate Gav Parish had agreed to help us out with the body prep and paint, but his idea of ready for paint – he’s done this professionally and has personally owned and built several show winning Minis – appeared to differ radically from ours. He came to have a look one afternoon…

Hands up who’s ever committed to something without knowing if they can manage it or not? Well back in September, I was the guilty party. Perhaps foolishly, I’d responded to a plea for a blue Mini to complete a red, white and blue trio for the E-Type Club’s Ultimate Italian Job Tour at the beginning of October (see page 69). Foolish because the only blue Mini I own, my 1994 Mini Sprite, had sat idle for the best part of three years. Since a trip to the International Mini Meeting in Belgium in 2016, the Sprite has taken a back seat as other projects got in the way. I’d also pinched a few bits, such as the rear speakers, alternator and starter motor, and hadn’t replaced them. Then came the…

In it’s 35th year, the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, with Discovery is the largest classic car show in the UK. It spans over three days, and with over 300 motoring clubs in attendance and boasting the UK’s largest indoor autojumble, it takes that long to get around all of the displays! It’s the perfect place to get hold of that elusive part or special tool, discover new products, catch up with fellow petrolheads and add a few extra inches to your dream cars list. This year’s theme of Top Trumps was a hit, with every stand stepping up to the challenge. With 71,000 visitors through the doors over the course of the weekend, it’s safe to say that it was a success! In a world where a future of…

1st January 2020 New Year’s Day Classic Gathering Everybody – whether you’re driving a classic or not – is welcome to the largest New Year’s Day Classic Gathering in the UK. With over 1,000 vehicles expected, live music and a winter barbeque and other additional food outlets, there will be something for everybody amongst the vast and diverse displays of classics all descending on Brooklands to kick start 2020 in style. www.brooklandsmuseum.com 11th-12th January The Performance & Tuning Car Show Taking place at the NEC, Birmingham. This unique event is for enthusiasts of high-end modification and tuning. Check out our news pages for details on how to enter your car for the Revving Red Carpet. Tickets for the Performance & Tuning Car Show 2020 are also valid for the Autosport…

When Arthur tells us that this café racer styled Mini is not only his first car, but he’s also completed the resto in four years… while finishing his degree in automotive and transport design at Coventry University… we’re more than a little impressed. For most of us our first car is simply a means of getting around until we can afford something more appealing. For Arthur Springthorpe it was his chance to finally get his hands on the Mini he’d been dreaming of all of his life – with room for some serious performance modifications. “I’ve always loved Minis, ever since I was a kid. I had photos of Minis on my bedroom wall growing up. I just love the look of them and I’ve always loved the motorsport heritage…

You’d be forgiven for thinking us Mini fans have the monopoly when it comes to celebrating The Italian Job, but as Jaguar E-Type owners will testify, the famous red, white and blue Coopers weren’t the only cars to star in the cult 1969 Michael Caine caper. So, in order to commemorate the film’s golden anniversary and the big cat’s short but memorable cameo, the Jaguar E-Type Club joined forces with Spanish tour operator Classics on the Road to create the Ultimate Italian Job Tour – an 11-day driving event centred on the film’s host city of Turin. So why are we telling you this? Well, you can’t run an ultimate tour without Minis getting involved somewhere along the line, and so it proved. Keen to provide a memorable experience for…

“If it’s a later twin-point injection, you’re in trouble as there’s no hole in the block for a dizzy” INJECTION TIME? Q I have bought a 1990 Mini Cooper in need of restoration. It has the 1275 with a single SU carburettor. Even though the engine appears to be in good condition, I was recently offered a second-hand engine taken from a fuel-injected 1.3 Cooper. It’s still in its front subframe with all the drive intact. I want to put the whole thing into my car and replace the fuel-injection unit with my inlet manifold and carb. Is this a worthwhile swap? Alex The earlier carb’d Coopers were essentially the MG Metro engine and so gave better performance than the later injected ones — which are little more than the…

I know I shouldn’t do it. It’s wrong on so many levels and I should have given it up years ago. But sometimes, I can’t help myself. Sometimes, I just can’t stop myself bodging things up. In my defence, it was late on a Saturday afternoon, and the car in question needed to be driven on Monday morning. Even if we could have found a Mini specialist still open, the chances of them being within driving distance and having the part on the shelf was slim. And it was only a temporary fix. I’d been helping a mate out with some work on a 1984 Mini. It’s a lovely car that has clearly been cossetted all its life, and it is exactly the kind of car that needs to be…

Not having pots of money made for an interesting season this year. Starting off with my once-in-a-lifetime chance to race at Goodwood. This was challenging in the run-up. First, we had to get FIA historic papers on the car which meant getting rid of the adjustable height struts in the suspension and trying to cut the standard ones down to get the ride height ok. I went through all the odd versions of rear strut I had (they have a different part number cast into them) and ended up lining them for a happy snap. In the death of it we couldn’t get the car to sit right in the time and left it on the adjustable struts but didn’t get told off for it, unlike some who got put…