Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2020 i Mini Magazine

By the time you read this, the British Mini Fair at Bingley Hall will have already happened. Yes, the 2020 show season is already under way, and despite last year being the big 60th Anniversary, all signs already point to it being another bumper year. As we all know, Mini people are without a doubt the friendliest bunch of classic car owners you're likely to meet. The Mini is the car that the general public are most likely to recognise, to have fond memories of and in most cases, would most like to own again. Take your Mini for a drive and guaranteed there will be at least one person who wants to chat and share their memories. Add in the fact that thanks to brilliant backup from Mini specialists…

The British Motor Museum is hosting a number of motoring related workshops. 'Is a Classic Car for you?' takes place on 4 April and is a hands-on, informative day aimed at those who wish to buy and own a classic car. The team will deliver guidance on the theory of car ownership and provide basic practical workshop based maintenance sessions. There will also be the opportunity to ride in a variety of classic cars. Cost is £95 per person, including lunch. ‘Living with a Classic’ Part One on 18 April and Part Two on 16 May offer classic car owners the opportunity to develop new skills, learn from the team and share stories with fellow owners. Designed to specifically encourage and assist owners of classic cars, this course, covering maintenance,…

• “Despite a third year of decline for the UK new car market, a combination of our younger product portfolio and stronger consumer demand for premium products saw the BMW Group achieve a ten per cent share of the UK market,” said Graeme Grieve, Chief Executive Officer of BMW Group UK. “Customer deliveries of the new all-electric MINI start in March and we already have a strong bank of advance orders for the Oxford-produced vehicle. By the end of 2020 we will have 16 electrified cars for our customers to choose from.”…

Autosport International is one of the key events in the petrolhead calendar offering the fastest cars, biggest stars of the automotive world, over 1000 glistening motors to drool over… and of course, the infamous Live Action Arena. It’s always loud, intense and action-packed but this year there was an added intensity to the proceedings. The 5000 seater arena offers the perfect venue for motorsport fans to get up close and personal to some of the most infamous race cars out there. Offering an intense sixty minutes packed with stunts, driving demos and racing action; accompanied by a fantastic visual display of LED lights, special effects and even fireworks to keep us on our toes. The atmosphere was electric with captivated audiences on the edge of their seats throughout the weekend.…

The Mid North Coast sub branch of The Mini Car Club of NSW had a Christmas convoy in the Hunter Valley, famous for its wine and good driving roads, it was an absolute blast! Due to the horrific fires which had at this time torn through the Northern areas of the state, we needed a little pick me up and as any Mini owner knows a Mini is always a good way of putting that spring back in your step. Fifteen classic Minis met at Freemans Waterhole, we had to re-route due to road closures but it all worked out well arriving at our destination for lunch right on time. The temperature made for a challenge for both the cars and their occupants as we hit 32C (89F) but all…

Robert Dickson has recently taken a step back from his car body repair business. “There was a party held on the Friday when I retired. When I woke up on Saturday morning I already had an eighteen month backlog! There was always a Mini or two sitting in the corner of the workshop and if there was time between insurance repairs, we would do some restoration work.” “When my friends realised I was retired they all came over to ask if I would restore their Minis,” he explains. What he’s less likely to explain is that he was five times Northern Ireland Autotest Champion and has been involved in motorsport since his teenage years. In fact, he is such a fixture of the sporting Mini scene that he was asked…

The brainchild of Cheshire garage owner Bernard Cox, the mid-engined Cox GTM has long-been regarded as one of the best of its ilk. Cox, who’d raced at national level during the 1950s, had long harboured a desire to produce a sports car bearing his surname. By the mid 1960s he’d the means to realise his ambition. He also had the staff, including former racing rival Jack Hosker, who at the time was managing one of Cox’s garages at Hazel Grove. Hosker was charged with the task of creating a prototype. He subsequently spent most of 1966 working single-handedly on the project. MINI BASED The basis of the GTM (Grand Touring Mini) was a semi-monocoque sheet steel chassis bounded by two substantial sills. At the sharp end, a Mini front subframe…

UNDER CANVAS “Take great care, and if you’re not completely sure, consult an auto electrician” Q I have a Mini saloon and want to build something a little out of the ordinary – I want to make it into a convertible. Over the years, I’ve seen everything from the classic Crayford conversions (like the Heinz Hornets) through to the LAMM and Rover factory-built conversions but these are all well beyond my budget. I’ve been told that there were companies who offered aftermarket conversions and even kits, but I can find no trace of these – would you know where I could get in touch with these companies? Failing that, do you know where I could find instructions for converting the Mini, including how to reinforce the body once the roof…

I’ve been rediscovering that winter is a frustrating time to take on a new project. Short days and freezing temperatures are not a great incentive to get into the lockup, so we’ve had a pretty unproductive few weeks with the GTM. My first objective was to find out what we might need to hear the car running. With the keys lost while the Rossa had been in storage, there were a couple of obvious problems. Firstly, the car was out of fuel and the locking petrol cap key had obviously gone with the rest. Refuelling wasn’t going to be straight forward. Secondly, the ignition barrel had been removed to allow the GTM to be manouvevred, and the engine could be turned over by twisting the surviving part ignition switch with…

I was going through old photos and found some of my chum Ron Smith who has run Runamoke – the original Moke specialists since 1965. He used to be in south London when I was also based there but he went East and I went West when we both departed London. I went to visit him 20 years ago in Essex. He will just about be 90 by the time you read this and he shows no sign of giving up running the business. Better still, if his pic gets published , I may not have to buy him a card – Happy Birthday, Ron! I did recently try to have a game of chess on one of my few Mini-related knick-knacks. Some 25 years ago, I was involved with…

Stuart and wife, Jo, have been friends since they were in their teens, back when Stuart still had his first car, a 1985 one litre Mini City. “I’d feel like the fastest man in the world in that car, then you look down and you’re only doing 40.” Stuart recalls laughing. “I put a big sub woofer in the boot, we parked up in the embankment one night and the back window burst – it shattered to nothing! I couldn’t believe it.” Jo loved Stuart’s Mini so much that she also wanted one for her first car but it didn’t happen as her Mum thought it would be too unsafe. Fast forward fifteen years and they enjoy their Zeemax Mini together, and are regulars at Mini shows with their 11…

• Kelsey Media has sold the Mini in the Park event to the previous owners, Event Developments. The 2020 MITP event at Mallory Park has now been cancelled and the event will return to its previous home at Santa Pod Raceway in 2021. The revived event will build upon previous years which featured live action, concours Mini displays, Mini-only ‘Run-What-Ya-Brung’ on the famous Santa Pod dragstrip, plus fabulous displays of Minis of all ages. This flagship Mini event will include the return of the popular camping weekender with live music and a fantastic festival atmosphere. It will continue to be supported by Kelsey Media’s publications: Mini Magazine, MiniWorld and Performance MINI. Neil English and Russ Harman of Event Developments will be spending the 2020 season working closely with the Mini…

The Team are really excited about getting together again and competing in the Fuchs Lubrications Classic Mini Championship now in its second year. We did not compete in a championship last year, so we are really looking forward to everything a championship brings. It takes a great deal of organising, from making sure the Mini is competition ready - we have a fantastic new engine this year - to booking travel, sorting accommodation and making sure the service crew have plenty of cake and goodies to keep them going whilst us girls are having fun on the stages! I have never experienced greater camaraderie than in a Mini championship and cannot wait to get out there and meet up with old and new friends. We are also really looking forward…

22nd March Brooklands Mini Day This annual event will see hundreds of Minis, from the oldest to the newest, parked up around the historic site. With Clubs from around the country taking part, Test Hill action, a trade village and the new Auto Test demonstration area. www.brooklandsmuseum.com/ 4th April Spring Action Day The official kick-start to the performance car season. Expect drifting demonstrations, public track time and white-knuckle passenger laps on the circuit itself, whilst vast static club stands, trade villages and Show and Shine competitions ensure the outer display areas are equally as unmissable throughout the day. www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk 4th-5th April Goodwood Members Meeting Goodwood’s motorsport opening weekend recreates the atmosphere and camaraderie of the original BARC Meetings held at Goodwood through the 1950s and 1960s. A packed two days…

It’s fair to say that Rob Cave is rather keen on the classic Clubman Estate. Indeed, in order to buy the example featured here – and to help fund a number of its future upgrades and a full restoration – he sold his very tasty, rare, rapid and wonderfully vocal Renault Clio V6. That was some nine years ago and for the first five of those nine years, this charismatic Clubman which had covered a mere 23,000 miles when Rob bought it was pressed into service as his daily driver. Hard service as it transpired. “I drove it everywhere, whatever the weather, fair weather or foul,” impresses Rob. “Even in the snow. On winter tyres it was unstoppable. It was reliable too. Asides from the regular servicing, the only items…

Perhaps the most famous GTM of them all, the Cars & Car Conversions project was built between 1969 and 1970, featuring in a series of how to articles on building a kit car. Owned by the editor of the magazine, Richard Hudson Evans, the car was first seen in public, finished in bright yellow at the Northern Racing Car Show in April 1970 on the GTM stand. It was raced in this livery for a short time, winning its class first time out at Snetterton, before being repainted in the now famous ‘CCC’ livery. The car was raced as part of the CCC racing team, and competed in everything from Clubman races through to gruelling long distance sports car races such as Silverstone six-hour and in September 1970, a six…

A split driveshaft boot will very quickly result in worn and damaged CV joints. Once the rubber boot splits it will allow the grease inside to escape as well as allowing road dirt and water to enter the joint. This will lead to accelerated wear or seizure of the moving parts leaving you with a costly repair bill or even worse a high speed accident, so the sooner you spot the problem and get it sorted the better. The rubber boots that protect the CV joints on the driveshafts can split for a variety of reasons ranging from general wear and tear to damage from debris on the road. A damaged rubber boot is most likely to be spotted at your annual MoT but you should get into the habit…

DEI FLOOR AND TUNNEL SHIELD From £44.38 This 10 mm aluminium facing, bonded to a finely woven layer of high temperature resistant glass fibre material is now available in black as well as bright alloy finish. The black finish will appeal to classic car owners who want to insulate their car’s interior from outside noise and heat with a less conspicuous modern material. • 01978 663000 • www.Demon-Tweeks.com WEBCON ADJUSTABLE FUEL REGULATOR £44.95 Webcon has teamed up with leading Australian fuelling specialists Redline Performance to make its Adjustable Pressure Regulator. Displaying the familiar 0-5 psi markings, the new regulator pack includes 5/16in/8mm unions as well as fuel hose and clips and features a push and lock knob to ensure the desired pressure is accurately maintained. • 01932 787100 • www.webcon.co.uk…

• The Mini's 60th birthday may well have gone, but there is still much to celebrate in 2020 and Mini Cooper Register plans to do just that at its popular National Mini Day at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu on Sunday 14 June. Expect to see standard 850s as well as modified examples including commercials, estates and Hornets/Elfs, as well as some of the rather better equipped MINIs of the 21st century. There will be displays of each register within the MCR, with two of each car from MkI Coopers to modern MINIs. Beyond the ex-Works and special tuning display will be a special gathering of RSP Coopers celebrating their 30th anniversary and the revival of the Cooper brand. As usual, there will be plenty of trade stands for those…

Pembrokeshire based performance and tuning enthusiast, Matthew Merrick, has won the Revving Red Carpet, the top customisation competition organised by the Performance & Tuning Car Show. Matthew from Haverfordwest beat 19 of the UK’s top tuned cars to win the chance to have his car displayed at the first major tuning show of the year. Inspired by the Fast and Furious movies from an early age, Matthew’s 2011 Mini R56 JCW has been heavily modified with Airrex struts and an airlift v2 management system. Along with suspension modifications, Matthew fitted 17 inch custom BBS RS, four-pot Brembo brakes and a genuine GP2 diffuser carbon fibre fuel cap. This unique style and high-quality modifications meant that his Mini was a clear winner in the public vote. James Pearman, Liberty Walk Director…

Mini RunUK hosted a last minute Peak District run with only six days notice before the event took place. There was an impressive turn out of 96 minis from all over the UK including Wales and Scotland. The morning run started up in the clouds near Buxton, where the Minis tackled single-track country lanes for a fantastic tunnel run through an old railway tunnel. I’m pretty sure I heard The Self Preservation Society being played at some point… A quick splash and dash through a ford and a few muddy country lanes we then went over the Cat and Fiddle, Snakes Pass, Derwent Dam, Winnats Pass then finished the run at Chatsworth house. MINIRUNUK EVENTS FOR 2020 Minis on the Ring (Nürburgring) 31st May-1st June Elan Valley 31st July-2nd August…

GREEN LIGHT Name: Sam Evans Car: Brooklands Green 1978 850 Location: Southampton • When Sam took this car on it was as half a shell with the front end cut off, as the previous owner had plans to make it a flip front. After a few trial fits of fiberglass and later, metal Sam decided to fix it permanently to provide a better appearance and panel gap. The badge, boot trim and scuttle holes were filled and the bonnet lip removed to give a smoother look. Rounded rear light lenses were dip dyed with orange and red to keep it smooth on the back end. At the front it sports a moustache surround with a mesh grille and is finished with a chrome bar from a Honda Accord boot lid.…

Tracking down and buying your dream Mini has never been easier. A quick online search can provide a list of potential purchases in seconds, and if you’ve got the cash, you need never leave your armchair to have your next project on its way to you. For David Wilson, there was one Mini he’d always wanted. “I’ve always had Minis – back to when I was 18 years old when I had my first one. I suppose I moved away from the Mini scene a bit but I’d always hankered after a Mini Pickup, and that started years ago after I spotted one parked at the hillclimb at Doune.” “I was at the NEC Classic Car Show – I’d gone to the show just to take a look at some…

When Peter Demetriou went looking for a Mini, he had some very specific ideas in mind. “I wanted one with 10 inch wheels, ideally something like Dunlop D1s and a centre clock dash,” he explains. He wasn’t looking for anything particularly rare or unusual, simply a car that would help him reconnect with the Minis he had owned in his youth. “I’ve always had Minis since the 80s – I saw the Italian Job and that was it for me. My brother-in-law had owned a grey MkI which I loved. One day he told me it had to go, I didn’t understand why until he lifted the front mats and you could see the tarmac under the car…” “His next car was a 1275GT, black with the gold stripes, Wolfrace…

“The first question is... how much is left of the original car?” The Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show was the first opportunity that the Acespeed team had to take a proper look at the Mike Brewer Mini Cooper S. It’s a genuine 1964 Cooper in unrestored state, having had some changes made in its history. The shell is going to be changed with a replacement by British Motor Heritage. Back in the workshop we put the car up on jacks and worked through the car. The first question is… how much is left of the original car? Fortunately, registration documents and the heritage certificate confirm it is a genuine Cooper S, though it has gone through a colour change from Almond Green with a white roof to the Works colours…

“I think we should convert it to a drydeck set-up,” came the call at around 10pm in early December from Ron Jones the engine builder. Eh? What’s that then? At that stage I had absolutely no idea what a dry deck was and why I would want one, so a little context may help. I’d had the van a few years and had a total body and paint restoration followed by an interior refresh early in 2017 (it was featured on these pages in September 2017) and some readers may have seen it at the various shows. It’s an original black as well which always adds a bit of interest. However, the engine was untouched at that stage, having bought it as an unknown 1380. It ran well until it…