Innehållsförteckning för March 2017 från Mini Magazine

Replica. A bit of a dirty word to some, but certainly not in the context of this month's superb cover car. Unlike an MR2 with a 'Ferrari' kit or a 'McLaren' made from an old Pug 406 Coupe and tin foil, Steve Jones' Datapost GT is a more than worthy tribute act. Painstakingly built by Dale Racing and powered by a Swiftune motor, it retains the character of the car that Alan Curnow drove back in the late '70s while bringing it up date in terms of safety and materials. The original car still exists of course, but just as with its ex-Richard Longman GT counterpart, they're now just too precious to be modernised and thrown around race tracks. Steve's car gives us all a chance to see what the…

• A bumper Mini entry is expected for the Mini Sport Mini Cup, part of the HRCR 2017 Mintex ‘old Stager’ Asphalt Stage Rally Championship. The HRCR Open Day at the British Motor Museum on January 14 saw 23 crews register for the Mini Cup, with more expected. This makes it probably the biggest single-make rally championship in the world! Current champions Clive King and Anton Bird are amongst the leading 2017 contenders, while Ray Cunningham from Ireland has also joined up. A new all-girl crew will also take part; Louise Scarlett and Emily Easton-Page from Scotland. The current total entry for the ‘old Stager’ championship is 31 cars, which looks likely to increase to 40 by the time the AGBO Stages season opener at Weston Park takes place on…

• Ipswich and Suffolk Mini Owners Club (ISMOC) is a new club formed to cater for Mini fans in and around the Suffolk county town. The club meets on a regular basis, and organises monthly runs to local beauty spots such as Aldeburgh on the coast and the historic village of Lavenham. This month the club is planning a fish and chip run to enjoy the amusements at Felixstowe, and has many events planned for 2017. Its first Mini show will be Brooklands where it has a stand, and it’s also booked in to attend many of the local classic shows in Suffolk including Bury Car Show and Helmingham Hall. There are also a large group of members attending events on the main Mini calendar, including London to Brighton and…

Provisional dates have also been announced for the 2017 Mighty and Super Mighty championships, and it’s reckoned to be the best calendar yet. Things get underway at Silverstone on March 25/26, live on Motors TV. Rounds three and four will take place at the challenging Anglesey Circuit with its spectacular coastal setting on April 22-23, while rounds five and six on June 3-4 see the championships head to the fast Thruxton circuit to support the Truck Festival in front of bumper crowds. Kent will be the next stop as the series join the bill at the Brands Hatch Mini festival on July 8-9, with rounds nine and 10 taking place at Donington Park to support another Truck Festival on July 22-23. On the August Bank Holiday it’s a trip to…

February 24-26 Race Retro Historic motorsport-themed show at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. www.raceretro.com March 19 Brooklands Mini Day Great outdoor event at the historic Brooklands Museum in Surrey. Attractions include traders, club stands and the famous Test Hill. www.brooklandsmusuem.com March 23-26 London Classic Car Show Multi-marque classic car event taking place at Excel, London. www.thelondonclassiccarshow.co.uk March 26 Cap’n Jaspers Gathering West Country Mini Scene’s spring Breakfast Gathering, taking place at Plymouth Barbican. All Minis and MINIs are welcome. www.wcminiscene.co.uk April 9 Malvern Spring Mini Show and Spares Day Part of the Malvern Classic Event, held at Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire. www.classicshows.org April 16 Lincoln BIG Mini Day Taking place at Brayford Waterfront, Lincoln, this Trent Valley MOC event celebrates its 10th year in 2017. Entry is free, but cars need…

Name: Colin Turberville Car: K-Series saloon Location: Bromsgrove • I bought my car as an unfinished project back in 2011 and it finally hit the road in March 2016. I decided to try and go with a ‘sleeper’ look, and apart from the rollcage it just looks like any other mildly modified Mini at first glance. It has been resprayed in Pearlescent Cherry Red by Nick Hobbis Mini restorations. The 1600 K-Series engine was removed from my wife's old Rover Tourer, which was an insurance write-off, and was treated to a new cam belt, water pump, head skim and new head gasket before being mated to the R65 gearbox. The rollcage extends through the bulkhead to bolt up to a modified Mini front subframe. It also has coil-overs all round…

Mention tribute acts to anyone who’s done time in a Spanish holiday resort and you’ll be met with a grimace. ‘Tribute’ has become well and truly tarnished by trashy Elvis suits and try-hard vocals, yet in the Mini scene, things couldn’t be more different. Think of the fabulous 33 EJB rally replica and Swiftune’s Patrick Motorsport 1275 GT from 2014 – both amazing tributes, and arguably even better than the genuine museum pieces. Swiftune’s GT replicated the original Richard Longman racer that dominated its sub-1300cc class and took two overall wins in the British Saloon Car Championship, predecessor to the BTCC, in 1978 and 1979. The famous blue, white and red colour scheme was an instant hit with the crowds at Goodwood’s 72nd Members Meeting, and Swiftune was subsequently invited…

For as long as there is stuff, there will be collectors. The objects involved range from the sublime to the frankly ridiculous, but we reckon Virginio Bolla has got it nailed with his selections. The charismatic Italian has amassed an incredible array of scooters, pinball machines, old brochures, house music records and a whole host of random but funky stuff that takes his fancy. Top of the list, however, has to be his classic Mini collection, which is so vast and varied that even Virginio doesn’t know how big it actually is. All collectors have to start somewhere, and for Virginio, his first Mini came along at the age of just seven. A rare Spanish-built Authi Mini 1000, he still owns it now, some 35 years later. “My father had…

Anyone who’s hopped from a standard Mini to a modern motor will know how dim Mini headlamps can be, even the ‘90s halogen bulb equipped cars. Compounded by a low headlamp height, relatively low seating position and the ridiculous intensity of Merc/BMW/Audi projector beams coming the other way, driving a Mini at night can be a dazzling experience. For any Mini driven regularly in the dark, a lighting upgrade is surely a must. On earlier cars we’d recommend upgrading the standard sealed beams to newer halogen lamps, with an appropriate relay to protect the standard switch, opening up a range of high-wattage H4 bulbs on the market. Additional spot lamps along the front panel came as standard to many rally-inspired Rover Minis of the ‘90s, which work particularly well on…

COOPER COASTERS £14 set of four You’re not a serious Mini Cooper enthusiast tea drinker until you’ve got a matching set of official Cooper mugs and coasters. New to the range of Cooper accessories are these attractive silver-faced coasters, to continue the Mini theme throughout your house or garage. • 01282 778731 • www.coopercarcompany.com GARAGE FAN HEATER £63.54 Sealey’s new range of industrial PTC fan heaters get up to temperature instantly and are said to produce a ‘dry heat’ with no condensation. Each comes thermostatically controlled to take the winter chill from your garage and make DIY Mini maintenance work that bit more inviting. The range starts goes from 2000 watts to 9000 watts, and avoids all the fumes and smell of gas heaters. There’s also a fan-only setting, so…

“Being from a farming background, all of my mates have sheds...” Remember the wedding sequence in The Italian Job film? You’ve got the happy couple, minding their own business on steps of the Grande Madre di Dio church in Turin, when all of a sudden red, white and blue Mini Coopers come hurtling down from both sides while trying to escape the police. Michael Caine yells ‘good luck’ from the passenger seat of the red one, and an inextricable link between the three cars and weddings becomes part of Mini folklore. We know we’re preaching to the converted here, but we reckon the Mini has all the right credentials to make an excellent wedding transport – albeit without the strong sump guards and gold bullion in the boot. It’s traditional,…

• Tickets for the 2017 London and Surrey Mini Owners Club’s London to Brighton run have once again sold out in record time. Mini Spares put its allocation on sale on January 15, and managed to sell out within two and a half hours – beating 2016’s previous four-hour record. Over 850 were sold in the first 20 minutes! In 2015 the first batch were sold over a period of four days, and in 2014 they were available for almost nine weeks. Another batch of around 50-100 tickets had yet to go on sale as we went to press, but we expect they will go fast. If you’ve missed out, keep an eye on the Mini Spares and London to Brighton Facebook page just in case any more should become…

• London and Surrey Mini Owners Club got 2017 off to a great start as its members and their Minis took part in the 31st New year’s Day Parade. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of central London as the event kicked off at Green Park Tube station and ended in Parliament Square, taking in Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall along the way. This year’s theme was blockbuster movies, so the club naturally chose The Italian Job film, with some members wearing colourful outfits from the era and others donning the famous blue overalls. The Minis were certainly a popular attraction, with hundreds of cameras popping up from everywhere as they passed.…

Mini owners began 2017 in fine style by turning out in number for the latest Wirral to Llandudno Run on January 8. Hosted by Wirral Minis, this unofficial season-opening run from Merseyside to the North Wales coast proved to be much busier than in recent years, with 180 classic Minis amongst over 200 total bookings. The run remains free to enter, but participants are encouraged to buy a souvenir run plaque, something that has enabled the club to support Claire House Children’s Hospice for the last three years. Beginning at Bromborough on the Wirral, the 55-mile route saw the Minis pause in Rhos-on-Sea before making the rally-style three-in-one ascent up Great Orme headland close to Llandudno. The conditions were relatively warm but foggy, though Lindsay Davies managed to brighten things…

Name: Ian Fraser Car: Mini Miglia Location: Bristol • I’ve been racing Minis since 1984, but what I really wanted to do was race a Mini Miglia. After five years of hard work I finally completed a race car and it was featured in the magazine back in 2015. As a update, I’m about to move to an all-new formula called Mini Libre for 2017. It’s open to any steel-bodied Mini with 10 inch-wheels and using an A-Series block. With that I’ve increased the capacity from 1293cc to 1380cc, installed a 310 scatter camshaft and some Titan 1.5 full roller rockers. Billy Macmillan is porting me a new head and I’m hoping it’ll equate to over 130bhp. Transmission failures were a real problem over the past two seasons so I’ve…

Name: Andy Knight and friends Car: 1995 Mini Sidewalk Location: South West • A few of us have been working on rebuilding a crash damaged Mini Sidewalk, to be debuted at this year’s Mini Fair. With the help of British Mini Club’s Dave Hollis, we'll be uncovering and presenting the car as a surprise to its owner, Lizzy Bear, in a Car SOS style. I have only done a little myself, but donated all the panels and helped the strip down, while Dave Avis and Wendy Price have been doing the best part of it. When complete, ‘Sausage’ will have all new panels, new wheels, tyres, paint – ready for the summer show season. We've all given up our time and parts to get it sorted in time, so hopefully…

At first, the Mini would seem to be the odd one out. Elliott Norris’ octane-fuelled passion for cars revolves around Porsches, BMW M cars and American muscle, with plenty of grunt driving the rear wheels as the common denominator. His collection includes everything from the latest lightweight 911 R model right through to a 550bhp Plymouth Road Runner – a proper old school muscle car. A front-wheel-drive, ‘60s Mini Cooper S ticks none of these boxes, and yet we find this immaculate 1967 MkII amongst Elliott’s incredible fleet. So how does that work? The answer lies in the world of motorsport. With the exception of a stunning Mercedes 220 SEb and an ultra cool Audi 100 low-rider, Elliott’s cars all have bona fide track credentials, be that genuine competition cars…

Having been writing for Mini Magazine since its inception nearly 21 years ago, I’ve described how to deal with all manner of work on Minis. A good number of those articles referred to and advised measuring various bits and pieces with suitable tools. Yet, and I realised this only about six weeks ago, I’ve never explained how to actually use these devices properly, or even which are required and what they specifically do. The absolutely brilliant situation is that tools previously deemed only affordable or a sensible investment for the professional engineer are available at around a quarter of the cost they used to be, and in some cases even less than that. A very decent quality vernier gauge can be had for around £35, and a workman-like dial test…

• While much of the nation recovered from a sore head on New Year’s Day, plenty of other folk were out and about enjoying their cars. A good number could be found at the historic Brooklands Museum near Weybridge in Surrey, which attracted a good turnout of classic vehicles despite the damp, drizzly weather. A wide selection of Minis from original early examples to powerful hybrid creations joined many other marques, and there were a few traders present too. Busiest of all had to be the cafe, which keep attendees warm with hot drinks and tasty food. The event provided a little taster of what to expect when the Minis return for the annual Brooklands Mini Day, which takes place on March 19.…

• Mini Run UK helped shake off the excesses of the festive period with a Christmas run on December 27, with Mini owners travelling from far and wide to take part in this festive winter drive out. The group met in Coventry for breakfast, before heading to Draycote Water Reservoir in Rugby where they took part in a steady drive around the 10km-long lake. The journey then saw the Minis head to Burton Dasset Hills Country Park, where they drew the attention of the walkers/hikers who waved them through, had the chance to enjoy the scenery and get some stunning group photos up on the hills. From here it was into the Cotswolds and Traitors Ford for a splash and dash, before a steady drive up the Fosse Way and…

Get your motorsport diaries out, for the latest provisional calendar for the 2017 Mini Se7en and Miglia challenges has been announced. The new season’s action will get started at Castle Combe on April 17, then head to the Snetterton 200 circuit as part of an all-new Mini Racing Festival at the Norfolk venue on May 13. The following month will see back-to-back rounds at two of the UK’s Grand Prix circuits – Donington on June 3-4, and then Silverstone on June 24-25. In July and August, the rounds will be part of the ever-popular Mini Festivals organised by the MSVR, with the Southern Brands Hatch event held on July 8-9. In a change from previous years, the northern version is a two-day event at Oulton Park in Cheshire, with free…

The recipe for the Autosport International show is clearly a popular one, as it was as busy as ever for 2017. The Mini always features to some degree, and our particular highlight was a Mini Marcos belonging to Cody Tree. Together with his father Terry, he’s rebuilt his Mini-based car from a bare shell to a show stopper. The bodywork was modified many years ago with a Le Mans racer look, while the 100bhp engine has been chromed and polished up. We’ll bring you more photos soon. Elsewhere, Leon Oli Window was flying the flag for the Mini 7 Racing Club with his Se7en, and the Fire Fighters Race Team had a work-in-progress Mini Libre on display. Mighty Minis Racing was represented by Josh Young and Connor O’Brien’s stunning Mini…

“The car turned out to be far more special than he first imagined...” PROJECT PROFILE THE OWNER NAME: Clive Beattie AGE: 38 AGE: Graphics installer LOCATION: Buckinghamshire THE CAR: CAR: 1959 Austin Seven basic START CONDITION: Rolling shell, partially stripped CONDITION NOW: As above TIME TAKEN SO FAR: 13 years ESTIMATED TIME OF COMPLETION: There’s no set deadline Clive fancied a MkI Mini so he could recreate one of the Italian Job Cooper Ss, complete with go-faster goodies and gold-robbing trinkets. An early Mini 850 came up for sale online and looked just the ticket. It’d been modified with a 998cc engine, stripped to a rolling shell (perhaps in July 1986 if the interior graffiti is accurate) and looked ripe for modification. Then life got in the way, and 13…

Things not to pressure wash: your mother-in-law, the cat, Mini Magazines, Kenton Thompson’s 1980 Minivan. OK so that’s a bit harsh, as the van would definitely stand up to the pressure today in its gleaming coat of Brooklands Green, but Kenton did have a nasty mishap a few years back. “It was painted diabolically when I first got it going,” he says. “I aerosol’d it black all over to tidy things up a bit, then the oil cooler blew out and chucked oil all up the side. I grabbed the pressure washer, it blasted off all the oil, then the black paint – even the green underneath. I literally peeled it all off. Obviously I’d sprayed it myself, but it went over the top of a previous job and the…

Even though it’ll soon be knocking on for 50 years old, the popularity of The Italian Job movie shows no signs of diminishing. The classic 1969 Michael Caine caper still stands out as the most iconic Mini film of all time, and since 2004, Steve Edmonds has been paying tribute with his own movie-themed roadtrip. Each year, a group of adventurous Mini enthusiasts make their way to Turin, retracing the tracks of Charlie Croker and co on a nine-day adventure. With a wide range of age groups from early 20s to early 70s, the tour always attracts a variety of enthusiasts. For the 2016 trip, 15 crews with 10 Minis, a MINI and four regular back-up cars would be taking part. Two teams had travelled all the way from Australia,…

BLOWN GASKET Q My new Stage 3 cylinder head keeps blowing the head gasket between the bores and the pushrod holes. Both the head and block have been checked to ensure they are flat, and I have new Mini Spares head studs fitted. Any advice? Bart A What you haven’t stated is what type of head gaskets you have been using. There are a number of gaskets on the market for the small-bore engine now, not all of them good. This is particularly applicable to engines that are likely to be developing much higher cylinder pressures from improved volumetric efficiency and raised static and dynamic compression ratios. Folks use such gaskets because they are markedly cheaper than the genuine original type. I have seen some great results from alternative head…

INNOCENTI BUMPER • Early Mini Pick-ups and Innocenti Mini Ts were blessed with an attractive one-piece rear bumper, rather than the two separate quarter bumpers we’re more familiar with. We’re aware this is all a bit of a tease as they are mega rare and change hands for good money on the occasions when they do become available. However, it’s well worth the effort to track one down, or badger someone to re-make them! You’ll have to relocate your rear numberplate too, but we reckon it’s well worth the effort for a dose of sharp Italian style. MKII REAR END • MkI styling may represent the Mini in its purest form, but converting a later car to mimic an early one means welding work to fit rear light conversion plates.…