Mini Magazine October 2018

Hard to believe, but by the time you read this, the 2018 show season will be starting to draw to a close, sadly. There are still a couple of events through September, but as an almost final hurrah of this season, we have a full report about Mini In The Park on page 27. Despite the unbelievable summer giving up on us for the event, it was a great show for Mini fans and owners. Any Mini has to be pretty special to get a full feature in Mini Magazine, so you'll all be wondering how our cover car, Simon Hepburn’s MkI has made it into the magazine an impressive three times! How? Why? Well, Simon’s early turbo’d Mini has been through some serious changes. First it was freshly restored…

Jill Gilmore developed her love for Minis when she was a teenager. Her father, Noel, owned a series of Minis, firstly as family transport then later, just for fun. “My father saved up the money to buy a new saloon in the ’60s. That was his first Mini. This car was crashed and written off but there were other Minis which came later,” Jill says. “When I was growing up, the family car was a 1979 Clubman Estate. It went on to be a high mileage car but my dad, who was a self-taught hobby mechanic, was able to keep it going with a replacement engine which he changed himself,” continues Jill. It was during these formative years that Jill picked up the skills and knowledge required to live a…

BODY 1991 Rover Mini Cooper with new wings, A-panels, door skins and bonnet (genuine Rover panels), Sportspack arches, set of four driving lights, extra rear fog lamp, chrome wipers, wiper blanking plugs, twin washer jets, door mirrors and Aston fuel cap. Black Cooper decals, black bonnet stripes with chrome John Cooper signatures, new windscreen and seal filler, single towing eye. Paint: Flame Red with black roof and arches. ENGINE 1275cc 10.5:1 compression ratio (lightly skimmed head), single 1.5-inch SU carb, alloy rocker cover, Fletcher radiator, alloy inlet manifold, LCB exhaust, Manifold centre exit exhaust. Power: 61bhp @ 5,500rpm. TRANSMISSION Borg and Beck 7.125-inch clutch, four-speed synchromesh gearbox. Final drive ratio: 3.11:1. SUSPENSION Rubber cone suspension, Hi-Los, new standard dampers. BRAKES Standard 8.4-inch Lockheed disc assemblies (front), Lockheed 7x1.25-inch vacuum servo…

Time is flying, and with the 2018 Mini show season almost at an end, the British Mini Club has been quick to confirm the dates of some of its events for 2019. The 2019 Mini Show season starts like this year did, with Mini Fair 2019 on 27 January. Held again at Bingley Hall in the Staffordshire County Showground, the British Mini Club promises this will be the perfect start to celebrate the Mini’s 60th year. Expect over 100 trade and autojumble stands, a Pride of Ownership display, Premier Concours finals, and club stands. This is a great event to find those parts to finish winter Mini projects! Next up will be British Mini Day, on 12 May – the first outdoor event of the show season, held again at…

The Lord Mayor of Bradford made a very special presentation to one of the UK’s leading classic car racers at City Park, in August. Andy ‘Ace’ Harrison, who is based in Shipley, has been invited to race his historic Mini Cooper at the Goodwood Revival this September. Andy, who has been invited to race in this prestigious event as one of the top classic car racers in the county, will be taking on another professional driver and former F1 assistant team manager, Tony Jardine, over the two-day event. The Lord Mayor, Coun Zafar Ali, accompanied by Brad Bear, met with Andy to wish him well and present him with a special Brad Bear teddy mascot who will race with the pair on the day. He said: “We’re proud that Andy,…

If you find yourself in Helsinki, Mini Magazine contributor, Neil Burgess, says you must make sure you pop into Robert’s Coffee Jugend on Pohjoisesplanandi, as they have a very special Mini on display. This 1967 Morris Cooper S was built as a racing car for Timo Mäkinen in 1968 by a Finnish company. Mäkinen entered the car in seven events through 1968 and 1969 before handing the seat to Olav Westman for a Finnish championship class win. The Mini was then competed by Algot Kettunen, Kari Uusitupa and Heimer Kastran who did the car’s final event back in 1989. The car has some very interesting features, particularly the gear selector arrangement. And Neil tells us that the coffee and cake at Robert’s Coffee Jugend is also rather good, too! It’s…