Innehållsförteckning för March 2019 från Mini Magazine

With Mini Fair just around the corner as I write this, it finally feels like the end to winter is in sight, Classic Minis will be awoken from their slumber and we can look forward to an exciting show season celebrating the Mini’s 60th birthday! But back to this issue, and as usual we’ve got a wide selection of feature cars. Firstly, with the World Rally Championship started, our cover star – Andrew Giles’ Mayfair-based rally replica – seems even more relevant. Turns out this car has been in Andrew’s Mini-loving family since 2004, and under Andrew’s ownership it’s been restored for a second time, with him choosing this rally theme. Elsewhere, we’ve got Matt Shardlow’s convincing MkI replica. Matt’s a MINI salesman by trade, but wanted his own Classic…

• Author of the excellent set of Maximum Mini books and website (maximumminiblogspot.com), and Mini Magazine contributor, Jeroen Booij, has come across another mysterious Mini-based car, while searching for something completely different. It’s an intriguing one, as from the pictures he’s come across the car appears to be based on an early Mini - perhaps even a 1958 prototype or an early van! In our opinion, it’s hard to tell, as it’s been quite heavily modified, with the rear of this car quite rounded off, the doors cut, the handles lowered,and with what seems to be the windscreen from an Austin Healey Sprite fitted to what must have been a modified front scuttle. Jeroen tells us, based on his research, that this car was trialled as early as 1961, at…

It was a case of back to Bromborough on the Wirral for the 220 Mini and MINIs that took part in the Wirral Mini Owners Club’s main event. It was the same start point as last year, and from there the run followed the coastal road which eventually led to Great Orme in Llandudno, via a short stop for a break at Rhos-On-Sea. One of the Mini highlights on the run, was the Clubman (JCC325H) owned by Ifan Devine of Caernarfon. Ifan is the third generation of the same family, who have a keen interest in the vehicle preservation scene. In fact, this Mini is the latest of many cars and commercial vehicles, that have been restored by this family over the years. The family still rally a Wolseley Hornet…

“[The Mini] had a little rust around his headlights and he just looked like a wee old man” Debbie Harland, the owner of this 1980 MkIII, admits she’s had a soft spot for Classic Minis since she was about 16. But it took until 2001, when she was 18, to own her first – a 1986 Mayfair that had been bodged to within an inch of its life! Ultimately, because of this, Debbie ended up selling this Mini for spares and that’s when she went looking for her ‘forever Mini’. After viewing umpteen Minis, she came across ‘George’, this Mini, in the summer of 2004. A 1980 998cc HL, she describes as being like “a sad looking old man” and Debbie was in love. Turns out George was a two-owner…

Ronnie spent his formative driving years in Northern Ireland during the ’60s when the Mini was at the peak of its prominence both in the sales league and in the world of motorsport. John Cooper’s vision had turned the world’s most exciting small car into the world’s most exciting performance car and the BMC Competitions Dept. turned it into the most successful rally car of that decade. The fact that one of the most charismatic drivers in the Abingdon Works team was Irishman Paddy Hopkirk undoubtedly raised the Mini’s profile in the motorsport scene in Ireland too, where tarmac rallying was already well established. In 1965 Ronnie decided to try his skill behind the wheel in the frequent local events and what better wheel could there be than that of…

I think I was just five-years old when I caught site of my first Classic Mini, and from then on I was hooked. I can remember the chrome grille on its Almond Green nose, plus the Snowberry White roof, all in a car showroom and my dad explaining to me what a Classic Mini Cooper was. I then spent the rest of that day trying to encourage him to buy this special Mini, and my love of Classic Minis still remains strong, 38 years on. Andrew Giles, the owner of this rally replica, was the same, having been a Mini fan since he was young. It wasn’t difficult to see where his love Classic Minis came from, as his parents always owned a Mini of some description and told stories…

We’ve looked at the major differences and crossover between road and race bodyshells, suspension, running gear and most recently, the A-Series engine, so the final part leads us neatly to the transmission. When modifying a Mini for the first time, it’s commonplace to think of engine upgrades first, then come back to the transmission later, by which time the budget has been spent! Instead, plan the entire engine and gearbox build as one entity to avoid bolting a big bhp engine on a standard transmission, and the inevitable damage that follows. The Mini is unusual by modern standards in that its engine and gearbox share the same oil, so any failure in the transmission is likely to wreak havoc upon the expensive engine components above. So here’s an overview of…

PROGRAMMABLE 130MPH SPEEDOMETER £370.80 Own a Mini with a central speedo? Fancy upgrading to the latest, modern 130mph electronic version? Well, thanks to Mini Spares you can! It might look like the original, available in black and magnolia finish, but it boasts the latest technological features including a billet case, OLED display, trip and total miles display, and remote trip reset. There’s also a handy drive-to-set function for easy calibration. So you can easily re-programme your speedo to account for different wheel sizes and gear ratios. Part number 13H4443. • 01707 607700 • www.minispares.com QUICK-RELEASE STEERING HUB £119.99 A quick-release steering hub could be the ultimate anti-theft solution for your Classic Mini and the B-G Steering Wheel Quick Release System, allows owners to quickly and easily attach/detach the majority of…

When it comes to buying cars, or parts for them, the old ‘rose-tinted specs’ have a lot to answer for. Most of us probably have a tale or two about getting caught up in the moment and leapfrogging the full attention a potential purchase deserves. Sometimes, as is the case for Dominic Lester, the fallout can re-shape a project entirely. Without the hurdles of rose-tinted decision-making, this TwinKam-powered B-road rocket might well have turned out differently. “All my logic went out of the window,” he smirks, as he tells us about his first encounter with the ’88 Mayfair back in 2013. “It looked shiny, made loud noises and seemed to be the fastest 998cc in the world. So I bought it, and it cut out three miles into the drive…

The Moke Club, plus the London and Surrey Mini Owners Club, represented the Classic Mini right at the start of its 60th year, by taking part in the annual New Year’s Day Parade and Festival. According to the Moke Club, members from across the UK and their Mokes entertained the huge crowds who’d turned out on an unseasonally mild New Year’s Day. The route took them through Piccadilly, past Nelson’s Column and along Westminster, passing Big Ben. For more details about the Moke Club and its planned events for 2019, check out the website at: www.mokeclub.org.…

To mark the Mini’s magical milestone in true Classic style, the organisers of the this year’s Silverstone Classic, have planned a packed on-track programme that will, for the first time, feature a pair of very special showdowns dedicated to huge numbers of much-loved Mini racers racing for The Mini Celebration Trophy, which will be presented by Adrian Flux. The Classic Mini’s enduring popularity with historic motorsport competitors is certain to create the world’s biggest-ever grid of racing Minis and, fittingly, another major crowd-pleasing highlight at this year’s running of the biggest retro-racing festival on the planet. Ensuring everyone shares in the celebrations, the unmissable Mini doubleheader action will star on all three days at the Classic with qualifying on Friday and spectacular 20-minute showdowns on both Saturday and Sunday. “Absolutely…

On sale for just over four decades, the original Mini might have gone through numerous mild face-lifts and countless technological tweaks during its lifespan, but its unmistakeable character was fundamentally almost unchanged. It’s a character the new MINI has mimicked – albeit within the much stricter confines of modern regulations – not only with styling but with versions such as the GT, Seven and more recently the City giving a nod to its predecessor. That lengthy heritage is as much a gift to enthusiasts as it is to BMW Group’s product planning department, because the original Mini has an unmatched back-catalogue of factory, tuner and professional racing history to draw upon. Whether it’s mixing and matching early-era parts, using new technology to improve usability, or taking inspiration from motorsport, if…

When the Mini was first introduced, the majority of tyres were a type called ‘crossply’, which is also known as ‘bias’ tyres. These days, the majority of tyres are ‘radial’ and this is denoted by the ‘R’ in the middle of the tyre size. “The difference between tyre types is the carcass material and the way it’s formed” To understand the different characteristics of cross-ply and radial tyres, we have to start with the way they are constructed. In general terms, car tyres are a material, nylon or steel which forms the ‘carcass’ encased in a rubbery compound. The difference between tyre types is the carcass material and also the way that material is formed. For a cross-ply tyre, the carcass is generally nylon, although some tyres do use steel…

So dad decided to part ways with his outlandish roof-chopped Mini Clubman, having completed it, driven around the block a few times. In truth, it was too extreme for trips to the shops and ended up as more of a garage ornament. If space were no object he’d have kept it, but he was clearly getting fidgety with no project car to be working on in the winter months. Off it went, leaving a wad of cash burning a hole in his pocket. In search of the next project, I steered him away from the injected cars, which at the lower price point tend to either be plagued with electrical gremlins or completely rotten. Decent MkI projects were out of budget, so ideally I suggested to find an early ’90s…

I thought I ought to get geared up with a spare power unit, as one day I would like to race at Spa, and to go without would seem careless, so I started to collect bits to get my mate Oliver to build one, but using only a standard (albeit tuftrided) crank that I’d acquired in a garage clear-out. He got geared up but then my new neighbour, Mr Slark, put me in touch with someone who had a chuck-out clearance, having upgraded to an A Swiftune lump. So sensing that a MED EN40B crank would be a much more sensible bet for a flat-out circuit like Spa (the front running Minis are at 8,200 revs for 58 seconds) I bought a crank, rods and pistons along with some other…

• Following in the footsteps of special Classic Minis built to celebrate big birthdays such as the 25, 30, 35 and 40, MINI is kicking off its 60th anniversary year with the introduction of a limited-edition ‘MINI 60 Years Edition’ model. Based on the latest F56 Cooper S hatch, just 500 of this worldwide edition will be available in the UK. It’s finished in New British Racing Green paint, with a black contrasting roof, plus exclusive 17-inch light alloy wheels and unique MINI Yours Leather Lounge trim in Dark Cacao, with contrast seat stitching and piping matching the new exterior paintwork – an exclusive leather for this vehicle. Standard equipment includes Navigation Plus with the larger 8.8-inch touch display with satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth connectivity, concierge service and wireless…

With year-on-year interest in Mini circuit racing at an all time high, the Mini 7 Racing club has seized the moment and the Club’s Winter Series is to be reintroduced for 2019. The Winter Series starts at Silverstone, with the first two rounds held on 30th March, on the National circuit. Next up will be rounds three, four and five, which will be held at Brands Hatch on 9-10th November. On top of the chance of a prestigious win, Brands Hatch will also offer the chance to win the prestigious 0-Plate at this meeting. The opening rounds will be part of the MG Car Club’s Silverstone race meeting, with the others giving support to the Brit Car night race at Brands Hatch in November. The Winter Series was traditionally the…

SEE YOU IN A JIFFY Name: Simon Pike Car: 1982 Jiffy Pick-up Location: The Wirral • Originally restored by Thomas Classic and Modern, this Jiffy is one of only 70 made, and owner Simon Pike tells us that there are just 12 examples left! Despite its rarity, Simon hasn’t been put off making some changes to this Classic Mini-based Pick-up kit car. These alterations include changing the alloys, with unique wheel arch extensions fitted. Elsewhere, Simon’s fitted a rear toolbox, while inside there’s some new headlining and a bit of interior work has been done. This Jiffy is powered by a standard 1275 engine, with a custom twin exhaust, too! DAILY CLASSIC Name: Lenny Shakespear Cars: 1990 Mayfair Location: Northampton • After owning several classic MGs during the ’90s, Lenny…

It took real vision to see something in the hulk of corrosion that came driving into the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee in 2011; puffing on clapped out VW power and using extra training wheels in order not to tip over. Was this really all that was left of what was once headlined ‘the most amazing automobile ever developed’? It was. But thanks to the perseverance of Jeff Lane, who runs the museum, the two-wheeled wonder is now fully restored and functioning. He demonstrated it on the manicured lawns of Pebble Beach in California last year, when it won an award on the prestigious concours d’élégance. But what is this strange vehicle? Originally unveiled in 1967, the Gyro-X was the brainchild of Thomas Summers, an American rocket scientist and…

ANTI-ROLL BAR Q I’ve bought a Mini that’s being imported into the country from Japan. It’s got a few custom Japanese mods on it, including SSR wheels and a chunky front anti-roll bar. I’ve seen a lot of Minis in the racing scene with a rear roll bar, but never a front one. Is it worth keeping on the car? I do like the look of it. Marc A Front anti-roll bars on Minis became more commonplace when the introduction of the various steel spring options to replace the rubber springs occurred – something that was generally initiated by the Japanese. This was mostly down to the inability of the steel springs to replicate the sophisticated rising rate performance of the original rubber spring design. Fitting one of the steel…

With the painting completed, it was time to get Neggy back on all four wheels. And I’m pleased to report that is now the case! A few fellow members of the A’s of Herts Mini Cub came along to help us to this stage, so big thank you for your help, Wayne and Duncan. We did the work in two stages, the first in early December. We started by dismantling the old radius arms, hubs and brakes. The parts I knew I wanted to reuse were cleaned up with a wire wheel to remove any surface rust and dirt and set to one side. We also kept some items that may be useful, and some old nuts and bolts that could possibly be used, and in the case of the…