Innehållsförteckning för September 2025 från MiniWorld

Scenes thrive and evolve on diversity. If everyone was doing the same then things would rapidly stagnate, and it takes creativity and fresh thinking to nurture that vitality. The Mini has been with us for 66 years now, and there aren’t many automotive scenes with the broad-ranging embracing of differences as ours; across the decades, anything and everything has been done to the Mini, and it’s all part of the fun that the pristine, concours examples of cars that act as historical artefacts get to rub shoulders with modified and customised Minis of all types and styles, ranging from gentle period mods to out-and-out shapeshifters. Naturally it takes the odd maverick to fully step outside of convention in order to keep channelling these fresh ideas, and unorthodox ideas are always…

I first met Trevor and his wife Janet around twenty years ago. After I bought my own 1960 Austin Seven, I became fascinated with early Minis, especially early 1959s. In those days there was very little documentation about them, and hardly any cars seen at shows, most survivors were still rotting away in barns. It was a passion I shared with friends on an early internet Mini forum, through which I met Bill Bell, who was thinking of starting a 1959 Register. I’d also started helping MiniWorld where my daughter Karen was Deputy Editor at the time. She had an email from Trevor Ripley, asking if there was a 1959 Register. I suggested the two of them got together, something he frequently reminded me of whenever I saw him, he’d…

MINI SPORT SUSPENSION REFRESH KIT The Suspension Refresh Kit is the perfect solution for restoring your Mini’s suspension to its former glory while offering modern adjustability and precision. Combining genuine Moulton rubber cone springs with the advanced Mini Sport Adjusta-Ride Full Car Set, this kit is designed to improve both ride comfort and handling performance. £298.03 www.minisport.com IMM OFFICIAL T-SHIRTS In celebration of the International Mini Meeting (IMM), August 21st-25th, Mini Sport is offering a limited T-shirt featuring the event theme, Mods and Rockers. This year’s IMM will be held at Laughton Showgrounds in East Sussex, located near Brighton. It will bring back memories of the Mini in the ’60s, and the May weekend in 1964 when the Mods and Rockers clashed on Brighton Beach. The Mods Rockers Minis artwork, designed…

Always a highlight of the Mini show calendar, this year’s event organised by the Mini Cooper Register was blessed with sunny weather. This is a special show as an entry ticket also gets visitors into the excellent National Motor Museum. The show celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Monte Carlo Rally win by the late Timo Makinen, and codriver Paul Easter. The MCR arranged for AJB 44B to leave its usual home of the British Motor Museum at Gaydon to be on display in the central arena of the event. The legend himself, Paul Easter, was there as a guest of honour and was happy to chat with Mini fans and pose for photos. He even sat in the Mini during a parade of significant motorsport Minis. Many of us…

Interest in historic car racing is at an all-time high across the motoring world, and never more so than in Australia where Minis lead from the front. And a weekend at Historic Winton 2025 was as good as it gets. As a tribute to the many Mini owners who race their cars across this vast continent, the Ted Brewster Trophy was devoted to the Mini and the nine-thousand who turned up were not disappointed with bumper-to-bumper racing. Ted himself was the epitome of what can be achieved behind the wheel of the diminutive little car, often beating legendry Aussie racers in their muscle V8s and expensive sports cars. In 1963, Ted won the first of four Victorian Hillclimb Championships. He also won the Joseph Lucas Touring Car Series and in…

There’s a strong case to be made for the notion that your own happiness is more important than trying to win the approval of others. That you should stop caring about what other people think because, hey, have you met other people? Some of them are awful. Dom Mattholie should know. In his quest to build his ideal Mini, he’s had no end of abuse from the sort of keyboard warriors who love to comment ‘RUINED’ on any picture they see online of a Mini that doesn’t meet with their own ideas of how things should be. And frankly, Dom stopped giving a monkeys a long time ago. This is the Mini he always wanted to build, and he relishes the brickbats. If his ruined Mini has hurt your feelings,…

Back in the ’70s and ’80s when the more exciting forms of motorsport regularly appeared on terrestrial TV, it was most certainly a golden era for petrolheads. Those who watched Grandstand and World Of Sport on a weekend afternoon may recall such delights as the BTCC, F1 stock cars, banger racing and even caravan racing on our screens. Even the gruelling Australian Bathurst 1000 had full coverage, and one of the highlights for many was the British and European Rallycross championship. Pretty much anything could happen here within a few laps, arguably more so than during a full season of F1 these days. Little wonder that fans like Ian Johnson became instantly hooked. “I loved rallycross, as the racing was so close and there were so many incidents,” Ian recalls.…

May 18th saw Minis from the Cornish Mini Club set off on an adventure from the Falmouth Pitch and Putt, following a route along the narrow back lanes of the Lizard Peninsula. To add to the challenge, the directions sheet also had a set of observational questions designed to be answerable from the car. The run was set to take about two hours, ending at The Fat Apples café near St. Keverne just in time for opening; the team who got most questions right would win the coveted Cornish Mini Club ‘Grand Day Out 5 - Back Lanes Jolly’ mug! It was with much enthusiasm and rivalry that twelve Minis set off, and by the end of the run Mark and Bridgett Manhire came out on top and were presented…

There’s an age-old adage that’s been swirling around the mists of the car modification plains from time immemorial: ‘Start your project with the best possible base’. This can generally be interpreted, quite logically, to mean starting off with a car that has, say, straight panels, no rust, a healthy engine, or whatever else plays to your skillset. But a further dimension can be added by considering starting your project with something rare and unusual. It’s anathema to the concours chamois-buffers, but worth infinite scene points to those in the know. And it’s by following this path into the offbeat that’s seen Sean Regan create something rather special out of this limited edition Mini Thirty. There was a certain inevitability to this, really, as Sean has been into cars, tractors, trucks…

Apart from a very few Minis that have spent their lives in drier, warmer climes, at restoration time a number of panels will need replacing. Obviously, this is true of all classic vehicles but being Mini owners we are exceedingly lucky that we have a full range of new panels readily available. Now replacing a panel, whether it is a front wing or a sill panel or whatever, will always involve a bit of fettling to get a good fit. Panels never just line up ready to be welded in permanently. The fettling stage is vital and should never be rushed, getting a good fit and line up is essential for good finished results. There are a few things that will make a good fit easier to achieve. Firstly, it…

The stickers tell many tales. The Stelvio Pass, the Grossglockner, Monza, Imola, this is a Mini that gets around a bit. A Mini that’s being properly used. And that’s particularly heartening when you consider just how rare it is. You see, this isn’t just any old late-nineties Mk7 – this is a Cooper Sports LE. What’s that, you ask? Well, the ‘LE’ stands for ‘Limited Edition’, and that’s precisely what this was. Just 100 of these models were built, ostensibly with an even 50/50 split between black ones and Brooklands Green ones (although if the rumours are to be believed, the ratio was actually skewed in favour of the green…). The spec was alluring, its sumptuously trimmed interior boasting a walnut dash complemented by dark green leather across every conceivable…

Thesun beatsdown on Thruxton Retro The UK’s fastest racing circuit saw the Mighty Minis take to the track for the Thruxton Retro weekend meeting on the 21st to 22nd of June. We would be joined by other racing series such as the GT and Sports Car Cup, the FISCAR championship and the MG Racing Club. Due to having issues with their cars from the previous meeting, only 11 Mighty Minis would be racing around this circuit. The weather was set to make conditions tricky, 29-degrees Celsius was the air temperature and the track temperature was certainly a lot higher! Qualifying would be the usual 15-minute session, and for me the car felt like it was performing well through the corners and on the straights. Before qualifying we made a few…

The Thistle Run Returns! The Thistle Run began in 2000, hosted by the Scottish Mini club, the Mini Clan. The annual event became Scotland’s largest Mini run alternating each year between routes across Scotland. The format was very successful, drawing Minis from all around the UK. Unfortunately, when the Covid pandemic came in 2020, the Mini Clan fell by the wayside. For a few years it looked like the popular Thistle Run was going to be just a great memory. Then Boab Robertson, with scottishmini.co.uk, a Facebook Mini community, decided to bring it back to its prior glory. With this being the 25th anniversary, it was perfect timing to bring the event back to celebrate the Silver Jubilee run. On Sunday May 25th, the Thistle Run returned! The limit of…

An iconic name can make or break the fortunes of an automobile, as time runs grain by inexorable grain through the celestial hourglass. Some cars are able to transcend a humdrum moniker to ascend to greatness (the Maserati Quattroporte, for example – it may sound exotic to an Anglo-Saxon ear, but ‘Four-door’ is hardly an inspiring name), while others are pulled up on the coattails of arguably inappropriate titles: the Mazda Bongo Friendee, for instance. Without that astounding badge there’d be little reason to buy one, and yet they shifted units like nobody’s business. Carrera, for Porsche, is the proverbial double-edged sword. Initially they started gluing this badge onto 356s to celebrate their mighty prowess in the Carrera Panamericana, a race so uncompromising that even finishing in one piece was…

I am the proud owner of a 1997 Rover Cooper MPI with only 25k miles on the clock. Until recently the SRS system was behaving perfectly with the light being illuminated when the ignition was turned on and going out a few seconds later. However, a few months ago for no apparent reason, the light started coming back on after going out, indicating a fault with the system. I’ve consulted the Haynes manual and internet forums which have received conflicting advice. After taking the appropriate precautions (disconnecting the battery and waiting 60 mins), I’ve removed the airbag and tested the rotary coupler as I was told this was a common problem. It seems to have continuity through 360-degrees and I note that the horn works which I’m told often doesn’t…

Jack Gray has been a Mini fan for most of his adult life. “I’ve been into Minis for quite a long time as I had one as my first car, which I owned from when I was 18 to 21. Since then I’ve always had an interest in them. Then I went to 1100s and 1300s; I never forgot about Minis though,” he explains. A love of motorsport and fast cars soon developed. “When I was young in the 1960s, I used to go and watch Minis racing at Snetterton and Brands Hatch. Then I had to go to work and life went by, but around 25 years ago a friend of mine had a Lotus Elan which he bought when we were about 27-ish.” Sadly, the Elan was damaged…

We’re generally conditioned as a species to believe that there are two ways of doing things: the right way, and the wrong way. A lot of people willingly adhere to this so firmly that they get annoyed and even angry when they see others doing things in a way that they wouldn’t, which really is a barmy way to behave when you think about it. After all, crucial to the advancement of the species, as well as to general day-to-day comfort and enjoyment, is to factor in a little malleability. Without pioneers and creative thinkers stepping off the established path and trying some new ideas, nothing would ever move forward. You’ve got to be flexible in your mindset, it’s what keeps existence interesting. Now, it’s not exactly a controversial statement…

It couldn’t be easier to sign up for a whole year of great Mini content than with a subscription to MiniWorld, the magazine that loves the original Mini just as much as you do. Join the MiniWorld family and you’ll be part of the ever-growing community that adores everything about this all-time British favourite. Each issue is jam-packed with amazing feature cars, from superbly finished restoration projects to brilliantly modified examples. Not to mention exclusive news, club information, technical and historical features, plus event reviews. There’s also a classified section that can get you on the road to enjoying the whole Mini scene. Guarantee your copy 12 times a year with a subscription to MiniWorld and have each issue delivered directly to your door – sent out in plastic-free, recyclable,…