Unique Fletcher GT: stolen and burnt

December 3, 2015, 6:38 am

≫ Next: High mileage Peel is a one-owner car

Prepare yourselves for some awful news. Maximum Mini enthusiast from the first hour, Paul Ogle, sent me a message today about the car that's been his pride and joy for all the years that I know him: the Fletcher GT. Paul had it for some 10 years, during which time he found out much of its checkered history and restored it, too. More on its history here. I am very sorry to hear the Fletcher now no longer is with us. This is what Paul wrote:

"Hi Jeroen. Thanks for putting up the details regarding next years Blyton Park Action Day. It really is a fantastic event that's developing there and I am glad I was able to attend the first two previous years. Seeing this has however reminded me of the sad loss that I have to share with you. I havent felt able to put this picture up so far as I've been very ill and couldn't face sharing bad news. Devestatingly 'Kirsty', as she was known will not be able to attend next year's Blyton meeting as she has been stolen and found burnt out. They say a picture paints a thousand words. The world clearly still has many complete twats in it."
I feel with you Paul and I'm sure I'm not alone.

The Fletcher GT at Castle Combe during the 'Hagley 100' in August 1966

Picture courtesy Paul Ogle

Paul with the Fletcher GT in happier times. This was back in February 2007

Picture Jeroen Booij

While this is all that's left of the car - known as 'Kirsty' - now. Paul is devastated

Picture courtesy Paul Ogle

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High mileage Peel is a one-owner car

December 9, 2015, 3:47 am

≫ Next: What is the Best Find of 2015?

≪ Previous: Unique Fletcher GT: stolen and burnt

Some great old pictures and tales of another Peel Viking Minisport owner were sent over to me by a reader of this blog recently. He got them from the Robert Tierney, who owns it since new! The car is based on a 1960 Mini 850 De Luxe and was retired from general use in 1986 with 489,000 miles on the clock. Yes - 489 thousand miles. That's about 25,000 miles a year for 20 years in a row!

Tierney wrote: "Later on the roof was painted white to reduce the heat in summer. The black and white pictures show the enlarged boot - this often caused consternation to those overtaking as they though they were only passing a Mini Van! It used an 1100 engine with 3.44 diff ratio and latterly changed primary drive gears. At an indicated 80 mph (speedo was for a 3.77 diff ratio) mpg was around 50 and the car was fitted with 2 x 5.5m gall tanks - so she had a very good range. We had 2 children at the time and had a Messerschmit 3-wheeler. We were known as the only 2-car family in which the largest car was a Mini! I am currently building an extension to the house but refurbishing the Peel is the next project - it's not for sale."

A one-owner Peel Viking with 498,000 miles on the clock. That has to be unique

Picture courtesy Robert Tierney

'Enlarged boot' caused consternation during the many travels it made, says owner

Picture courtesy Robert Tierney

Colour shot dates from 1966 - the year this Peel came on the road. It retired 20 years later

Picture courtesy Robert Tierney

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What is the Best Find of 2015?

December 10, 2015, 1:09 am

≫ Next: Wide bodied beauties?

≪ Previous: High mileage Peel is a one-owner car

The end of 2015 is getting near, which means it's time to make up which the best find of the past year here - a Maximum Mini tradition. So far this year, 11 Mini variants worth noting were found in sheds, lock-ups, gardens and garages and I made a selection out of 5 of them.

You will find the cars that have made it to the contest below. To vote simply go to the poll on the right side of this blog (click here if you read this through an email message) where you tick the box of your favourite find. The one with the most votes wins - it's simple as that. Now, over to the candidates.

1. The Spanish coachbuilt Cooper by Taka-Hira

A coachbuilt Mini, but not as we know it. This 1964 Mini Cooper was discovered by Francisco Carrión in Spain and turned out to be coachbuilt by Roger Taka-Hira. Full story here.

2. The Freewheelers Mini Bug

A beautiful Stimson Mini Bug was found in Switzerland (click), but it didn't have television history like the one that was found by Barry Tibury. Full story here.

3. The German lock-up Landar

In the summer of 2015 one of the four Landar R7s built came out of a lock-up in Germany. It turned out to be the second car built in 1970. Full story here.

4. The Ranger threesome

After reader Ian Whitehead bought a project Ranger Cub he found another two of them, or at least the bodies plus a spare chassis frame. Full story here.

5. The Shropshire Mini Jem

You don't see a Mini Jem Mk1 very often, but Richard Proudlove found one in his native Shropshire. In a bad shape but all time warp and complete. Full story here.

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Wide bodied beauties?

December 15, 2015, 1:19 am

≫ Next: A Mini Marcos at Mugello

≪ Previous: What is the Best Find of 2015?

I love period modifications, but generally prefer to keep cars fairly standard. But who am I? There are plenty of other people out there with very different tastes, too. See below some pictures I came across recently. Not my taste, but worth sharing here never the less. What do you think?

A De Joux Mini GT is rare, but this one - used for hill climbing - has to be unique

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Not one Mini Marcos is the same, but this one stands out from most of them!

Picture source unknown

And another with severe body mods. Would be a good snow plough this winter, too

Picture source unknown

This GTM has almost doubled its width by adding massive flares for those ultra wide wheels

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Even the Unipower GT doesn't escape the hands of the body building enthusiast

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

And another one. This car has by now been built back to its standard body shape

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

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A Mini Marcos at Mugello

December 17, 2015, 5:58 am

≫ Next: Seasons greetings

≪ Previous: Wide bodied beauties?

Another nice picture find by reader Ralph Hamilton: the Mini Marcos of Roy Johnson and Guy Edwards at the Gran Premio del Mugello in July 1966. The car, registered 'KLP 7D' was green with a white band, as can be seen in a picture of it the Nurburgring, which was taken a month later. The car was entered with 1300cc power and supposedly did not class for Mugello. So was this shot taken during practice? It seems to have been hot at least, for they were driving without the bonnet. What's more: what happened to it afterwards?

July 1966: the Johnson/Edwards Mini Marcos in the Gran Premio del Mugello

Picture Jeroen Booij archive / Ralph Hamilton

The same car, now in colour, and a month earlier at the 1000 kms of the Nurburgring

Picture courtesy Jesse Alexander

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Seasons greetings

December 24, 2015, 12:32 am

≫ Next: Maximum Mini Christmas puzzle 2015

≪ Previous: A Mini Marcos at Mugello

Tomorrow you'll find the traditional Christmas puzzle on this page, but for now I already wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year with lots of Mini (based) motoring to all readers of this blog and all other Maximum Mini fans. Thank you for your support in 2015 and don't forget to vote for the 'Best Find of 2015'!

Rendering by Jeroen Booij. Cars: Taylorspeed Mini Jem and Camber GT

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Maximum Mini Christmas puzzle 2015

December 24, 2015, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Happy New Year - and we have a winner, or two

≪ Previous: Seasons greetings

Time for tradition. The theme for this year's Christmas puzzle is: derivatives doors. I don't think it's too difficult and so there is a tie break question below in case more then one competitor come up with the right answers. The idea is simple as always: you give the full name and model designation of the 25 cars that these doors belong to and the first who has them all right wins a copy of Maximum Mini 2 plus a Maximum Mini poster. Send your answers via the comments below up until December 31 of this year. Good luck!

Tie break question: which three Mini based cars were raced at Brands Hatch during Boxing Day in 1962, 1963 and 1966 respectively?

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Happy New Year - and we have a winner, or two

January 4, 2016, 5:43 am

≫ Next: 2016 Is going to be a Unipower year

≪ Previous: Maximum Mini Christmas puzzle 2015

2016 Is here but let's start the year here with a final look back to 2015. You voted the German Landar R7 as the Best Find of 2015 with 52% of the (69) votes). The car is now owned by Heiko Tegeder who is planning a restoration, together with his son. He says: "We'd like to get it on the track again where we think it belongs. We don't know many race classes but maybe a few come up in the future (I know a track day which would suit it very fine! - JB). The car's body is quite poor and I would like to recreate some parts. The first attempt will be to get the car running before it will probably get stripped completely. All the brakes are tight and have to get reworked and I am busy with that currently. The body is complete (except for one central lid) but of course worn after several years of racing. It seems that they never had a bad accident with the car for it's in a real good shape." Congratulations with your first title with the Landar Heiko and I look much forwards to seeing the car in the future.

Meanwhile, we have another winner - that of the Maximum Mini Christmas puzzle. Nigel Drage-Dawes was the first to answer all the questions correctly, but another player was over 5 hours earlier revealing his list and made just 1 mistake. What's more: he mistook the Ogle SX1000's door for that of a Fletcher GT and I have to confess you won't be able to distinguish the one from the other. He also answered the tiebreaker better then expected. I was looking at the Fletcher GT for the 1966 Brands Hatch Boxing Day entry. He added that for this race a Mini Marcos and the Minnow GT were entered, too, which is absolutely correct! So, sorry Nigel, but Neil 'The Marcos Graveyard' Kilbane wins this year's puzzle. Please send over your address details and a book and poster will be on their way to you. Congrats!

The right answers were:

1. Saga; 2. Camarotta; 3. Foers Nomad; 4. Jiffy; 5. Coldwell GT; 6. Aurora BMC; 7. ASD Hobo; 8. Minissima; 9. RTV; 10. Sekura Mini; 11. Boro GT; 12. Mean Sonora; 13. Fisher Spyder; 14. Roles XS-3 Roadstar; 15. Landar R7; 16. Elswick Envoy; 17. Whitby Mini-Warrior; 18. ESAP Minimach GT; 19. Metron; 20. Ogle SX1000; 21. Sabre Sprint; 22. Mini Michelotti ADO70; 23. Birchall McCoy; 24. Butterfield Musketeer; 25. Mini Marcos Mk3.

Tiebreaker:

1962 - Butterfield Musketeer; 1963 - Deep Sanderson 105; 1966 - Fletcher GT, Mini Marcos plus Minnow GT.

The things you can find in German lock-ups… This Landar R7 is our 'Find of 2015'

Picture courtesy Heiko Tegeder

Heiko is planning a restoration and hopes to race from this seat in the (near) future

Picture courtesy Heiko Tegeder

No differences in doors - Ogle SX1000 on the left; Fletcher GT on the right…

Pictures Jeroen Booij archive

Tiebreaker: the quirky Minnow GT was indeed raced at Brands Hatch at Boxing Day '66

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

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2016 Is going to be a Unipower year

January 5, 2016, 11:34 am

≫ Next: Finally: pictures of the Stimson Trek that was autotested

≪ Previous: Happy New Year - and we have a winner, or two

Happy New Year folks! I do not know what you are up to, but I have been overwhelmed with Unipower news in the last month or so. Where do I start?

First of all it's 50 years since the car debuted on stand number 60 at the 1966 London Racing Car Show in Olympia. The programme book mentioned the GT and a Spyder version, but I don't believe the latter ever made it to the public. To celebrate the car's 50th long-time Unipower aficionado and owner of several GT's, Gerry Hulford, is planning an anniversary meeting at around May 2016 - 50 years after the first car was delivered. Gerry has teamed up with Unipower instigator Ernie Unger to do so and is currently looking for a suitable location in the south of England. Interested parties contact Gerry on unipower2015@btinternet.com, restricting the event to current and past owners of GTs along with the principal management of the two companies who built the cars and any ex-competition drivers.

On another note, Gerry had some interesting facts to share about two cars that came by here last year. First there was the yellow one registered 'GEM 911G' and spotted in Japan by an avid reader recently (see here). Gerry says it definitely is not an ex-works race car. In fact he rebuilt the car himself using parts from a car 'that was a total wreck and whose chassis was totally rusted away'! Gerry says the then-owner planned to track the car and he deliberately made the additions unlike any original ‘race’ Unipower 'so that it would never be considered what it is not'. It used a 1340cc engine at the time but the owner sold the car soon after it was completed. The other car he knew more about was the one from Luxemburg (here). Supposedly the ex-Motor Show car of 1967 and road-driven to Luxemburg to its new owner, a Count Volpi no less, by the factory. In March 1968 the car was bought by Tom Zettinger. Gerry says it was totally stripped, body off, 20 years later in 1988 before being put up for sale at that time for £3,200. What happened to it afterwards remains unknown to him.

Back to now, you may have noticed that a 'Unipower barn find' came to the market last week. Well, that description was perhaps a tad optimistic. The Unipower in question offered on Ebay didn't exist of much more then an incomplete and damaged Mk2 body, without any identification. To turn it into a car you'll have to source or build more then just a chassis as just about anything is missing. However, the chap who bought it did contact me and it seems it is in good hands with him. He has some very nice plans with it of which I'll keep you updated here. Watch this space.

Meanwhile, a Unipower GT Facebook page was started by Blyton Park co-organizer Pete Flanagan, who so nicely restored the Janspeed car. He is hoping to be able to find out some new information and cars through this page and I've seen some very nice pictures come along on it. It may help to boost the planned 50th anniversary? Have a look here when you are interested. And keep those snippets coming.

This is the only picture I have of the Unipower GT mule, test driven by Tony Lanfranchi in 1965

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

It was 50 years ago today… The Unipower GT debuts at the Racing Car Show in London

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Time for an anniversary party in May, hopefully with a good turnout of cars

Picture Jeroen Booij archive / courtesy Tim Carpenter

Defintely not an ex-works car - this Unipower was rebuilt from a wreck years ago by Gerry Hulford

Picture courtesy Scuderia Old Timer

'Unipower barn find' may have been an exaggeration, but who knows what this will lead to

Picture courtesy Ebay

One of the photographs, unknown to me, that appeared on the new Unipower GT Facebook page

Picture courtesy Facebook

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Finally: pictures of the Stimson Trek that was autotested

January 7, 2016, 4:58 am

≫ Next: The German Peel does exist!

≪ Previous: 2016 Is going to be a Unipower year

It's been over a year ago that I wrote about Mike Bennett's efforts in autotesting a Stimson Trek, but Mike came back to me this week after he found some forgotten pictures of it in a old shoe box. The Trek must have been one of the stranger entries in the sport, but Mike didn't do bad at all with the tall Trek. He got it after he managed to roll the company's demonstrator, saying: "I was very concerned that I had damaged their car but Sandy and John were very pleased! They had been trying to roll the car on the beach to prove that the roof bars were strong enough and had not managed to do so."

You can read the full article here, and these pictures nicely complement it now. Mike wrote: "Hi Jeroen, I have just found some old photos of my autotest Trek, you included my note about it in your blog a while ago. The picture of it competing was at the BTRDA National Autotest championship round in Bolton in 1984, we came third behind Russ Swift and John Underwood - who was also a British Champion. The picture at the show was in Olympia, the Yellow autotest special was John Underwoods, the blue Mini was John Wilson's, I later bought the blue Mini to replace the Trek and went on to win the BTRDA Mini championship twice." Thanks very much Mike!

Built from a 1973 Mini 1275 GT, Mike's Stimson Trek was anything but an ordinary auto test car

Picture courtesy Mike Bennett

Initially it was a handful to autotest, says Mike, but he scored a string of 3rds in the season

Picture courtesy Mike Bennett

Mike in (on?) the Trek in action during the National Autotest championship in Bolton in 1984

Picture courtesy Mike Bennett

In between John Underwoods' and John Wilson's auto test Minis and quite a lot taller

Picture courtesy Mike Bennett

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The German Peel does exist!

January 13, 2016, 5:06 am

≫ Next: Racing Car Show 1966 - Broadspeed GT

≪ Previous: Finally: pictures of the Stimson Trek that was autotested

I'd heard the story of a Peel Viking in northern Germany quite a few times, but had never seen any proof of its existence. Well, I can now confirm it does exist,, despite being a shell only. The owner, Thomas Schubert, recently got in touch for a book and mentioned between the lines that he was a Peel owner, too. My curiosity was rewarded when he sent over this picture. The shell actually is one built by Andrew Carter in 2002, who made very few of them. Thomas plans to turn it into a car one day, but has more projects at hand so it will have to wait a little longer.

Thomas Peel body actually is a repro made in 2002, seen here in his shrine

Picture courtesy Thomas Schubert

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Racing Car Show 1966 - Broadspeed GT

January 19, 2016, 1:33 am

≫ Next: Racing Car Show 1966: Landar R6

≪ Previous: The German Peel does exist!

Historically speaking, today is a bit of a milestone for lovers of Mini derivatives. It is on this day 50 years ago that the doors opened to the 7th Racing Car Show in London. And although the previous six editions had seen several Mini based sports cars - the 1966 edition topped them all with the Mini variant scene brimming as never before. They were simply not to be missed. And so, looking back, this was the best year for us lot. So let's have a look back at the cars on that great Olympia show, in alphabetical order starting with the 'B' for the Broadspeed GT today. Broadspeed Engineering Ltd. of Birmingham took a whole load of go-faster goodies to London - cylinder heads, carburetors, camshafts, manifolds, exhaust systems, tachometers and a 'reverse gear gate stop' - the majority of them for the Mini, but also for the Austins and Morrises 1100 and 1800.

But star of stand number 46 was undoubtedly the Broadspeed GT 2+2 in Old English White. The car made it to several magazines, also aided by a model in a super trendy outfit - the same suit they'd used for brochure shots. The Italians liked it and wrote about the GT in Auto Italiana, not forgetting the girl. They asked her name and Liz Corbett posed for them with a smile. I have tried to find Liz but so far to no avail. Let us know if you come across this write up Liz! Remarkably, a Broadspeed press release also states that 'demonstration runs in the GTS competition version can be arranged during the show, by appointment.', so the GTS probably was parked outside. As you will know both cars survive today in the hands of Chris Wooden. Happy anniversary to them! Tomorrow: Camber GT and Cox GTM.

Advertisement for the Broadspeed stand - simple but catchy

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Getting ready for the show - Broadspeed GT looks great. Behind it the Le Mans Sprite

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Ralph Broad knew of another way to attract the man and hired Liz Corbett as a model

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

And now smile! Auto Italiana magazine liked her too. Where are you now Liz?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

A plaque commemorating the Racing Car Show stand, seen in a Broadspeed GT

Picture Jeroen Booij

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Racing Car Show 1966: Landar R6

January 20, 2016, 3:10 am

≫ Next: Racing Car Show 1966: MiniSprint

≪ Previous: Racing Car Show 1966 - Broadspeed GT

Oops. I made a mistake in writing yesterday that the Camber GT and Cox GTM were launched at the 7th Racing Car Show, exactly 50 years ago. They weren't! In fact both of them were unveiled a year later, and so I'll have to wait for another year to mark their anniversary. No problem. There were still some more launches of Mini based cars at the Olympia show not to be missed. The Landar R6, for example, which was shown on stand number 46.

But hang on, that number was reserved for Broadspeed Engineering Ltd and their GT, wasn't it? Indeed it was. But Ralph Broad's creation wasn't on its own on stand 46. When you look at one of yesterday's pictures, you'll spot a covered up car next to the Broadspeed, which was the first production Landar R6. Painted on its side: 'Team Landar powered by Broadspeed'. Well, well, it seems that Landar's Peter and Clive Radnall were good chums with Ralph Broad, also from Birmingham. In fact they borrowed model Liz Corbett, too! She is seen on this picture in the diminutive Landar R6 with the same sharp suit in which we saw her yesterday. Groovy!

Stand 46 - were two exiting Mini derivatives rubbed shoulders: Broadspeed GT and Landar R6

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Hey, we've seen that face before! Liz Corbett, here in the Broadspeed powered Landar R6

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

A price list handed out on the 1966 Racing Car Show by Landar Components Ltd.

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

These are brother Peter and Clive Radnall with the alloy bodied Landar R6 prototype in 1965

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Like Broadspeed, Landar took a load of accessories to stand number 46

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

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Racing Car Show 1966: MiniSprint

January 21, 2016, 5:16 am

≫ Next: Racing Car Show 1966: Peel Viking and Mini Marcos

≪ Previous: Racing Car Show 1966: Landar R6

We can hop from one stand to another: yesterday's Landar R6 could (under covers) be seen on the Broadspeed GT picture of Tuesday; today's MiniSprint was spotted by eagle-eyed reader Pete Flanagan yesterday! Indeed, a peak of the car on stand 45 - located next to that of Broadspeed and Landar - could be seen. This stand was run by the GT Equipment Company, although the brochure mentions Gran Turismo Wheels as the entrant. Anyway: they were selling sporty motoring accessories here, again, from wooden steering wheels to 'John Surtees driving gloves'. And the MiniSprint must have come in last minute, only to be unveiled right here - 50 years ago. The picture below is the only one that I know of of the car on display there You can just see the 'RRW1' registration - this is Rob Walker's personal car as seen in the brochure and in several magazine reports, too. Who has more pictures?

The GT Equipment stand must have squeezed the MiniSprint in at the last minute

Picture courtesy Autocar magazine

The brochures may not yet have been printed - this flyer was handed out on stand 45

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

That's Rob Walker with his Sprint in front of his infamous Corsley Garage

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

And here goes to show the considerable size reduction of the Sprint

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

This ad was printed in the Racing Car Show program booklet, showing one of the first Sprints built

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

And the same car (edit: not the same - see Pete's comment below) making its entry at the Maximum Mini/Mk1 Performance Track day in 2014

Picture Jeroen Booij

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Racing Car Show 1966: Peel Viking and Mini Marcos

January 25, 2016, 3:03 am

≫ Next: Racing Car Show 1966: Unipower GT

≪ Previous: Racing Car Show 1966: MiniSprint

50 Years back in time, the 7th Racing Car Show was still brimming in Olympia with even more Mini based surprises that were unveiled at the spot. The Peel Viking and the Mini Marcos were another two of them, and several magazine reports compared them. Sports Car Graphic, an American motoring magazine with a soft spot for British oddities, wrote: "Another method of transforming a Mini into a thing of beauty is to throw the body away completely and hang the two end assemblies beneath a replacement body shell. This is the Marcos-technique. Their Mini Marcos being offered in several states of trim, from bare glassfibre up to a fully-finished structure, including glazing and some interior trim. This is quite a good looking car (it was shown as just a shell, and as a complete 'runner'), a somewhat happier result than provided by a similar structure marketed as the Viking Peel, and manufactured in the Isle of Man, off England's West coast, and the scene of well-known hair-rasing activities on two wheels."

Marcos Cars Components Ltd. had great plans with their very cheap (199 GBP) wonder car, and hired a big stand. Number 15 . Now, I've seen plenty of pictures from Marcos later stands at the Racing Car Show (here for example) but strangely not a single picture taken at the 1966 show. Perhaps a reader has? I expect the car on display to have been '919 PYB', which was Marcos' demonstrator at the time, but it would be nice to see this confirmed. Of the Peel Viking there is little more pictorial evidence, and again it is my guess that the car on display was the one registered 'HUE 177D' - that car was later used in auto crossing and does not survive. Looking back at the 1966 show, Peel founder Cyril Cannell said a few years before his death: "This was a great opportunity to meet some of the most prominent designers and builders in the racing a sports car field, at least one of whom subsequently produced a car using virtually the same technology." He clearly meant the Marcos there, which became of course the best known Mini based car in history, while his Peel never achieved a status like that.

Only picture that I know of showing the Peel Viking at the 1966 Racing Car Show

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Like several other mags, Autocar compared the two, here with beautiful drawings by John Hostler

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

This early ad for the Peel Viking dates back to 1965, prior to the show, when the car was still marketed by its original builder - Peel Engineering Ltd. By January '66, Viking Performances Ltd. had taken over

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

This was probably the Peel Viking shown in Olympia in that year. It ended up auto crossing

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

While this must have been the fully-built car on display with Marcos Cars Components Ltd.

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The 20-page Mini Marcos brochure handed out at stand number 15 in January 1966

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

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Racing Car Show 1966: Unipower GT

January 26, 2016, 12:13 am

≫ Next: Is this really the only Autocars Marcos survivor?

≪ Previous: Racing Car Show 1966: Peel Viking and Mini Marcos

It's the 26th of January today - the last day of the Racing Car Show in London exactly 50 years ago. So let's have one more look back at one of many Mini based cars debuting here: the Unipower GT. Universal Power Drives Ltd. hired stand number 60 and dressed it with a fully finished car as well as a complete rolling chassis. There are several good pictures of this cool display and one of them shows the car from a low frontal view, revealing there are no air intakes below the front grille as on production cars. Could it be the aluminum bodied prototype that was built by Peel Coachworks in Kingston on Thames? That didn't have the signature intakes of the production cars either. Like the production chassis' the tubular space frame chassis on show was built by Arch Motors, close to Peel's premises, and gave clear sight on the twin masters cylinders, clever gear linkage and suspension and of course the Mini engine; a 998cc with 55bhp according to the program booklet.

In an interview in Which Kit? magazine Unipower-instigator Ernie Unger told some 10 years ago that the Unipower name actually came about due to some pressure of getting things ready for the show. Initially the car was christened Hustler GT, but when that name went to one of Universal Power Drives forklifts, a new name was needed, and rather quickly too. Unger: "We had to get the brochures printed in time for the car's launch at the Racing Car Show and there was an element of panic. As the company already had the Unipower name registered, someone, in desperation, suggested that we call it the Unipower." Perhaps not a bad decision after all. The Racing Car Show programme booklet mentions an 'Open Spyder' version 'with detachable hard top panels available to readily convert the open car to the closed specification', but that was stillborn.

Unger recalls in the same interview that the GT got plenty of attention during the show. Not in the last place from a man he much admired: "Carlo Abarth and his entourage spent hours on our stand, which made the day rather special for me. They crawled all over the car, eager to find out what made it tick." Maybe the GT inspired Abarth for some of his designs? Who will tell?

Debutant: the Unipower GT on stand 60 of Universal Power Drives in January 1966

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The bare chassis gave a good idea of what the car looked like underneath those swift lines

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The tubular space frame, built by Arch Motors, gave a good idea of the GT's layout

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

It may not be Monika Dietrich but in 1966 the Unipower GT attracted the ladies too!

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

And now in colour - note lack of air intakes below grille. Could this be the aluminum bodied prototype,

built by Peel Coachworks in 1965?

Picture courtesy Keith Johnson / Jeroen Booij archive

Despite having a different shade of grey, this may be the same car? Seen here in May 1966

Picture courtesy Peter Sellers / Jeroen Booij archive

And photographed by none other then Peter Sellers, who is said to have owned a Unipower himself

Picture courtesy Peter Sellers / Jeroen Booij archive

↧

Is this really the only Autocars Marcos survivor?

February 2, 2016, 3:00 am

≫ Next: Stimson's stories (4)

≪ Previous: Racing Car Show 1966: Unipower GT

Autocars, the Israel based motor manufacturer built Standard Triumphs under a license, but planned to broaden their range with a model of their own in the late 1960s. In order to do this Autocars co-founder Yitzhak Shubinski teamed up with the late Jem Marsh to design and build a fiberglass bodied but Mini based car. Marsh flew to Israel in late 1969 were he found the works “A shambles with apparent little concern for work or production targets”, but never the less signed a contract. Back in Westbury, he started work on building three or four prototypes with estate bodies, while another two saloons followed in 1970. The estates were called W90 and were yellow, blue and red according to Marcos Heritage-man Rory McMath; the saloons were called W95. Unfortunately it all lead to nothing and both models never made it to the (Israelean) market.

But I wonder what happened to these prototypes. One of the estates was crash tested at MIRA, while another was used by Jem's wife Judith as a practical utility for years before being restored in 1992 by the Marcos Owner's Club. After the restoration it was sold to the Maruyama collection where it remains to this day. Another estate is said to have been languishing in an orchard not far from the old Marcos factory in Westbury, but there is no evidence. Fact is that one of the saloons ended up as a toy car in a Tel Aviv kindergarten! It was there photographed by Yohay Shinar in the 1990s, but disappeared soon after. And so the Maruyama-car is the only one I have ever seen. Is there anyone out here who knows more about the others?

The W90 estate just after the restoration in 1992 - is it the only Autocars Marcos surviving?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

As I saw the car in 2008 - it's stored outside which hasn't done it too much good

Picture Jeroen Booij

The interior is a match of things old and new, with an interesting dashboard

Picture Jeroen Booij

The engine is believed to be a 998 Cooper. According to Kazuo Maruyama it's fast, too

Picture Jeroen Booij

This is the W95 saloon as seen in a Tel Aviv kindergarten by Yohay Shinar years ago

Picture Yohah Shinar

Sloping roof and different back end for the saloon. Bodies were of excellent quality

Picture Yohah Shinar

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Stimson's stories (4)

February 5, 2016, 4:45 am

≫ Next: A Mini based eight- (8) wheeler!

≪ Previous: Is this really the only Autocars Marcos survivor?

Well, more pictures then stories this time, but some very nice material never the less. It's not very often that you see moving images of a Stimson MiniBug being auto crossed in period. You see it here, thanks to the ever enthusiastic Barry and Caroline Stimson, who dug it out from some old boxes. The car driven seriously fast seen here is the rare racing version of the MiniBug; the CS+2, driven by autocross-champion John Bevan, who was sponsored by Cars & Car Conversions magazine at the time - they wrote about his exploits on a monthly basis. Some more info here. Enjoy the film for now!

Video courtesy Barry & Caroline Stimson

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A Mini based eight- (8) wheeler!

February 11, 2016, 7:16 am

≫ Next: Badging the Ogles

≪ Previous: Stimson's stories (4)

Just when you think you've seen it all, someone drops in a line with something you'd never thought of before. Well, it happens to me every now and the line that Chaz Ing dropped this week was another eye opener. I know of many Mini based four-wheelers; I've seen quite a few Mini-based three-wheelers, there have been several Mini based six-wheelers and I even know about Mini based two-wheelers and Mini based tracked vehicles. But a Mini based eight-wheeler? Good grief, I did not know that existed.

But it does, and there is in fact one for sale in Powys, Wales, at the moment - see the ad here. It's an ATV Argocat, which I did know as a two-stroke twin cylinder powered contraption, offered for sale by Crayford Auto Development of Kent. Yep, they were the same company which converted Minis into convertibles since 1962. I don't know if this four-wheel steered 1000cc Mini automatic powered version comes from them, too, but I'd love to find out.

This ATV Argocat does use Mini power to drive eight wheels, two of them removed here

Picture courtesy Ebay.co.uk

The 1000 engine is placed longitudinally next to seat. How is it constructed to drive the wheels?

Picture courtesy Ebay.co.uk

This contraption appears to have nearly been buried in Wales until not too long ago. It's for sale now

Picture courtesy Ebay.co.uk

Crayford's Argocat sold strong in the 1970s, but did they ever build a Mini based version?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

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Badging the Ogles

February 15, 2016, 7:42 am

≫ Next: Landar R6 in full Technicolor

≪ Previous: A Mini based eight- (8) wheeler!

When I visited Markus Tanner about a year ago in Switzerland he showed me an unusual Ogle badge that he'd found while on the hunt for SX1000 parts (he restored this car beautifully). It certainly was similar to the ones used on both of the SX1000's c-pillars, but this one simply came on a heavy black base. Like Markus, I had no idea what it was meant for. David Ogle's paperweight perhaps? While searching a picture last week I came across the thing again and compared it to some other photographs I'd taken of Ogle badges. It appeared to me there were some differences in between them. Here's what I found: