This tiny little snippet below may not seem special, but it is something particularly interesting. We know the Mini Marcos was launched before the Mini Jem as it debuted at the Racing Car Show of January 1966. But it had been seen at races as early as in September 1965.
The MiniJem's launch took place at the Racing Car show a year later: January 1967. However, brochures and flyers handed out there state "This light efficient G.T. 2+2 was developed over two years to accept all Mini components (including the sub-frames) and yet be very strong."
And that turns out not to be an exaggeration now, as this little article dates back to February 1965. By that time the (first?) fibreglass shell was ready yet! Interestingly it doesn't name the car nor the company behind it, but it states: "A London firm hopes to market the shell in the spring or early summer." That really makes me wonder why it took another two years? Unfortunately we cannot ask Jeremy Delmar-Morgan who passed away in 2018 (click here). Now, there has been a Track Test publication in a magazine titled 'The Mini-Jem Prototype' which may well provide answers here, but unfortunately I don't have this (blurry copy below) and don't even know its source. Who can help me to it?
February 1965 article suggests the MiniJem's launch in spring or summer '65
Picture Jeroen Booij archive
But it takes the company until January 1967 to launch "After a two year development". Why?
Picture Jeroen Booij archive
This 'Track Test' article may well clarify things, but all I have is this blurry copy of it.
Who knows in which magazine this was published and when?
Picture Jeroen Booij archive