The BP Buildacar Competition sprouted a whole range of Mini based cars between 1972 and 1986, some of which have been seen here before. Click here for the 1974 Cranleigh entry and here for the Phoenix of the same year. Canadian reader and regular tipster Miguel Plano now pointed me towards the 1978 competition, which saw another Mini based entry as its winner. The car in question was named 'Add-a-car' and was built by the boys of Southbrook Comprehensive School of Daventry. The trick was that it could be turned from a nippy 4-wheeler town car into a roomier six-wheeler / six-seater by simply adding a fastback-ish rear with clips! And there is film footage of it, too, see below and scroll to 1 minute 52. I know of several competition cars surviving. So how about this one?
Apart from the video, I found a little article about the 1978 competition, which I quote from here: "BP Oil's Buildacar Competition, which is part of the company's 'challenge to youth' scheme, is to be widened to include non-oil sources of energy, such as electricity, coal, steam and wind. Natural or liquid gas is excluded because of its hazards. Schools taking part in the project are to produce a study of the form of personal-transport likely to be used in towns in 2025. Southbrook Comprehensive School, Daventry, won the finals staged two months ago. Pupils produced a revolutionary 'Add-A-car."
Apart from the video, I found a little article about the 1978 competition, which I quote from here: "BP Oil's Buildacar Competition, which is part of the company's 'challenge to youth' scheme, is to be widened to include non-oil sources of energy, such as electricity, coal, steam and wind. Natural or liquid gas is excluded because of its hazards. Schools taking part in the project are to produce a study of the form of personal-transport likely to be used in towns in 2025. Southbrook Comprehensive School, Daventry, won the finals staged two months ago. Pupils produced a revolutionary 'Add-A-car."