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What was the Alda Jem?
An interesting message came from Dave Transom who lives in Australia. You may have heard of the Aussie-built Taylorspeed Mini Jem, but Dave comes up with a possible new variant: the Alda Jem. He...
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Grand Mini's 60th celebrations
With 2019 being the Mini's 60th anniversary year there has been a great number of events this Summer, and I don't think more Mini derivatives have ever been seen to join the festivities. Over in Japan,...
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New Unipower GT bodies in the making
When you come across thesepages regularly you may recognize the name of Terry Smith. Terry is a Scotsman who built the Mini based Metron in 1971 when he was 23 (see Maximum Mini 2 for the full story -...
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Mystery Mini Derivative (62): Dutch Beach Car
Spotted by none other than my own mother (thank you mum!), this Mini seems to be a private attempt to turn a Mini into some kind of a Beach Car with a T-bar but no roof. Perhaps something in the spirit...
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More images of Uruguayan Mini based coupe emerge
I have recently been sent some more magazine-sourced images of the mysterious Padován GT and thought it would be a good moment to see if someone might just remember it.Inspired by the Mini Marcos and /...
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MDVs for sale
If you ever thought the 1983 MDV would be your ideal Metro or Mini based workhorse, then you should act now. Of the very few cars built two are on the market right now.First of them is located in...
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Mystery Mini Derivative (63)
Now here's one Mystery Mini Derivative that has been haunting me for a long time. So far, all we know is that the car was seen (and photographed) in St Ives in Cornwall somewhere in early 1983 by a man...
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Sabre owner looking for Sabre owners
Since it isn't clear how many Sabre Sprints and Sabre Varios were made exactly in the mid-1980s owner Ron Palgrave now plans to register as many as he can. He wrote to me: "Hi Jeroen. I am the owner of...
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More Landar images unearthed
Reader Graham Nevil has surprised me before with some great Landar memories, he managed to dig out some more, writing:"Hi Jerome, Greetings to yourself and time for some more Landar pictures! These...
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Quite a line up of Mini derivative shells and moulds!
Arch Maximum Mini enthusiast Tony Bucknall of ABS MotorSport has been buying, selling, building and modifying Mini based cars and moulds for them for decades now, and continues to do so. As a matter of...
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One-off Nimbus Sprint project for sale
With just 24 bodies made, the Nimbus Coupe is a rare car. The one seen below is one of them, but it was turned into something very different by none other than the designer himself: Ian Shearer. Ian...
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Mini variants in 'massive barn find collection'
NCM Auctioneers is selling a remarkable lot of classic cars, which they call a 'massive barn find collection'. The sale lists 135 lots with a number of kit cars and Specials among them - six of these...
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What exactly is this coachbuilt Cooper?
An interesting coachbuilt Mini has turned up in Germany. Said to have been delivered new in Barcelona in 1968, this Mk2 Cooper is an early Authi-built Spanish car. From the advertisement: "This...
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Fast Mini Jem racer is now for sale
Want to run in front of the field? Then this Mk2 MiniJem may be the car for you. It is well known in French racing circles and has now made it to the market. With a fast 1071cc engine the car was raced...
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Reader delves into Pellandini history
Some time ago I was sent a lovely photograph of a Pellandini at an Adelaide drag strip in the mid-1970s (see it here). Not much more of that particular picture was known to me at the time. But that has...
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Ian Shearer passes away at 71
It is with great sadness that I learned about the sudden death of Ian Shearer today. Ian was the designer of the Mini powered Nimbus Coupe and Boxer Sprint cars and was an enormous enthusiast of...
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Unipower at the Motor show - 1969 & 2019
When it was new, the Unipower GT was a frequent visitor of motor shows, with the last works appearance in October 1969 when the Mk2 version was on display at the Earl's Court Motor Show in London....
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Keith Lain passes away at 77
I don't intend this to become an in memoriam website, but a number of people involved with Mini based cars have passed recently. Keith Lain is another one of them now, since he died recently and was...
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Beach Car emerges on Helmut Newton picture
An interesting picture, made by the famous photographer Helmut Newton has disclosed the possible existence of another Mini Beach Car. The picture in question was found by Carol Quiniou who stumbled...
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Le Mans '66 - now in a theatre near you
Of all the races in the world the 24-hours of Le Mans may well be the best known. And of all the 24-hour races at Le Mans, held since 1923, the 1966 edition is perhaps considered as the best of them...
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