Four More Broadspeed replicas

You know there may have been more attempts to replicate the Broadspeed GT than Broadspeed ever built cars. Several of these can be seen here, some of them better than others. But what I personally find surprising is that half of them were instigated in Australia. Are the Australians bigger fans of the fastback Mini then the Brits? This one was for sale over there a while ago, but it doesn't stop there. Recently I have tracked down more Broadspeed GT replicas, and believe it or not but all of them are from Down Under. 

1. In the first place there was one racer back in the late 1960s which clearly seemed Broadspeed inspired. Thanks to Tim Lamb I understand it was built by a chap named Leigh Siebler who raced it at Phillip Island, Victoria in '68 and who supposedly christened it the 'Lomin'. It's unclear whether it survives, and the only picture that I've seen is a particarly blurry one. Any more details would be welcome.

The Lomin looks to be Broadspeed GT inspired. It was built by Leigh Siebler

Picture via Tim Lamb

2. Secondly, I was sent a picture of a somewhat mysterious car that's in New Zealand and which, again, appears to be inspired (loosely at least) by the infamous Broadspeed Mini. I have no information other then that it looks to be a racing car, backed by Lee Motors in Matamata. UPDATE, see below.

Other then most, this Broadspeed replica looks much more modern in its looks

Picture via Pete Flanagan

3. Then we have a bit of a hero. It's Nathan Wilson of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, who is currently building an all-steel replica himself. He has been able to use not one but two of the remaining Brian Foley built Broadspeed GTs as an example and seems to be doing a cracking job. I hope to tell you more about Nathan's ventures in the near future.

Based on a Mini, Nathan Wilson is building his Broadspeed GT replica, all from steel

Picture courtesy Nathan Wilson

4. Finally there's a car that is offered for sale by a company called Classic Throttle in Sydney. According to them it was based on a 1970 Mini Cooper S and "was commissioned in 1991 and built off the original plans. It is an exact replica of the official Broadspeed", which seems much of an exaggeration to me. In fact the rear of this almond green car, with its opening boot, looks in a way similar to the Lee Motors car. See the ad (it's priced at 44,995 Australian dollars - just under 30,000 GBP, oh yes) here.

Despite using Singer Gazelle lights, this rear is clearly very different to the original

Picture courtesy Classic Throttle

According to seller it is based on a 1970 Cooper 'S', with the conversion dating to 1991

Picture courtesy Classic Throttle

Seller states "It has the über cool Broadspeed style dash" - I do not agree

Picture courtesy Classic Throttle

UPDATE 1 FEBRUARY 2013: Friend of this blog Lee Norman, who runs Minibitz in Henderson, New Zealand, comments: "Hi Jeroen, just been checking out the latest post on your blog. I think I’m right in saying that the Lee Motors car was built by a guy from Hamilton, NZ named Chris Teesdale who is a customer of mine. The car runs a G13B Suzuki engine hence the name he gave it of “Minzuki”. I believe he sold the car off to the USA quite a number of years ago. He is or was a US dealer who imported a lot of NZ cars into the US. The car does pop up on forums from time to time. I’m sure I saw it recently advertised. The steel replica that’s still in progress looks awesome! I’m looking forward to seeing more of that. As for the almond green car......oh dear!! All the best, Lee". Thanks for that, pal!

UPDATE 21 February 2014: More Broadspeed GT replicas on their way! (click here)