As I wrote back then the Mini based Mobi-One car was said to be owned by a mister Mike Wilsdon in the 1990's, and now I have come across a great article about the man and his wacky collection of things motoring. It was written in 1987 by Giles Chapman for Classic and Sports Car magazine, and the Mobi-One is mentioned in the article too. But look at the main picture in the article below. Mister Wilsdon appeared to be the lucky owner of a rare Status Minipower too, one of 20 made and one of only 8 with the original body that ex-Lotus designer Brian Luff built back in the early 1970's. This one in Granny Smith Green. Wowie.
I have asked Giles if he knows of Wilsdon's current whereabouts but unfortunately he does not. He remembers Wilsdon had to give up his building in Kew at the last time he was in touch with him, which was around 1998. So what happened to Mike Wilsdon and his cool collection of cars after that period? Somebody will know.
UPDATE 7 December 2011: Still not a trace of the man, but his Minipower was last seen in 2004. See it here
Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing those interesting stories!
ReplyDeleteThank you Damien!
ReplyDeleteHi, just a small point, but this article was actually first published in 1987, not 1993. It is featured in the May, 1987 issue of C&SC magazine. I'd love to find out what happened to Wilsdon and his cars as he had a fascinating collection. I know the Anzani Astra has changed hands a few times since then, but I'd love to know what happened to the TDC bodies he had, for example!
ReplyDeleteGreat 'site by the way, I was just looking up information on MOBI-ONE and got sent here - as is often the case when I'm reading up on an obscure Mini-based special! Keep up the good work.
You are right! I have no idea why I have made the mistake, and have amended it now in the article. It surprises me, too, that mister Wilsdon remains in obscurity for such a long time. There must be lots of people who know (of) him.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for the compliment.
Hello I'm new here (looking for information about Deep Sandersons).
ReplyDeleteGreat site as I have a soft spot for Mini based road cars (Mini jem, Unipower etc).
I also have a chassis for one of these, but my understanding is that it was called a 'Status Symbol' and I have a period magazine article describing it.
Let me know if you want some pictures or more details.
Best Wishes
Andy
Thanks for coming in, Andy.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are absolutely right on the Status Symbol, as this was its initial model designation. However, when Luff got to marketing it, it was decided to give the thing a somewhat more serious name and it was changed to 'Status Minipower'. Anyway: it would be fantastic to see and find out more about yours, so, yes, please!
i have met mike and do have his phone number, i dont know about these cars,
ReplyDeletei will be hopefully meeting up with him in june
Great! Would you please ask him about the cars?
DeleteHello, I'm a friend of Mike's and he still has his collection in storage after having had to vacate his last museum. Turns out that he owns two of the original Brian luff status symbols! When I can get some pictures of the cars I'll post them up! Barnaby.
ReplyDelete