Wood & Picketts on BBC footage, including '50 MAR'

This lovely little video from the BBC archives, shows some rather outrageous Minis. The most interesting ones, if you ask me, are the two Wood & Pickett Mini Margraves at the start. And they are two very well known cars, too. The blue one is a car used at the Earl's Court Motor Show of 1978 of which we now can see its registration: 'WOE 951T' (which was last taxed in 1989, or so it seems). 

The other car is least as interesting: it's the infamous '50 MAR' built for in 1974 for Al Sharif Omar Almandily. W&P boss Eddie Colins told me about that: "One of the novel things in his car was that he had not one but two telephones. He was a crazy man who rang up himself asking how he was doing!" Although several people doubted the survival of this lavish W&P Mini, it was believed to survive in an underground parking in Cannes, France, but modified with a rather ugly Mercedes grille, white painted roof and different registration (III UN). With the BBC footage unearthed we can now confirm it is indeed the same car: on the video it is seen with the later modifications, but still wearing the '50 MAR' plate.

The infamous '50 MAR' in its original guise, built for Al Sharif Omar Almandily

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Not one but two telephones plus television on board - 'illegal in the UK' 

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The car as it was seen last May by Paul Blank. We can now confirm it is indeed the same

Picture courtesy Paul Blank

It is joined by a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow in an underground parking in Cannes, France

Picture courtesy Paul Blank

Current plate is 'III UN'. Unfortunately this very special Mini is not much cared for

Picture courtesy Paul Blank

1978 show car on the Wood & Pickett display in London. We learn this was registered 'WOE 951T'

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The two seen together in the BBC footage that was undisclosed earlier this week

Picture still BBC Archives

MG Mini Sedanca on a road trip

Whilst the one-off MG Mini Sedanca came back from Denver, Colorado to Bristol in the UK in 2019 (click here), it is now touring the country or so it seems. The car was seen recently at the Lakeland Motor Museum in Cumbria, which jumped to the opportunity to shoot the pictures added below. The museum added: "This is a unique type of Mini called a 'Sedanca'. Only one was made, and the info sheet points to it being built in 1973. It is still on the road, and the owner popped into the museum on a current road trip! gullwing doors were initially planned for this model, but a side screen door was eventually used."

Thank you Lizzi for for letting me know!

Built by former Stewart & Ardern employee Niall Gilmartin in 1973: the MG Mini Sedanca

Picture Lakeland Motor Museum

'870 CJW' comes with Triumph 2000 headlights and Austin 1100 indicators - amongst others

Picture Lakeland Motor Museum

Rear side windows turned upside down, fully closed boot lid, recessed tank cap

Picture Lakeland Motor Museum

Gilmartin planned to make gullwing doors, but that proved to be one step too far

Picture Lakeland Motor Museum

This is a well-traveled car if we have to believe the stickers and decals at the back

Picture Lakeland Motor Museum

Nick's Unipower GT - found in a barn

I lost track of Nick Gerolomou who I saw last in 2016 to celebrate the Unipower GT's 50th anniversary (click here). Nick bought his Unipower in the early 1970s from dealer Monty & Ward, drove it for a few years only to put it in storage back in 1977 (click here for more). He planned a restoration but I don't know how far he ever got to it, and the last thing I heard is that he was in hospital with some serious ailments. I've tried to get in touch but to no avail and can only hope he is okay.

What happened to his car? I had no idea either but was much surprised to be sent a picture from it last weekend. It turned out to have been taken by a fellow-Dutchman who bumped into the car in the UK by pure chance. I got in touch and he was kind enough to go back and take some more pictures. This left me in no doubt that it is indeed Nick's GT, a very late car, and it certainly seems that the restoration has been started. I've tried to obtain more information from the owners of the barn, but haven't heard from them yet. Do get in touch when you are the new owner as I'd love to hear from you.

The Unipower GT of Nick Gerolomou was found in a barn in Kent last weekend

Picture courtesy Gerrit-Jan Kreeftenberg

 This is a very late car, first registered in 1969 or 1970 in Scotland

Picture courtesy Gerrit-Jan Kreeftenberg

 Nick bought the car from dealer Monty & Ward in the early 1970s and stored it in '77

Picture courtesy Gerrit-Jan Kreeftenberg

 "Monty told me that mine was the last car made, being pushed out of one end whilst the recievers came in the other end. Its a nice story if nothing else."

Picture courtesy Gerrit-Jan Kreeftenberg

 The car's dashboard, full of gauges and switches, makes it easy to identify the car 

Picture courtesy Gerrit-Jan Kreeftenberg

The car came with a 1275 engine, which looks to have been restored already 

Picture courtesy Gerrit-Jan Kreeftenberg

 Nick Gerolomou with the car in his own barn, when I visited him in Kent in 2014

Picture Jeroen Booij

Tracing the DART's origins (2)

Following the earlier contact I had with Nigel Fraser Ker (click here), Nigel became very curious about where exactly the workshop could have been, where Edmond 'Dizzy' Addicott built his DART. I had one old picture of the outside of the premises, showing just a part of it plus a sign for a company named 'Wakefield & Sons'. After a while Nigel came back to me about it: "Crikey!" he wrote, after he'd found reference to Wakefield & Sons in an online issue of ‘Byfleet Heritage’. What's more: there was further reference to the place: "We began our tour at Parvis Bridge where the boathouse still looks pretty much the same. To the right of the bridge were Wakefield & Sons who made Formula 3 racing cars. After passing the cricket club and Mr Derisley’s highland cattle you came to the War Memorial..." etc.

Nigel: "Parvis Bridge is right next to where BAC was based and where Dizzy worked, and only 11 miles from where I am now. Incidentally, when I used to work at the Brabham F1 team, some of the fabricators had worked at Brooklands. Many of the skills used in building aircraft during the Second World War were the same as those needed to build racing cars prior to carbonfibre becoming the favoured material. What appears to be an aluminium-bodied car that you can see in the photographs (it is in fact steel-bodied - JB) would almost certainly have needed a very skilled craftsman to make - I don't think even Dizzy could have done that one! A job for people working up the road at Brooklands, I'm sure. These buildings look like they are old enough to the place in the photo. I wonder if they are the same? Perhaps I can pay them a visit - it would be great fun locate the site of Dizzy's garage!"

Another day passed. Then: "Dear Jeroen, I have found it! The building is a mile or two further to the west than I believed, but the good news is that it is still there. I will visit it as soon as I can and find out what the current occupiers know about its history."

And yet another day went by. "Hi Jeroen, I'm happy to say that I have now visited the workshop in Byfleet and have walked through the door shown in the photograph! This is what I found out... The building is actually associated with the canal that it is next to - the canal was built in 1653 and the building has been in existence since at least 1760. It was originally single-storey, but had the additional floor added some time later. There is a 19th century building/shed next to it and in the 20th century this had been used by an engineering company but the people who run the canal boat business at the wharf (Stuart and Julia) don't know anything about them. The couple arrived 20 years ago and when they got it the buildings had been empty for at least 10 years, and had been previously occupied by a company which made exhibition stands. Some time before them, it had been owned by Wakefield & Sons, but they had moved to West Byfleet. Stuart remembers that his father used to bring his car to Wakefield & Sons to work on. Stuart and Julia don't know anything about the motor racing or Mini Marcos history of the building, although over the years several people have visited them and said that they remembered the car workshop on the site, which is now all owned by the National Trust, including the canal."

"Two points to note: They were interested that the upper outer walls (which are now wooden and dark coloured) are white in your photographs. They don't know how that happened. Was it external cladding? I wondered if the upper wood is new. They are positive that the pictures of Dizzy working in an office are definitely not taken in that building - there are no windows of that style there. Stuart has heard that before WW2 the site had been used by ERA, and that they would take the cars to Brooklands for testing. However, I can find no verification about this, but I might see if there is an archivist at Brooklands museum who can help. That's about all I found out. Please feel free to use the attached photographs and any of the above as you wish. Stuart and Julia were amazingly helpful and spent about an hour with me, talking about the history of the site. They were fascinated to see your pictures. I hope this is of some small background interest to the whole Mini Marcos history. Regards, Nigel"

I absolutely love it!

Dizzy Addicott's workshop in 1963. The 'Wakefield & Sons' sign was the clue to its whereabouts

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The same workshop in Byfleet, Surrey, 60 years later in 2023. Not much has changed!

Picture Nigel Fraser Ker

The building, now owned by the National Trust, exists since at least 1760 and is now a boat wharf

Picture Nigel Fraser Ker

"The current owners don't know anything about the motor racing or Mini Marcos history of the building, but over the years several people have said that they remembered the car workshop"

Picture Nigel Fraser Ker

Excuse me, I simply could not resist doing this...

Picture editing Jeroen Booij

Tracing the DART's origins (1)

I was contacted by Nigel Fraser Ker a little while ago, and while things started out chatting about the Mini Marcos, we were soon directed towards the Marcos' origins: the DART as it was designed and built by Desmond 'Dizzy' Addicott. Nigel happened to know quite a lot more about Dizzy and an intriguing correspondence followed. Over to him:

"I would be happy to tell you a little bit more about Dizzy - at least the part that I know from personal experience. My father was a pilot, first of all with the Royal Air Force and then he got a job with De Havilland as a test pilot. They were keen to hire him because he managed to save an aircraft which was of a type which had been causing many deaths due to unexpected engine failures. He had one himself over the North Sea and managed to save it by gliding it into Schiphol airport. This meant that De Havilland were able to inspect it and find the fault. This was back in about 1956 and I think it was when he first met Dizzy who was himself a test pilot. In fact I think he was one of Britain's most experienced - he had flown very many different types of aircraft (I remember he once flew a Catalina back from South Africa as a delivery). My father moved into flying jets for commercial airlines and briefly had a job in South Africa so we all went with him."

"The job didn't work out so Dizzy managed to get him a job working at the British Aircraft Corporation, based in Weybridge (Surrey) and flying out of a nearby airfield called Wisley. I remember going there as a child and seeing them testing the BAC One-Eleven. Dizzy was a real character - very much old school and great fun and he visited us many times at our home in Bookham, Surrey. Incidentally, my father used to share an office at the Weybridge factory with Sir Barnes Wallace - I don't know if you've heard of him but he is the guy who designed the famous bouncing bomb which was used against the Germans in the raid against the dams. Anyway my father (who was a bit of a troublemaker like Dizzy) said that both he and Barnes, who was making a nuisance of himself by saying that Concorde would never be commercially successful, were put into an office together away from other people so they wouldn't cause any trouble!"

"When I was 17 my father persuaded me to buy a Mini Marcos kit. Unfortunately, I became so involved in motor racing (I used to work for Bernie Ecclestone at the Brabham F1 team in Chessington and then drove mainly rally cars) that I never got around to building it and so I sold it again, but I have always felt an affection for the design, tinged with a little guilt at not completing it! Anyway, the Weybridge BAC factory (which was located at the Brooklands racetrack) was mainly converted into an industrial estate, but with a museum to commemorate the racing and aircraft work that used to be carried out on the site. Accordingly, I decided to take the children along to see it. You will imagine my surprise when one of the racing cars on display had Dizzy's name written down the side of it! With such an unusual name it must have been the same man, so I did a little research and found out about his interest in cars and also that he had designed the Mini Marcos. At this point it all fell into place - I realized that the reason that my father had recommended the car to me was because it had been designed by his friend. Perhaps I knew this at the time, but I had certainly forgotten. 

Anyway, I'm sorry to say that Dizzy (along with my father) are now dead. Dizzy died on the A11 road heading towards Norwich. It was a stroke and I believe that he knew nothing about it. He really was an extraordinary character - someone should write a book about him, if they haven't already! When I decided that I was not fast enough to make sensible money out of motor racing I decided to get a proper job, so I settled down and started my own family with my wife Fenella. Now, my daughter Kate is 22 and the two of us are competing in the Mini 7 Championship (really to give her a chance to learn about motorsport). She is really enjoying it so we have been trying to decide what to race next year, and when I was searching around the forums, I found out about your car and was naturally excited to learn more about it."

Well, that was more than I expected!

But it wasn't even all. When I showed some historical photographs I had of Dizzy and his workshop, the detective in Nigel was awakened and a fascinating search followed. You'll read all about the result later this week. 

UPDATE 25 August 2023: in part 2 we find back the actual premises where Dizzy built his DART. Click here

The unique and fully rebuilt DART at Goodwood back in 2010

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

This rare picture shows the car being built in the winter of 1963

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

"Dizzy was a real character - very much old school and great fun and he visited us many times"

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The DART shortly after being unveiled at Paul Emery's stand at the 1964 Racing Car Show

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Racing Car Show '64 again. Left to right: Paul Emery, Jim Clark? (I think) and Dizzy Addicott

UPDATE: Believed not to be Clark, but who is it then?

Picture via Giles Chapman

Le Mans Mini Marcos project: the build continues

Time for another update on the Le Mans Mini Marcos project. As you may recall the car is now back in The Netherlands after a very lengthy stay in southern France. My friend Joost van Diën and I picked it up there in June (click here) and it is now parked at Joost's place, where the build continues. Now, this is still almost 300 kms from my own home, so while that's not as far away as it was in France it's still a trip to do. 

We planned a weekend to continue work when Joost told me that I was more than welcome, but only if I came over with the Ogle. Ha! A good excuse for me to pack the little thing and steer it southwards. I really want to thank him and also his dad Cor, who assisted us in what was a superb weekend with excellent hospitality and all I could wish for. Here's the report in pictures.

The Ogle ready to go. Passenger seat out to make place for Sprinzel seats of the Marcos, assorted boxes with bits, windscreen behind me plus extra bonnets and a set of 10" wheels for Joost

Picture Jeroen Booij

3 and a half hours later - arrival at Joost's place where drinks and a barbecue await!

He has Mini Marcoses Mk1 (orange), Mk2 (red) and Mk3 (under yellow tarp)

Picture Jeroen Booij

Next day: work begins with the installation and securing of brake lines and clutch lines

Picture Jeroen Booij

Meanwhile I placed the indicator stalk and steering column shroud and made extra rods to keep the column steady in its place, which it really needs since the column was much lowered

Picture Jeroen Booij

Seen from the other side. Yes, the rods will be painted satin black also

Picture Jeroen Booij

Joost continued with the fitment of the shock absorbers. Rear ones went in easy, front ones not quite so. The car originally used Konis, as recorded in the ACO (Automobile Club de l'Ouest) paperwork

Picture Jeroen Booij

Joost is a real Jack-of-all-trades so when one of his dad's Gilbern Invaders suddenly needed work he was naturally there to help, too. This car is an estate, and a real beauty too

Picture Jeroen Booij

Back to the Marcos, with the seats now finally installed. There are no good period interior shots of the car, but driver Jean-Louis Marnat sold these exact seats through his accessory shop in Paris in 1966, so these were the ones to go for. Same went for the Britax harnesses

Picture Jeroen Booij

The refurbished hand brake is now installed and working, too

Picture Jeroen Booij

I have been carrying the Mk1 windscreen, provided by the Mini Marcos Owner's Club, with me for years. It is now finally placed and we managed not to break it. Joost and Cor on the job here

Picture Jeroen Booij

Health & Safety managers, look away now! Making the side pipe exhaust, like the car had during the Le Mans 24 hours race. Joost handling the grinder, Cor keeping it in position

Picture Jeroen Booij

It needed some bending at the local garage but fits perfectly now just like it was in '66

Picture Jeroen Booij

Again, it needs a lick of paint but that's for the next time. Mind you: there's no damper so this car will certainly be noisy. A start-up-video is for the next time

Picture Jeroen Booij

Great line-up. Joost's Mk1 Mini Marcos, my Ogle and Cor's Gilbern Invader Mk3 in front of the garage. The latter is one of very few lhd coupes originally sold to The Netherlands

Picture Jeroen Booij

Ogle history donated

I've received some wonderful donations in the past, but the one handed over in person by Chris Gow last week is of another level. Multiple Ogle owner and marque guru Gow kindly donated a map with brochures, press pictures, press cuttings and clippings plus much more interesting stuff. A number of the cuttings were assembled by clipping agencies and press cutting services at the time for David Ogle Associates Ltd. and come from a wide range of newspapers and magazines both from the UK as well as abroad. 

There are also copies from the pages of David Ogle's sketchbook with early drawings of the Ogle Mini, which give a lovely insight into the earliest stages of the car's development. This is just the thing for further investigations into all things Ogle. Thank you very much Chris!

The Ogle map, full of brochures, press pictures, cuttings and clippings

Picture Jeroen Booij

Some of these clippings come from press cutting bureaus and clipping services

Picture Jeroen Booij

They give some cool insights into the David Ogle Associates Ltd. company

Picture Jeroen Booij

Sketch from David Ogle's notebook. This must be a late one with the car almost as how it became

Picture Jeroen Booij