This is the old Camber / Maya GT factory

It's been a while since I wrote about the Camber / Maya GT, while it is an absolute favourite. Perhaps all the surviving cars have been unearthed by this time? At least most of them have been described on these pages before (full files here).

However, I had never before found the exact spot of the old factory. This also because the address given on the cars' promotional material simply was 'Camber Road, Rye', which is quite a long road with several buildings surviving there which could well have been it. 

But then Rod Porteous came to the rescue. He wrote: "As a youngster I holidayed near Camber and remember cars being built at this workshop on the outskirts of Camber. The workshop has been empty for years and thought I would record it before it’s demolished."

That has to be it. Great!

One of several Maya GT brochures from 'Camber Road, Rye, Sussex'

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

And another. W. West (Engineers) Ltd. was run by George Holmes

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

This is the place where these cars were built, or so remembers Rod Porteous

Picture Google Maps

Just 6 Camber GTs as well as 6 Maya GTs came to life here in these premises

Picture Google Maps

Ogles in Japan (5)

This bright tangerine coloured Ogle SX1000 wears chassis number #36 and was registered 'XSK 195' in the UK. The car was imported to Japan by Tetsuo Warashina in 1991, who ran Warashina Cars of Yaizu-shi in Shizuoka at the time. This company had an impressive collection of Mini based cars - apart from the Ogle there were several Mini Jems and Mini Marcoses as well as a Unipower GT. All of these were offered for sale in 1992 and I don't know if Warashina is still in business but do know that several of the cars are still being enjoyed in Japan, the SX1000 among them. 

The car was featured in a number of publications before being sold to another Mini specialist in Japan: Sophie’s of Hachinohe in 1997. The current owner told me recently that the SX1000 has never been extensively restored or repainted since it came to the country in '91. He says it is a bit tatty now, but is well maintained and roadworthy. I really like it.

More about Ogles in Japan here.

'XSK 195' as it was seen in Japan in 1994. It featured in a number of magazines

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

It was part of a broad collection of Mini based cars when at Warashina's in Shizuoka

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Engine is said to be a 1275. Brake booster well visible here

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

1992 ad from Warashina cars shows eclectic range of cars offered for sale

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Today the Ogle can be found in Sophie's Mini shop in Hachinohe for over 25 years 

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

"A bit tatty now, but well maintained and roadworthy" says its current owner

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

BMC's own Mini based dreams - by John Worker

There is no denying that the great British Motor Corporation itself looked sideways to what happened in the Mini derivatives scene in the 1960s and 1970s. No surprise really with so many variants coming from all sorts of places, it was clear that there was a market for them. But how exactly they needed to come up with a Mini based sports car of their own remained a big question. There were the front engined ADO 34 and ADO 35 prototypes to start with, as there was the later ADO 70 concept. 

With a great number of drawings and sketches from the BMC drawing office of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which are now offered for sale, we get to see a glimpse of the company's ideas for Mini successors or Mini based sports cars. All of them come from the hand of John Worker, who joined the BMC team as a designer after a job at Ogle Design. The drawings will be sold through auction on November 4th by Anglia Car Auctions, and you can see / bid on all of them here. 

Undated 'BMC Concept' looks to be Probe or Unipower inspired perhaps?

Picture Anglia Car Auctions

Another 'BMC Concept'. Mid engined, it seems. This one is dated April 1969

Picture Anglia Car Auctions

And another from November '69. More serious perhaps and even named?

Picture Anglia Car Auctions

Over 80 BMC drawings by designer John Worker are now offered for sale

Picture Anglia Car Auctions

Tom's Midas is now for sale

It's always good to keep in touch with people and cars and it was a long time I'd heard from Tom Berkouwer, who's Midas Bronze I photographed for the first Maximum Mini book. Tom now decided to sell the car and wrote to me about it: 

"I have owned and restored a number of Minis and bought the Midas at the time as I was interested in something a bit more special - the Midas Bronze - with its fibreglass body but still familiar Mini technology. I bought my 1988 Midas without an engine and not in the best possible condition. However, this meant that I could decide myself which A-series engine/gearbox I wanted to use. The wiring it came with was not in the best condition either, so I replaced that with the loom from a late Vandenplas Metro. I first stripped the bodywork and had it professionally treated (locally 'thickened' and strengthened), adding some additional layers and spraying it in the original burgundy colour."

"The engine/gearbox and cylinder head from another late Metro were fitted. It also comes with new interior upholstery (front and rear carpets), all copied from the original upholstery. The photos do show the condition the car is in now."

When you are interested in Tom's Midas or want to read more about its specification - you can find the ad here. Let's hope to see it return to the road soon.

A feature car in Maximum Mini - Tom's Midas is now offered for sale

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

A lot of work has gone into the body, which has been strengthened at several places

Picture courtesy Tom Berkouwer 

1275 A-series engine originates from a Metro. Wiring from a Vanden Plas

Picture courtesy Tom Berkouwer 

Repainted in its original burgundy, and I do remember it was a nice paint job

Picture courtesy Tom Berkouwer 

Carpeting is all new and was made with the original as a template

Picture courtesy Tom Berkouwer 

Bucket seats are there, as are the right seat belts

Picture courtesy Tom Berkouwer 

MG Metro owners will be familiar with this dashboard - with the rev counter

Picture courtesy Tom Berkouwer

Stainless steel exhaust just needs fitment now

Picture courtesy Tom Berkouwer 

13" Revolution wheels, shod with Bridgestone tyres have never been on the road

Picture courtesy Tom Berkouwer 

Easy project? All of the parts to get it back on the road are there

Picture courtesy Tom Berkouwer 

Why wasn't the MiniJem launched in 1965?

This tiny little snippet below may not seem special, but it is something particularly interesting. We know the Mini Marcos was launched before the Mini Jem as it debuted at the Racing Car Show of January 1966. But it had been seen at races as early as in September 1965. 

The MiniJem's launch took place at the Racing Car show a year later: January 1967. However, brochures and flyers handed out there state "This light efficient G.T. 2+2 was developed over two years to accept all Mini components (including the sub-frames) and yet be very strong."

And that turns out not to be an exaggeration now, as this little article dates back to February 1965. By that time the (first?) fibreglass shell was ready yet! Interestingly it doesn't name the car nor the company behind it, but it states: "A London firm hopes to market the shell in the spring or early summer." That really makes me wonder why it took another two years? Unfortunately we cannot ask Jeremy Delmar-Morgan who passed away in 2018 (click here). Now, there has been a Track Test publication in a magazine titled 'The Mini-Jem Prototype' which may well provide answers here, but unfortunately I don't have this (blurry copy below) and don't even know its source. Who can help me to it?

February 1965 article suggests the MiniJem's launch in spring or summer '65

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

But it takes the company until January 1967 to launch "After a two year development". Why?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

This 'Track Test' article may well clarify things, but all I have is this blurry copy of it. 

Who knows in which magazine this was published and when? 

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

DeJoux and Fang for sale in the Antipodes

New Zealand's best known Mini based sports car has to be the DeJoux Mini GT; Australia's the Nota Fang. And in both countries one of each is offered now for sale. The DeJoux is listed as a 1971 'unfinished project', but it seems that most of the hard work has been done to it and comes with a long list of brand new parts, including just about all the mechanical stuff needed as well as a laminated windscreen plus a mould for the rear window. It is fitted with a (non-homologated) roll cage. The price of 15,500 NZD seems absolutely fair to me. See the ad on Trademe in New Zealand here. 

The Nota is least as bright green in colour and was seen for sale at a show in the Sydney area recently. I don't think there is an ad for the car, but I seem to recall this to be a well-known car in Nota circles and I'm sure if you cannot read the phone number in the windscreen but are eager to contact the seller, you will be able to find him through the Nota Sports and Racing Cars Group's Facebook page here.

Made in New Zealand and now for sale in New Zealand: a DeJoux Mini GT

Picture Trademe.co.nz

A whole lot of work has gone into this car, but it needs some finishing touches

Picture Trademe.co.nz

Engine is a 1275 A+ from a 1989 MG Metro with a long list of goodies bolted on

Picture Trademe.co.nz

You'll have to like that: the interior is fully 'caged', modern racing seats added

Picture Trademe.co.nz

Made in Australia and offered for sale there now: a Nota Fang, one of 108 made

Picture Sydney Minis

Rear engined, these cars were built between 1968 and 1975 in Parramatta

Picture Sydney Minis

This surely looks to be another 1275 engine with another dual Weber carburettor

Picture Sydney Minis

The car was named the Nota Type 4 officially, but is better known as the Fang

Picture Sydney Minis