Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #79

5 Stimson Scorcher replicas / rip-offs

Unipower GT: lost film footage found, director's daughter tracked down and a heavy crash

The 4-wheel drive Mini derivative - made by the Ford Motor Company

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #30

1970 Stunners: Sonny and his Unipower GT 

Agricultural mysteries: frontal-, central and rear wheel driven

Mini Trafalgar Coupe in Australia

Agricultural contraption: the Goblin

And now for something completely different! This is the Goblin - a Mini based tractor. I'd never heard of it until a year ago when one turned up for sale. I soon learned the unlikely creature was marketed and sold in the late 1990s by Carlisle-based Goblin Vehicles. They used reconditioned 1100- or 1300cc A-series engines placed longitudinally and mid-mounted in a galvanized rigid space frame and mated to Land Rover axles, locked centre and lockable front and rear differentials. It was all designed to carry a 500kg or eight people platform load. And that's all I know - more information would be much appreciated.

Goblin Vehicles do appear to have sold a few, because Richard Hawcroft dropped me a line recently with another being offered for sale. "A new one for you", he thought, continuing: "This sold for £1250 (I think) at the Euro Auction near here this week. My brother said it was huge, it has Land Rover series axels, so that gives an idea of scale. You can just see the Mini radiator in one of the photos." I answered: "Believe me or not, but I’d heard about the Goblin before and it even seems there were more than just the one as I have some pics of what surely has to be another example?" Richard had the last words: Jeroen, I like to keep you on your toes"

Well, let me tell you he does. Cheers mate!

Made in Carlisle, Cumbria: the Mini based Goblin 4x4

Picture Euro Auctions

It uses a galvanized steel space frame with Mini engine and LR axles

Picture Euro Auctions

Construction-wise it is not unlike the Turner Ranger and RTV

Picture Euro Auctions

How many were made? This one was auctioned recently

Picture Euro Auctions

Another example of the Goblin was seen for sale in February last year

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Now that's a no-frills cabin, leaving no doubt this was a work horse

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

1100 or 1300 engine was mounted longitudinally below / behind seats

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Mystery Mini derivative (77)

This agricultural oddity has turned up for sale in North-Wales. It looks to be a cross between a Scamp and an RTV but I guess it has no links with these. Remarkably, it does use both the Mini subframes, with the standard dry suspension and comes with a 998 engine simply driving the front wheels. It does look ever so rugged and strong with its chassis from square tubing and those big Terra tyres. The seller writes: "I am told that a great number of Minis have been converted in the past when they were particularly cheap to buy and run, to be used on golf courses, farms and construction sites till more modern machines have been developed."

Indeed, this one could well have been made with on of these ideas in mind. Who knows more? The ad can be found here.

Tractor? Mini harvester? Crop sprayer? Airport vehicle? Golf cart? I don't know!

Picture Ebay

It looks like a cross between a Scamp and an RTV, both by Robert Mandry...

Picture Ebay

No 4WD though. It uses all of the Mini suspension, both at the front as at the rear

Picture Ebay

Engine is a 998 and it seems that the builder liked BMC's green paint colour!

Picture Ebay

Turner Ranger to be resurected

If the global lockdown is good for one thing, it is for Mini variants coming out of the woodwork and restorations on them being started. Andy Downes dropped me a line about a rare Turner Ranger that's been unearthed recently. He wrote: 

"Hallo Jeroen, I got excited when I saw this today, it belongs to my local garage and they've dragged it out the shed to renovate it during lockdown (they love old cars and have many). It's a Calor (or Turner) Ranger and is a small runabout rather like a quad-bike. It has a Mini engine arranged front-to-back with one driveshaft driving the front wheels and the other the back wheels! Mini suspension with Triumph Herald differential on each axle and four wheel steering. You've probably heard of Calor Gas and the Calor in this vehicle's name is because some ran on gas others petrol, apparently they also featured in a James Bond film "For Your Eyes Only" I think. It seems 200-odd were made under licence from Calor. Please let me know what you think. Andy"

I knew of the Ranger and have it included in Maximum Mini 3, but it is splendid to see this survivor being taken care of. Thank you very much Andy!

The Turner Ranger used its Mini drivetrain placed vertically in the center of the frame

Picture Andy Downes

This rare survivor is going to be restored now that we're in a lockdown

Picture Andy Downes

Bit of the Ranger's body and more parts in boxes, it all seems to be there

Picture Andy Downes

Engines used were 1100s which ran on gas and mated to 4 BL axles driving all 4 wheels  

Picture Andy Downes

This is what a fully restored example looks like. This one owned by Gareth Thompson

Picture Gareth Thompson

And a front view. 28hp at 3,000rpm gives a 15mph top speed. A cab was optional

Picture Gareth Thompson

BBC footage of RTV found

It's always nice to receive a message from a manufacturer of Mini based cars, former or even current, and I was thrilled to hear from Scamp-man Andrew MacLean this week. He wrote: "Hi Jeroen, at very long last….we've managed to find a copy of the famous BBC Tomorrow's World and BBC Top Gear footage of the Robert Mandry Mini based RTV, dating back to 1983." You may remember the RTV as the go-anywhere Rough Terrain Vehicle seen in Maximum Mini 2 and on these pages.

In fact, we saw an RTV in moving images before as the vehicle to be driven to a most unusual record, but Andrew has to put some things straight on that one. Andrew: By the way, the 'Blind Run' RTV was not built by Robert Mandry. Robert sold the RTV manufacturing rights to Lawrence Hawgood, (not Spyder Sport as mentioned in Maximum Mini 2) who took it to the next level. The Blue RTV in the Blind Run video is Ford Escort based....It is badged as Ford...Perry's Ford. It mentions that it is Ford Escort based in the video as Ford were sponsoring the run as well. Please correct this on your website. Thanks. And please mention that a Robert Mandry RTV played a big part as well, in the run, as back up vehicle....It was painted the same colours and carried the British Gas and Perry's Ford logos. I still own this amazing Mini based vehicle and it still wears the same colours...undergoing a slow restoration. Thanks again. Andrew MacLean."

Thank you for letting me know this, Andrew. I have updated the Blind Run article now - see here. Andrew still owns two RTVs and tells me he took over all the spares and production rights from Lawrence Hawgood about 5 years ago, now having enough to build several new Mini based RTVs. Have a look here when interested. Andrew also shared some more information on another of his former Mini-based adventures, but I'll keep that for the next time. Enjoy the video for now.

VideoBBC Tomorrow's World / BBC Top Gear via Andrew MacLean

A Mini based eight- (8) wheeler!

Just when you think you've seen it all, someone drops in a line with something you'd never thought of before. Well, it happens to me every now and the line that Chaz Ing dropped this week was another eye opener. I know of many Mini based four-wheelers; I've seen quite a few Mini-based three-wheelers, there have been several Mini based six-wheelers and I even know about Mini based two-wheelers and Mini based tracked vehicles. But a Mini based eight-wheeler? Good grief, I did not know that existed.

But it does, and there is in fact one for sale in Powys, Wales, at the moment - see the ad here. It's an ATV Argocat, which I did know as a two-stroke twin cylinder powered contraption, offered for sale by Crayford Auto Development of Kent. Yep, they were the same company which converted Minis into convertibles since 1962. I don't know if this four-wheel steered 1000cc Mini automatic powered version comes from them, too, but I'd love to find out.

This ATV Argocat does use Mini power to drive eight wheels, two of them removed here

Picture courtesy Ebay.co.uk

The 1000 engine is placed longitudinally next to seat. How is it constructed to drive the wheels?

Picture courtesy Ebay.co.uk

This contraption appears to have nearly been buried in Wales until not too long ago. It's for sale now

Picture courtesy Ebay.co.uk

Crayford's Argocat sold strong in the 1970s, but did they ever build a Mini based version?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Land's End - John O' Groats in an RTV - without sight! (UPDATED)

By Toutatis, is this cool? Reader Jonathan Webster just made me aware of this film footage, unknown to me before. It shows a 16-minute documentary about a 1988 charity drive from John O'Groats to Land's End, sponsored by British Gas. The vehicle of choice is an RTV - the Rough Terrain Vehicle built by Scamp boss Robert Mandry, remember? What's more - the car was driven by an ex-rally driver named Peter Wood who was blind! He drove the RTV, navigated by Gabriel Hartley and his son Tom, not on public roads but on forest tracks, over beaches, disused railway tracks and meadows. He managed to do it in 14 days and raised almost a quarter of a million pounds in total.

Apart from the several land speed records set by Mini based sports cars, this is the second Mini derivative involved in an unusual record that I know of. There may be even more..? Thanks to this new website, dedicated to the RTV for uploading the video.

UPDATE 19 September 2017: The record-RTV was Ford based rather then Mini based and not built by Robert Mandry, so says Andrew MacLean: "The "Blind Run" RTV was not built by Robert Mandry. Robert sold the RTV manufacturing rights to Lawrence Hawgood, (not Spyder Sport as mentioned in Maximum Mini 2) who took it to the next level. The Blue RTV in the Blind Run video is Ford Escort based....It is badged as Ford...Perry's Ford. It mentions that it is Ford Escort based in the video as Ford were sponsoring the run as well. And please mention that a Robert Mandry RTV played a big part as well, in the run, as back up vehicle....It was painted the same colours and carried the British Gas and Perry's Ford logos. I still own this amazing Mini based vehicle and it still wears the same colours...undergoing a slow restoration. Thanks again."

UPDATE 8 March 2021: I paid the Mini based RTV a visit in a field in West-Sussex (click here)

Video courtesy roughterrainvehicle.co.uk / youtube.com

World's quirkiest go-anywhere vehicle is Mini based

The Mini Moke may originally have been intended as an all-purpose Army vehicle, but it was only when it washed ashore of tourist beaches that it became a hit. And it certainly wasn't alone there as umpteen Mini based and Moke inspired creatures followed (quite a few used names inspired by it, too. From the Mule to the Yak, from the Cub to the Mongrel). Okay. But most of these emphasized on the fun factor rather then on the utility side of things. Were there ever any real all-purpose Mini derivatives? Oh yes.

Meet the RTV, or Rough Terrain Vehicle. A most unusual Mini based go-anywhere thingy that was more capable of mudplugging then your average Camel Trophy Land Rover. The outrageous RTV was designed and built by Robert Mandry on his farm estate in Surrey. Yes, that's the same chap who did the Mini based Scamp there, too - clearly another funster. Anyway, apart from using a Mini engine (plus suspension, brakes and steering) the RTV was different then anything else. Not in the last place because of the 998cc 40bhp Mini engine with auto gearbox was placed amidships and longitudinally. And then with the drive shafts running front and rear, driving all four Weller wheels with massive Terra tyres through two Triumph Herald diffs. Good God! And that wasn't all. The thing came with a swiveling body, so that just about any surface could be tackled without any of the wheels coming off the ground. That's not just very clever. That is very cool, too.

There's a fantastic brochure of the RTV which shows some of the ways it can be used for. At one shot it is seen with a sorry-looking tractor in a ditch and the caption reads: "The mechanics of a Mini. The guts to rescue a bogged-down tractor." Another, showing the RTV with a muddy Range Rover: "The Range Rover ran out of juice, the horse-box trailed along behind, the RTV kept everything rolling on." My favourite one is of the RTV driving over what looks like the white cliffs of Dover, reading: "We could have used a helicopter to drop the RTV here. We decided on a gentle drive instead."
Not more then 30 RTVs are believed to have been built, although there could be less, too. I understand it even made it to BBC's Tomorrow's World programme, too, which would be nice to see. One RTV was advertised recently on eBay in Rochdale with a 3,000 pounds Buy it Now price. Despite living in the flattest country in the world, I should have bought it, really.

Wish I lived there. Then there would have been no excuse for buying an RTV

40 Degrees swiveling body was masterminded by Scamp instigator Robert Mandry

Picture courtesy Off Road and 4-Wheel Driver

The RTV was just under 3 metres long. The Mini engine is situated behind the cab 

This RTV was offered for sale in Rochdale recently. Who took it? Note rear axle

Picture courtesy eBay.com