Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #120

Original Mini Beach Car doesn't sell

Crayford Mini Mojito Mk2 launched

Austin Seven Rimini launched

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #93

Buy a new Beach Car body on... Alibaba!

South-African Cox GTM - where is it?

Linking the Ranger and the Lotus

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #91

Unique Beach Car to sell

And this is its background story

Fast Mk4 Mini Marcos for sale

Cannibalized Status 365 found

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #58

Sir Elton John and his Wood & Pickett Mini Margrave

Where is the Winter brothers Heerey GTM today?

Mini derivatives of Los Angeles - say a little prayer

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #11

More Mini Beach Car Replicas

Ogles in Japan (6) - 219 UNK

Viking Hornet convertible found

Is Crayford Mini Mojito a Beach Car replica?

Hey! A brand new Mini based car to be unveiled, that's been a while hasn't it? 

You may or may not have noted that the Crayford name was revived recently and they now unveil their first new car during the London concours that has just opened its doors at the gardens of the Honourable Artillery Company’s headquarters in central London. Ladies and gentleman: the Crayford Mini Mojito.

There seems to be little doubt about the Beach Car inspiration, although there are several differences, too. A full floating canopy roof in the first place, which only one of the original Beach Cars had ...plus the one-off Crayford Carnival, which was made in 1980. You also won't find wicker furniture inside but leather instead and a floor made of teak wood. There is also 'An optional fully-electric powertrain that’s been designed and built in the UK and neatly packaged under the bonnet'. Crayford’s director Kent Thirley told Classic Driver: “The Mojito is built for today’s market and meets the expectations that come with that. It drives and handles as well as it looks – pretty special". Is it a Beach Car replica? More or less than Mengers' Beach Mini, which was unveiled a year ago? 

Thirley further adds: “For me, Crayford is an icon of British motoring and we’ve spent the last two years assembling a team to revive the brand in a way that remains loyal to its 64-year heritage and creative spirit. The original mission statement penned by the founders of Crayford in the early 1960s was ‘to design and build cars that are unique, to redefine what’s possible when you harness devotion and innovation'". No price has yet been mentioned, further information can be found here.

Crayford Mini Mojito is unveiled today at the London Concours

Picture Crayford Automobiles via Classic Driver

Mk1 Mini based, but styling is sharper than the original Beach Car 

Picture Crayford Automobiles via Classic Driver

And then there's a fully floating canopy roof for a change!

Picture Crayford Automobiles via Classic Driver

Hang on... the 1980 Crayford Carnival one-off had that, too

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

"The Mini Mojito's look is authentically 1962 and stylish simple"

Picture Crayford Automobiles via Classic Driver

No 'Lloyd Loom' wicker this time, but cream coloured leather instead

Picture Crayford Automobiles via Classic Driver

757 UYN started life as a standard Morris Mini in 1962

Picture Crayford Automobiles via Classic Driver

Original Mini Beach Car (top) and Crayford Mini Mojito below

Picture Crayford Automobiles via Classic Driver / archive

Mystery Mini Derivative (82): Danish Beach Car

The two pictures below reached me from Denmark through Michael Hansen, who wanted to know if I'd seen this car before. All he knows is that it is supposedly based on a 1967 Austin Seven. Well, I draw a complete blank here. It does look similar to the Kosellek Mini cabriolet, made in Alençon, France in the late-1960s or perhaps to the Crayford Carnival, but it's clearly different to these. Look at those fat A-pillars! And how about the massive bumpers, Volvo-sourced..? Any information would be most welcome.

A mystery Mini Beach car conversion from Denmark. I'd never seen this one before

Picture courtesy Michael Hansen

Massive bumpers and ditto grille, fat A-pillars and no doors. Who knows more..?

Picture courtesy Michael Hansen

The Queen's Mini derivative

Queen Elizabeth has died and the nation is in grief. You shall be missed by many Majesty.

Not quite the kind of posting for Maximum Mini you'd think, but amazingly the late-Queen did have a link to a Mini variant. She appeared in a number of paparazzi pictures taken 60 years ago at Windsor in the summer of 1962 with... a Mini Beach Car. 

From a newspaper clipping: "The Queen stands beside the most unusual of her stable of royal cars - a tiny beach Mini-car with cut-away sides and basket seats. Ideal for a sunny day in Windsor Great Park. The copper-coloured Mini is one of only three experimental cars built by the British Motor Corporation and has been lent to the Royal Family. The Queen, a knowledgable motorist, doubtless enjoys travelling in this unconventional little vehicle as much as she does in her Rolls."

The Beach Car was used on a few royal occasions, among them a state visit to Amsterdam in May 1965, when the car was shipped over to The Netherlands and driven by Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon in Amsterdam. It was never owned by the Royal family though, as they had it on loan from BMC. In 1968 the car was sold and it remains in the hands of the man who then became its lucky owner.

Windsor Castle, Summer 1962. The Queen and Prince Philip with the Mini Beach Car

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

"The Queen doubtless enjoys travelling in this unconventional little vehicle"

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The very same Mini Beach Car, photographed in 2012 in front of the main gate of the old BMC factory in Longbridge where it was built. The factory is now gone as is the Queen, but the car remains

Picture Jeroen Booij

Mengers Beach Mini is beautiful Beach Car replica

When Beach Car owner John Reymondos contacted me about a brand new Mini Beach Car replica made in Germany by Mini Mengers I had to admit I had to look twice. Was that really a replica? Well, it was and Dierk Mengers was happy to provide me with a press pack, showing the conversion carried out by him. From the press info: "To celebrate the 60th birthday of the Beach Mini, Mengers is giving Mini enthusiasts the unique opportunity to own their very own doorless fun machine. 60 years after the original Beach Minis left their place of birth, a new brother left our manufacture in Germany. We simply call it the Mengers Beach Mini."

According to Mengers the car looks just like the original, but is different in many ways. But you will have to look pretty good to see that. Apart from the fact that a later shell appears to have been used for the conversion, I noticed smoother panelwork on the door cut-outs and some differences in the interior. Especially in the seats, which have been made by Lloyd Loom never the less - the company that was also responsible for the originals back in the early 1960s. They now look to be double-sided and finished with leather edges.

Mengers also ads: "Since there were no original blueprints available it remained unclear how and if the structure of a Beach Mini was strengthened to make up for the structural losses from removing the B-Pillar. 30 years of experience in converting classic Mini Saloons into convertibles helped us to find the perfect balance between lightweight and tough. The chassis of a Mengers Beach Mini stays stiff while not adding much weight compared to a regular Mini." Furthermore it is fitted with a 50hp strong 1000 cc engine rather than the 850 of the original and a fully synchronized and shorter ratio gearbox. Finally Mengers ads: "We can also imagine a fully electric Mengers Beach Mini."

Yes, this really is a Beach Car made recently and not one of the originals!

Picture Mini Mengers

It was made by Mini Mengers of Oldenburg in Germany and is now offered for sale

Picture Mini Mengers

Mengers says it is different from the original in many ways but you will have to look good

Picture Mini Mengers

Even the wicker seats were made by the same company which did the originals in 1962

Picture Mini Mengers 

Leather edges and back are a giveaway that these are different though

Picture Mini Mengers

The Mini's dashboard in its simplest and purest form, just like the original Beach Cars

Picture Mini Mengers

Engine is a 1000 cc now, good for 50 hp. But Mengers would also do an electric conversion

Picture Mini Mengers

With just 15 Beach cars built (plus a prototype) this may be the next best thing!

Picture Mini Mengers 

Mini Mengers plate shows this is Exklusiv Umbau (exclusive conversion) number 1

Picture Mini Mengers 

The original (Mary Falvey's car on the left) versus the Mengers replica - spot the differences 

Picture Bonhams auctioneers / Mini Mengers

Mystery Mini derivative (81) - Mini Spiaggina

A Mk1 Mini that was converted into some kind of Beach car and called 'Mini Spiaggina' ('Mini Beach') was seen for sale in Rome recently. It makes me wonder what exactly it could be. Said to be a February 1967 car it may well be an early conversion, but by whom? It's certainly not an Innocenti Mini Mare, but also not one of the other beach car-esque conversions from southern Europe that I know of: the Arco Iris Mini from Spain, the Kosellek Mini from France or the Jacky Mini Plage, also from France. 

The Mini wore an 'LE' plate which came from the province of Lecce or 'The heel of Italy' on the Salento peninsula in the very south-east. That seems a suitable place to drive a Beach Car. It sold swiftly for not very much, too. Somebody who can tell if the base vehicle was an Innocenti? And who knows more about this nice little conversion anyway..?

The mystery Mini Spiaggina as it was seen for sale not long ago in Rome

Picture Subito

Was the conversion based on an Innocenti built Mini? Made in Italy?

Picture Subito

With so many coachbuilders there in the 1960s it would make sense to be a local build

Picture Subito

'LE' registration means it was used in the Lecce province on the Salento peninsula

Picture Subito

Happy Easter 2022

Easter is all about eggs and buns, ham and lamb and spending some time with the family. If you enjoy reading old murky magazines, like I do, it may be a good moment to do so, too. I found the three mags below, making good use of what looks to be the same photoshoot with a Mini Beach Car. Happy Easter!

Easter reading: 3 x Motor magazine featuring the same Mini Beach Car in 1964, 1965 and 1968

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Beach car enjoyed to the max

I noticed it had been seven years since an Austin Beach Car was sold for record money (full story here) and wondered what happened to it since. I dropped the owner, who wished to remain anonymous, a line and got a swift and enthusiastic reply: "Jeroen, we still love the car! It is at our club where we use it a lot. Nearly every day. The club is not very big so it does not go far, but once we took it to a restaurant about 20km away. People love the car everywhere it goes. Many smiles and waves. Thank you for checking in."

It's good to hear that the car is enjoyed. Thank you! About two years ago another Austin Mini Beach Car was auctioned in the USA (click here) and that even shattered this car's record price. 

The Beach Car that was sold in Monterey in 2014 is enjoyed nearly every day

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Maximum Mini - Find of the Decade

2020 has been a remarkable year so far. And not just for virus-reasons, but also for finding back forlorn Mini based cars. Up until now more remarkable cars have made it to the finds list on here then ever before, with a few more stories of discoveries coming up soon. As tradition dictates we'll have the now-established 'Find of the Year' election here in December. 

But how about the last decade? Many more Mini derivatives were found through the years, and I thought it would be nice to list the 'Find of the Year' winners of the last 10 years here again. What's more: which one do you consider to be the best out of these? In other words: what will be the Maximum Mini Find of the Decade? You decide. Send your answers below in the comments, or reach me through any other way you like. 

UPDATE 2 January 2021: It's official - the Le Mans Mini Marcos is the Maximum Mini Find of the Decade. Thanks to all who brought in their vote.

2010 - The Beach Car prototype found in a Greece scrapyard. More here

2011 - The unspoilt Cox GTM found in a Cheshire garage. More here 

2012 - The mystery Maya GT found in a Kent garden. More here

2013 - The Mini Jaba found in a Spanish scrapyard. More here

2014 - The Mean Sonora BMC found in a Belgian garden. More here

2015 - The Landar R7 found in a lock-up in Germany. More here

2016 - The 1966 Le Mans Mini Marcos found in Portugal. More here

2017 - Dame Margot Fonteyn's coachbuilt Mini found in the UK. More here

2018 - The Peel Viking 'Dutch demonstrator' in a German barn. More here

2019 - Project X found in an Australian lock-up. More here