Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #75

What happened to Alec Poole's Unipower GT 'RBL 25F'?

Is that really the Luna Bug prototype turning up..?

Harold Dermott - where are you?

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #39

Special Report: Ogle SX1000s meet at Knebworth Park

Meet all the people with their cars

A drive to the Ogle factory

A meeting with the Ogle workforce and a look inside...

...And its archives!

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

Nimrod in brochures

Just some groovy promotional material for the Nimrod from the Maximum Mini files for you to enjoy. Although the car was manufactured originally in 1972-1974 only by Nimrod Engineering, several revamped versions by a number of companies appeared between 1979 until as late as 1986. Not too many of these cars were manufactured! It did bring forth some lovely advertising and brochure stuff though. A fully facelifted version was planned and did make it to a prototype somewhere in the 1980s, but it never appeared. Unseen pictures of it did emerge here years ago (click here). Enjoy!

Ogle SX1000 number 8 - where are you now?

There have been a few brochures for the Ogle SX1000 and one of them clearly shows the car registered '201 ANW', which was chassis number 8 or so I have been told. I don't know much about what happened to it after 1962, but do know that it was owned by Mark Butler in 2008, in who's workshop I saw it at the time. It needed a full restoration but just about all of the parts were there. Mark, however, concentrated on the Unipower GT projects he had at the time (two cars no less) and sold the car.

Then there's another gap of eight years before another sign of life of chassis number 8 came. Reader Bart Vanreusel spotted the Ogle at the InterClassics motor show in Brussels in November 2016. The restoration was nearly finished by that time and the car was offered for sale once again. Asking price was a rather staggering 120,000 euros. I have no idea if the restoration was ever fully finished or if the car was sold. Who can tell where it is now?

UPDATE 21 November 2022: A nice message from Bertrand Smets, who has been - and still is - restoring this SX1000 in Luxembourg. He wrote: "Dear Jeroen, first of all I would like to thank you for the quality of your Maximum Mini blog. Here is some news about the Ogle SX1000 number 8: The restoration of the car is not finished! The car is part of my collection and will not change owner for a long time. I will send you some pictures of the car when it is finished. Sincerely yours" Thank you Bertrand!

Ogle SX1000 '201 ANW' was a brochure car back in 1962

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

It wore chassis number 8 and was supposedly gold in colour

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

This picture must be from the same shoot as the ones used for the brochure 

Picture Ogle Noor

Fast forward to 2008. Repainted red at some stage and needing full restoration

Picture Mark Butler

Strip down had begun but work stopped. The car was complete though

Picture Mark Butler

Note that hinges have been cut out from the body. Not a simple job to repair

Picture Mark Butler

Austin engine was there and seemed to be original, too. This was in the Midlands

Picture Mark Butler

And there it is again! Almost fully restored and on display at InterClassics Brussels

Picture Bart Vanreusel

Body repaired and fully repainted, the golden colour perhaps a bit light?

Picture Bart Vanreusel

Big carb, but engine bay looked good again. The asking price? 120,000 Euros...

Picture Bart Vanreusel

Adam's MDV 4 is now looking for a new owner

After I wrote about the little-known MDV some years ago (click here) I got in touch with Adam Adamson, who owned one of these cars. He then wrote: "Hi Jeroen. I am the owner of the MDV Van you mentioned in your blog and was wondering if you had any information on the vehicle as all I've been told Was that they were built by Bedford city council. My father owned it for approximately 15 years. After his recent passing I've acquired it and I’m looking to restore it. After looking (not very well) into the history of the van eventually I came across your post and was overwhelmed to find not only other examples but my exact registration and colour description. Any information would help massively to bring the life back into the van."

But as so often things went differently. Adam contacted me again last week about the project, which had been stalled: "The engine was rebuilt when my dad first bought the van by a close friend who was a Mini enthusiast between 2005 and 2007. It was 'supposed' to have been rebuilt again over lockdown 2020 by a mechanic friend of my dad but unfortunately my dad died before they finished so the engine is rebuilt but needs few bits reattaching. Radiator, air box/filter, battery. They had also lost the keys."

Adam is now looking to sell the car. It's complete with logbook and old MOT's up until 2008. Remarkably, the car was first registered on 01/07/1983 while Multi-Development (Yorshire) Ltd. was wound up in July 1983. Adam: "I have a brief memory of my dad going to an antique fair in it towing a caravan and I’m sure he said he couldn’t do more than 40mph but he loved it." Never the less Adam now offers the car for sale through Maximum Mini - see the ad here.

Ultra rare brochure of the MDV, made in Bradford, West-Yorkshire

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

A copy of it comes with the car that is offered for sale by Adam

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

'ARB 82Y' was registered in July 1983, when the company behind the MDV was wound up

Picture Adam Adamson

This was the only photograph I had of Adam's car. It's one of 5 MDV's that I know about

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The Deep Sanderson 301 prototype (1)

Deep Sanderson 301s gets a regular mention here (click!) but how about the open-top prototype preceding the production model? I found that there's not even a single post dedicated to that intriguing little car. Time to set that straight. Let's start with some pictures of the car when it was just finished and hadn't even been painted and some information from the horses mouth, quoted from Christopher Lawrence's biography 'Morgan Maverick':

"In the autumn of 1960, after the technical success of the Lawrence Link Formula Junior, Len Bridge became very determined that we should all our acquired experience by putting it into the design of a two-seater road car as an attempt at some serious production. He thought the market for racing cars was limited and already well catered for, but that there were many more people out there who bought two-seater sports cars for the road. I was not all that keen at first, but warmed to the idea after discussing it with an old friend from my Navy days, Andrew Wallace. (...) He studies my Lawrence Link suspension and proposed a sheet metal construction with a central backbone or tunnel. Len Bridge was keen to use the Mini engine which was all the rage at the time, but fitted in the rear. Andrew then took a real interest in the idea and drew up a suggested chassis design that was as original as the suspension. With some re-arrangement for practical reasons, that is what the prototype Deep Sanderson 301 was based on.

"Our first attempt at the bodywork, built for us by Charlie Williams at Williams and Pritchard, was not very clever. Ugly but functional, you might say, with its ultra light backbone chassis, all in 20 gauge steel, and his aluminium body, it was very snappy despite only having an 850ccc engine."

The car went on to the Racing Car Show and made it to a number of races before being crashed and written off. More on that is soon to follow.

Christopher Lawrence behind the wheel of the Deep Sanderson 301 prototype, built in Acton

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Same setting for the brochure pictures. Made hastily in time for the 1962 Racing Car Show

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

"Ugly but functional" said Lawrence himself. Aluminium body made by Williams & Pritchard.

Windscreen from..?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Rounded back with 'scallops' for some kind of rear view. 'JLB 246' may have been the Mini donor?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Ultra-rare Ogle Mini GT flyer

Many of you will know the brochure and / or flyer for the Ogle SX1000, which both must have been printed in relatively large numbers. But I recently learned there was also a 6-page flyer for the Ogle Mini GT - that's the SX1000 before the Mini name was banned. Quoting from my first book: "BMC - which had initially refused to supply new parts (...) soon agreed to supply parts, but insisted that no mention of the word ‘Mini’ was used in promotional material." 

This rare flyer must have been printed early in 1962 and I have never seen one, other than the lo-res front of it copied in below. I'm now desperate to have one! Who can help? 

You may know this brochure for the Ogle SX1000...

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

...But how about this one for the Ogle Mini GT..?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Hustler Holiday memories...

A lovely message from Vince Smith: "Hi Jeroen, Just going through some old car brochures and found two examples of Hustler 4 wheelers based on the Hustler Holiday design. Both were marketed by William Towns via his Interstyl company, but as far as I know no examples of these two kits were actually ordered or built."

"The prices shown are from 1988, as advertised on the rear page of a programme for the Combrook Rural Fair. William would host this vintage rally and craft fair every year at his home; Park Farm in Compton Verney, Warwick. Of course, as one might expect, parade events in the central show ring would always begin with a procession of Hustler vehicles, complete with tannoy narration backed by Van McCoy's 'Do the Hustle' echoing around the arena. Best Regards, Vince Smith"

With its very tall windscreen and hardly any bonnet, the Hustler Holiday certainly appears to be one of the lesser known models in the broad Hustler range, but I did find one picture of such a car. Who owns one? And to please all Hustler fans... over to Van McCoy once again! Thank you Vince.

Hustler Holiday brochure - Vince Smith found it, too, reigniting some William Towns memories

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Unusual version of the Hustler - the Holiday. Who knows of any survivors?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Sir Stirling Moss dies at 90

Last weekend British motor racing legend Sir Stirling Moss has died at the age of 90. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time, even though he did never won the World Championship - "which made him special", as he said himself. He retired from active racing at the top level in 1962 after a crash at Goodwood, which kept him in a coma for weeks and partially paralyzed for months. After that he continued to show up behind the wheel at racing and rallying events throughout the world up until some 10 years ago.

After his active motor sports career he was involved in a number of Mini based cars, too, no doubt being a dream promotor for their manufacturers. He got involved with Ogle Design and was seen promoting the Ogle SX250 and SX1000 in London and even showed up behind Ogle's drawing board to design his own (Ford-based) dream car. Next, he did the testing for Rob Walker's MiniSprint, who was keen enough to place a photograph of the car being driven in anger by Moss on the cover of its brochure. He was also seen with the Unipower GT and driving the TiCi around busy London traffic in 1972 with dolly birds in and around the car. And once again the pictures were eagerly used for marketing purposes.

Moss in 1972 in central London. He helped to promote the TiCi City car

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Sir Stirling was also involved in Ogles. Seen here with two SX1000s and an SX250

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

In March 1963 he was even mentioned as an associate director to the company

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Seen here in a unique photograph behind the drawing board at Ogle Design

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Slightly later he was seen with the MiniSprint racer, here with Geoff Thomas and Neville Trickett

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

He even made it to the cover of the Walker GT MiniSprint brochure 

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Always happy to give a hand in promotion - here with the Unipower GT and the lovely Monika Dietrich at the 1967 London Racing Car Show

Jeroen Booij archive

And many years later at another show - with Dave Ratner in one of his Mini powered Berkeleys

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Luna Bug brochure found (cars still missing)

When I came across a brochure for the ultra-obscure Luna Bug lately I just had to buy it. Made in Fratton, Hampshire, the Luna Bug was a rather shameless copy of Stimson's Mini Bug, with similar framework and a body that looked much alike and even built around the corner. The thing was offered for sale in late 1970 from 145 GBP as a basic kit and two are believed to have been made, one with steel body and one in fibreglass (story here). The steel bodied car supposedly was the one offered for sale exclusively by Self Fit ltd. of Portsmouth in 1970. While the other car (or so it seems) was found a couple of years ago (click here) only to disappear once again soon after. It was registered 'PBK 714H', while the demonstrator used 'PBK 705H'. I would still love to find out more.

A Luna Bug brochure has to be rare. Just two Luna Bugs were made

Picture Jeroen Booij

Prices appear to have been lowered at one stage. Self-Fit Ltd. has forgotten all about it

Picture Jeroen Booij

The car as it could be seen in an advertisement in November 1970

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

And a Luna Bug as found in early 2013. The same car? Or a different one after all?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive via Paul Wylde

It disappeared off the radar as soon as it had appeared. Where is it now?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive via Paul Wylde