Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #94

The story of Malcom's Marcos

Mystery solved: meet the Needham GT39

A Mini Coupe in an Australian forecourt...

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #41

Yet another Ogle SX1000 barn find!

New info on Prince Troubetzkoy's coachbuilt Cooper

Great film footage of Australia's fastest Mini in 1968

Bill Buckle passes away

Another legendary motoring man who fitted in so well with Maximum Mini has left us today at the age of 96: Bill Buckle, who designed, built and marketed his coupe version of the Mini from his Brookvale BMC dealership in Australia: the pretty Buckle Monaco. After having visited the 1953 London Motor Show, Buckle came up with the idea to launch a fibreglass bodied car in Australia. This became the 2.5 litre Ford Zephyr engined Buckle Coupe, which was made in very small numbers. His next vehicle, the Goggomobil Dart, was a real hit with about 700 made. 

In 1966 Buckle announced the Monaco as a conversion for the Mini. For $400 you could have your Mini or Mini Cooper converted in a sleek coupe with fibreglass roof. This new roof was made of polycarbonate and was supported by added hoops. The standard Mini front screen was raked back to give the body better aerodynamics. The rear screen was made of polycarbonate, while the side screens were Perspex. Around 30 Monaco’s were built, most based on Australian-built Mini Cooper S's.

Bill Buckle (left) in conversation with another legendary Aussie Mini man: Brian Foley

Picture Jeroen Booij archive, source unknown

The Buckle Monaco made its debut at the 1966 Sydney Motor & Boat Show

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

'Wheels' magazine was the first to test drive the car and this was its cover shot

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

'BB 818' was Buckle's demonstrator which featured in a great number of ads and articles

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Easter racing through the 1960s

What to do in the long Easter weekend? Well, there was a time when you simply took your Mini based sports car, drove it to the racing track nearby, changed the tyres on the spot and gave it some good trashing during one of numerous Easter races organized. See a selection of photographs below. 

Have a good Easter!

Easter 1964, Bob Henderson in his Minnow GT at the Brands Hatch circuit

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Easter 1964 also, Chris Lawrence in the Deep Sanderson 105 at Mallory Park

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Easter 1967, Brian Foley behind the wheel of the Aussie Broadspeed GTS

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Easter 1968, Peter Garrad's girlfriend in the Buckle Monaco LMS at Hume Weir

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Easter 1972, Michael Gill in the Minilan at Bushy Park on Barbados

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Happy Christmas 2022

2022 Is almost over and it has been another interesting year. We've seen the return of several events, which was rather nice after a long break. Also: exiting Mini derivatives continue to be found in barns, sheds and what else have we. Regarding the Maximum Mini stables there is unfortunately very little progress on the Le Mans Mini Marcos project. The Ogle SX1000 on the other hand is coming along very nicely.

 

For now I wish all of you a happy Christmas and the best wishes for 2023. Thank you for your support and please do bring out your vote for the 'Best Find of 2022' here. Happy Christmas!

Not one but two Australian Buckle Monacos in conditions they are unlikely to meet!

Original photograph Planai Classic, picture editing Jeroen Booij

Buckle Monaco wins 'Best Restoration' title

When I heard about a Buckle Monaco being superbly restored in Australia recently, I was eager to learn more and got in touch with the car's owner David Wallis. David was kind enough to tell me all about the car's restoration, which won a first place for best restoration recently. Over to him:

"Hi Jeroen, I have put the following together for your blog. The photos show the car as I purchased it, then at the paint and panel shop with the rest being the car as completed. The car is a Mini Monaco, based on a 1962 850 and modified by Bill Buckle Auto Conversions in Sydney, Australia around 1966 / 67. Bill went on to receive the Order of Australia in 2014 for his service to the motor vehicle industry as a designer and retailer. I purchased the car in early 2014 after a chance encounter with a guy at a local Jaguar show. I had driven to the show in my Twini (and he sent me a few pictures of that, too, a real cracker of a car!-JB) and we started chatting about Mini’s in the car park. He commented that a relation of his had an unusual Mini which he thought was a Monaco. This had my attention, and the car was in my possession some three months later. It had been sitting in a shed in a nearby town since 1980."

"I traced the cars history back to a fellow in Queensland who reportedly purchased it from Bill Buckle in 1970. Between 1970 and 1980 there were several owners, a few modifications and some dodgy panel repairs. After purchasing the car I commenced a full nut and bolt restoration, with the aim being to get the car back to the original Monaco condition including a few period performance tweaks. As there were no official records on the Monaco’s produced, the main guide for the rebuild was a range of magazine articles and adds from 1966. First job was to strip the body down ready for grit blasting and etch primer. After this was two years at the paint and panel shop where all rust and dents were removed culminating in a bare metal respray."

"It then took me around four years to put the car back together. This included detailing all components, rebuilding the engine (1275) and gear box with a few performance components including twin SUs, re-upholstering the interior which included the lowered inclined front seats and rebuilding the Cooper 'S' brakes and all suspension. I also hand fabricated a new walnut burl dash facia utilizing the original Broadspeed style upper pad. This incorporated Mk1 Cooper S gauges, along with other classic Smiths instruments. I carried out the majority of the work, with the exception of the paint and panel, purchasing parts from many countries including Australia, France, America, Canada, Portugal, England and Malta. The restoration was completed in October 2020, for its debut showing at Minis at the Mill, an annual show for Minis held at the National Motor Museum in Birdwood, South Australia. The show, organised by The Modified Mini Car Club of SA attracted around 120 cars, were we received 1st place for the best restoration."

That seems totally deserved, thank you for sharing all this David! It is very good to know these cars are being cherished. Another Buckle Monaco, owned by the Lucas family of New South Wales, was restored over a long period of time and won another restoration award two years ago. Click here for that.

Beautiful Buckle. The car's nut and bolt restoration was completed in October 2020

Picture David Wallis

 This is what it looked like in 2014. David: "It had been sitting in a shed since 1980"

Picture David Wallis

The car had seen several owners, a few modifications and some dodgy panel repairs

Picture David Wallis

David stripped it completely, grit blast and etch primered the body before going to the panel shop

Picture David Wallis

Interior was fully re-upholstered with hand made walnut burl dash facia utilizing the 

original Broadspeed style upper pad

Picture David Wallis

David: "I carried out the majority of the work, with the exception of the paint and panels"

Picture David Wallis

He rebuilt the 1275 engine and gear box with a few performance components including twin SUs

Picture David Wallis

Buckle Monaco wins at Aussie show

A Buckle Monaco is a rare car. So the one that had been in Meaghan Lucas' family for so many years certainly was a coveted car. However, it needed work. Lots of work. And so Meaghan and Co. started a restoration many years ago, only to have the car finished last weekend for the All British Day in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. Meaghan wrote: "After 12 years of on and off restoration, my late dad's Buckle Monaco is out in public for the first time. I cannot thank my hubby James enough for helping me complete my dad's biggest project and dedicate the result to him. It was just so good! Even with only two hours sleep on the Saturday night it could not ruin it. The Monaco picked up a 1st place on its first event. The positive feedback from people was so overwhelming, it’s going to take days just to digest it all!"
Meaghan was happy to share the images here, so here we go. Thanks and congratulations!

This Buckle Monaco was restored by Meaghan Lucas over a 12-year period

Picture courtesy Meaghan Lucas

The car made it just in time for the All British Day in Parramatta last weekend

Picture courtesy Meaghan Lucas

Meaghan's father Kevin Lucas owned the car but he passed away before seeing it restored

Picture courtesy Meaghan Lucas 

The rare Monaco Mini coupe is now fully resplendent and looks awesome

Picture courtesy Meaghan Lucas

And all the hard work was rewarded: 1st place in class in the show and shine competition!

Picture courtesy Meaghan Lucas

Classic Mini Coupes

There have been several coupe variants on the classic Min saloon now. I thought it would be nice to see all of them together. So... left to right:

Top row: New ERA Mini Coupe, Buckle Monaco, Ecurie de Dez 2+2

Middle row: Automotive Refabrication Coupe, ABS Mini Coupe, homebuilt creation

Below: Mini Trafalgar Coupe 

Oh - there have been several more projects... Which one is your favourite?

Buckle up for the sun

While it's been drizzling here for weeks, Australia is heading towards mid-summer. Look at this picture, shot 47 years ago at Manly Beach, Sydney. I have no idea who these young people are. The car, however, is a Buckle Monaco, and it looks like a dream to use for these coastal roads. The majority of the Monacos was based on the Australian-built Mini Cooper S so definitely good fun. And good looks, too, just like the couple. Can't wait for the sun to go shining here either...

Picture perfect: A Buckle Monaco on Sydney's coastal roads back in 1967

Picture courtesy Geoff Murray / Pinterest

The third Australian Mini Coupe

You may have heard of the Buckle Monaco - a fastback version of the good old Mini that was built in Brookvale, Australia between 1966 and 1967. And there was the Ecurie de Dez, too, a car of a similar coupe concept and also Australian, this time built in Salisbury South bewteen 1969 and 1970. Two cars alike. Would there be place for a third? It seems like someone at least thought so. I never found out more about the exploits of 'Automotive Refabrication Pty. Ltd.', other then the 1967 ad which you can see here. But I came across another picture of what I believe to be the same car more recently. The remarkable thing is that, like Buckle, this company was based in Brookvale, too. As a matter of fact it was just around the corner from Bill Buckle's workshop, or so Google Maps learned me. So was it a competitor who believed he could get a piece of the pie, too? Perhaps even an ex-Buckle employee who started on his own? Or was it somebody who decided to carry on with the project in 1967 after Buckle finished it..?

Not Buckle Monaco nor Ecurie de Dez. This is a third Australian Mini Coupe

Picture courtesy Australian Hot Rod magazine

Air vents in c-post and boot with no number plate recess distinguishes it easily from others

picture courtesy oldholden.com