Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #10

Lawther GT lives: a sign of life after 18 years of searching

The one-off Mini based car in 1968

Chambers Special still lives, too. Spotted by reader

And that car, also in 1968

Le Mans Mini Marcos project: more French Blue paint

Chambers Special - where is it now?

The Maximum Mini files continue to grow, with now over 41,000 images, sales literature, build specifications, drawings and historical correspondence. Still I get surprised every so often with new stuff. Scott Barrett made me aware of a contemporary picture of the Chambers Special that he'd come across online on autopuzzles.com, adding: "Did you ever hear any more about what happened to this one? I still regret not buying it when it was first advertised at £400 several years ago!"

I did write about the car last year for Classic & Sports Car magazine, when things looked good with a restoration being planned, including mention of a newly made hatchback door which had gone lost in transit. But I lost track of the car since and wonder what's happening to it now?

UPDATE 11:30: Simon sold the car to a good friend who also had plans, but has now given up too, as it is too much work to restore properly. Simon: "I believe it’s for sale".

Historical picture of Chambers Special was a new one to me. It proves the car hadn't changed much

Note headrests on all four seats - opposite at the back

Picture autopuzzles.com via Scott Barrett

Last year's news: a restoration was planned but it never happened. Where is the car now?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Will Chambers Special ever drive again?

After over twenty years of neglect, things finally looked good for the Chambers Special in December last year. The 1967 designed and 1969 registered one-off is based on Mini and 1100 mechanicals and was the brainchild of engineer Michael Chambers. It’s an interesting car with some unusual features. Among them rear seats that face backwards, a heating and ventilation system, made to blow air through eyelets in all four of the seats, doors with built-in armrests, safety locks and strengthening for side impact plus a very clever adjustable steering column.

But it had become a ghost of its former glory after having been neglected since 1997. But then it finally found its devotee late last year, who was eager to get it restored. But things started to go wrong when the car was transported from Kent to Cheshire. The company that did so, lost the car's rear hatchback door in transit. The new owner, never the less, persisted to believe the Chambers Special deserved to be brought back to its former glory, and made plans to have a new rear door refabricated. That plan is still there, but sadly the project has been put up for sale once again never the less. Will the Chambers Special ever return to the road after all?

On its way to a new owner, when the future looked bright for the Chambers Special

Picture Simon Pike

Rear hatchback door is still in place here. But it got lost somewhere between Kent and Chechire

Picture Simon Pike

Interior had been stripped out, but moulded-in seats - facing backwards at the rear - are still there

Picture Simon Pike

A new home and new plans to get it back on the road, even if a new rear door had to be made

Picture Simon Pike

Mostly complete, too, but restoration is a daring task never the less. Who is going to do it?

Picture Simon Pike

Chambers Special is now on the market once again, looking for somebody to give it some tlc

Picture Simon Pike

Another unique BMC Special

Look at this! It is a one-off special, said to be based on an Austin or Morris 1100 (don't say I didn't warn you) but fitted with a 1275 engine. It is registered in 1969 as 'BMC Special' and last driven officially on the road in 1997. Now it is offered for sale for the enthusiast looking for something else. Don't say it's ugly as I absolutely love it! It's for sale at 400 pounds only. That's cheap! Thanks Richard Hawcroft for the tip.

UPDATE 10 July 2011: It's got a name: the Chambers Special, after its builder. And a one-off it is.

Now that is one way to customise your 1100! Nose looks much like that of New Era Mini

A baby Volvo P544? Relatively tall and round 4-seat body should be much spacier then its base

Speaking about period style, have a look at this dashboard with cool centre console 

'Frenched' Cortina rear lights suit the rear well. Could that be a modified MGB boot lid?

1275 engine may be from a Mini but scuttle is clearly 1100. It's a non runner now