Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #69

Cox GTM for sale (1)

Cox GTM for sale (2)

Heerey GTM for sale (1)

Heerey GTM for sale (2)

Mk1 Mini Jem 'Mae West' turns up in Germany

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #43

The Mini based electric cars of Crompton-Leyland

Fabulous Cox GTM from Japan

How the Houghton-Coldwell Mod really ended up

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #27

Fireball Midget - background now finally revealed 

New historical pictures of Swedish Cox GTM emerge

Another look back at Jeremy Delmar-Morgan

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #26

Raced, lost, found and now for sale: Dagobert's Cox GTM 

Heerey GTM found in... the USA

Mini Jem prototype in historical track test

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #22

Finding the right Mini Marcos - reader's quest fulfilled

Highly original and genuine Cox GTM for sale

And over to the next Ogle - soon for sale too

Howard Heerey shares some stories

Manchester-man Howard Heerey, who lives in Australia for many years now, shares some of his stories and photographs on Facebook every now and then. And his latest message was too good not to share here. He wrote: 

"1966 was the beginning of my involvement with GTM. I watched Jack Hosker build the first prototype in the workshop of Cox’s garage in Hazel Grove. My father's Ford dealership was just across the road and at the beginning of '67 Bernard Cox asked me to race the original yellow 1275Cox GTM. I was already chasing the Clubman Championship in my Chevron and driving for VW in Formula V, so it was quite a challenge racing all three at the same race meet. In 1968 Jack built me a new GTM to compete in the 1150cc GT category while I was also campaigning a full season in F3, but we did have success with GTM until the oversteer caught me out at the Esso bend at Oulton. I actually disappeared through the sign and badly damaged the GTM against one of the uprights. That was the end of the racing and the start of us moving production down to our garage and getting to grips with building them."

Lovely! Below some great pictures from Howard's files to go with it.

Talking about evoking the spirit of racing in the 1960s! Note Midland Garage Racing van

Picture Howard Heerey

The first (prototype) Cox GTM with a young Howard Heerey at the wheel

Picture Howard Heerey

That's Howard getting ready for some action. Note unusual placing of oil cooler at the back

Picture Howard Heerey

A rare sight these days, but a unique sight in 1966 when this was the first GTM

Picture Howard Heerey

Ogle SX1000 on Ebay is not for sale

A while ago, a few months before I found what is my own Ogle SX1000 now (this one) I received a number of messages from readers who'd spotted one such car on Ebay. No, it wasn't offered for sale there but it could be seen in an ad for another car. I was interested to learn a little more about it since '996 GXH' was one that had been off the radar for many years. I contacted the seller and got a quick reply: "No not for sale, please stick to what is advertised."

I kindly apologized for my curiosity but did get another reply a few days later from the seller. He now wrote: "No problem, apologies if I sounded a bit brash. I do know about your book, sounds very interesting. The Ogle is not mine, it is part of a collection owned by a very eccentric elderly gentleman. He owns approximately 60 British fibreglass specialist sports cars from the 1960/70’s. He is very private and I am sworn to secrecy on who he is and his car collection. Kind Regards Mark."

That was a nice surprise. And there was more. Mark came back with the next: "I owned my self back in 1977 a 1967 Cox GTM, the registration number number was FRO 7G. I would love to trace where it is now. It had a 1360 cc Oselli engine with a very unusual Reece Fish carburetor. It was a quick little thing. I nearly bought around the same time a Peel Viking Minisport, it was dark blue and for sale in Suffolk, I could not quite afford what the then owner wanted for it. Kind Regards Mark." I've looked in the files but unfortunately cannot find anything on that Cox GTM as I don't have any pictures of a dark blue Peel Viking either. Anyone out here who knows more about these cars?

This Ogle SX1000 is owned by a very eccentric elderly gentleman and is not for sale

Picture Ebay.co.uk

Meanwhile, a Cox GTM registered FRO 7G is missing. This is a picture of another car with faked plate

Edited picture Jeroen Booij archive

Unraveling a bit of that Cox GTM's history...

While researches for the Belgian Ogle barnfind are in full swing, the ones for other cars just continue, too. I thought it would be nice to give a little update on the Cox GTM that I found earlier this year, also in Belgium, since a bit more of its past has now been unraveled with the help of Maximum Mini readers. Emilien Pillot contacted me in March. He had seen the same car advertised in the early or mid-1990s and had written a letter to the seller in the UK at the time. He said: "I don't remember exactly when it was but as I remember the car was approximately in the same condition. I'm pretty sure I can find the pics sent to me by the owner at the time but I'm not so sure about the letter that accompanied it. I'm doing by best to find out more."

And he did! Two months later another message followed: "Hi Jeroen, I found the pics but not the letter. I'm pretty sure I haven't kept that. The car wasn't registered that's why I didn't buy it. The windscreen was included in the sale. If one day I find the letter when I sort my desk, I will let you know. Best regards, Emilien"

That was great and I was surprised to see the car hadn't changed much from these 1990s Polaroid pictures. What was even better is that I somehow managed to find the then-owner, too: Andy Parkinson, who lived near Swansea, South-Wales at the time and who still lives there. I got in touch with Andy, who wrote:

"Hi Jeroen, I bought it from a guy in Bolton in the north of the UK. He was advertising it as a Mini kit car and didn’t even know what it was! I had no history at all, sadly he just wanted to get rid of it and I could not believe my luck. The guy I bought it from said it had been on the road, but when I got it there was no log book and I was going to try to find out what the original registration was. It was such a rare car though, I regretted selling it straight away. From memory it had number plate holes and holes for the rear number plate light. The roof was a mess though looked almost as if it had a sunroof put in and someone had then repaired over it, I did a little exploration with a sander and it had a lot of filler there! That said the rest of the tub and shell were very good after the repairs as far as I remember, panels and doors fitted very well."

So far the guy from Bolton hasn't been found yet but who knows we may find him, too? Andy added that the car was 'advertised in the newspaper for car sales…before the internet was around.' He also added: "I am trying to remember if there was any number, I don’t think so or I would have probably take a photo of it." It would be lovely if this story got another follow-up, wouldn't it? 

Early to mid-1990s. The Cox GTM is snapped on Polaroid by then-owner Andy Parkinson

Picture Andy Parkinson, courtesy Emilien Pillot

Andy: "It was such a rare car though, I regretted selling it straight away"

Picture courtesy Andy Parkinson

The car hadn't changed much from when these pictures where taken and sent to Emilien Pillot

Picture Andy Parkinson, courtesy Emilien Pillot

"I bought it from a guy in Bolton. He said it had been on the road, but there was no log book"

Picture Andy Parkinson, courtesy Emilien Pillot

February 2021: Found in a barn in Belgium where it had been in storage for at least 25 years

Picture Maximum Mini archive

March 2021: the Cox makes its online debut on Maximum Mini (here)

Picture Jeroen Booij

September 2021: new owner Trevor Powell picks up the car in Calais, France

Picture Jeroen Booij

Visiting Hambly Cars

You may have heard of Derek Hambly who revived the good old GTM as the Hambly Coupe in 2016 as a retirement project and who'd built a number of cars since (more here). Latest is a stunning reincarnation of 'LLG 187G', which may be better known as The Green Mean Machine to you, or the very first car built by Howard Heerey back in 1969 (more here). 

When I saw a picture of the car at the Stoneleigh show at the end of August I knew I wanted to see it in the flesh, so it was good to be over in the UK once again last week. Derek and his little team were happy to have me and show me around, take lots of pictures of their latest car and have a cup of tea. Thank you guys! I will write a more comprehensive article about Hambly Cars and 'LLG' later. 

The Hambly Cars dream team. Left to right: Edward, Anna Maria and Derek

Picture Jeroen Booij

The Green Mean Machine is back now, thanks to Derek Hambly and his team

Picture Jeroen Booij

The car has become a real stunner with great attention to detail thanks to its owner

Picture Jeroen Booij

Correct badging, only the paint colour is different, now a Corvette metallic green

Picture Jeroen Booij

10" Dunlop D1 wheels, Fiat 850 rear lights, even number plates of the correct type

Picture Jeroen Booij

The engine is a 1275, originally it was an 'S' with twin SUs and hot cam set at 7,000rpm

Picture Jeroen Booij

Interior looks great, too, in all its simplicity and period correct-ness

Picture Jeroen Booij

Derek Hambly in his workshop. He and his little team do and make just about anything themselves

Picture Jeroen Booij

Another early car that is now ready to be built. Note original chassis behind it

Picture Jeroen Booij

Derek had just come from the local circuit of Brands Hatch where he'd been racing his own car

Picture Jeroen Booij

GTM news flash

There is some great news about Cox GTMs and a Heerey GTM that I thought would combine nicely in a little news flash here. 

First of all, the '67 Cox that I found in April (this one) was finally picked up by its new owner: Trevor Powell. Trevor is a much respected Mini man, who you may remember from this article about the cars built by his dad Bill Powell. Trevor told me he always fancied an early GTM and didn't hesitate when this one came along. The plan is now to turn the car into a sprint / hill climb machine but Trevor is not in a rush as he's got some exiting other projects first. He asked me if I could bring it over to Calais, which I did. I met him and his wife Melanie at a parking place close to the motor way there where we swapped the car over from one trailer to the other. They drove back home to the UK that same night and the next day he wrote: "We finally got home at 4.45am with no issues at customs etc. Very happy with the car and all the parts!" I'm very happy with that, too.

Elsewhere in the UK, Nick Wilkins, who owns the ex-Cars & Car Conversions Cox GTM racer, found another car. He wrote: "I must be mad as have just brought another GTM. This one is was on a farm clearance. All I know about it is what I could see in the pictures. Hope to collect it next week. Think you call this a barn yard find!" Certainly looks like it mate, well done to you!

Last but not least an exiting and brand new build was seen at the Stoneleigh kit car show at the stand of Hambly Sportscars Ltd., manufacturer of the Hambly Coupe (more here). I think that is a fantastic looking car and eagle eyed readers will have recognized it straight away as 'The Green Machine' (this one) in a new guise. I hope to meet up with Derek and the car in person soon.

Thursday evening, on a parking place in Calais. That's Trevor and Melanie Powell. The Cox has just moved from my trailer to Trevor's and the car is now back in the UK

Picture Jeroen Booij

Trevor owns some great historic racing Minis, but had been looking for a Cox GTM for ages: "I've always wanted one!" he told me. It will be built into a sprint car / hill climber

Picture Melanie Powell

Meanwhile, Nick Wilkins, who owns the ex-Car and Car Conversions Cox GTM found this Heerey GTM in a farm clearance and picked it up

Picture courtesy Nick Wilkins

This one is a Heerey GTM 1-3 of around 1970 and it has been on the road before says Nick. 

Currently there is no registration though

Picture courtesy Nick Wilkins

Last but not least this fantastic car was on display at the Hambly Sportscars stand at the Stoneleigh kit car show. You may recognize it as 'The Green Machine'

Picture courtesy Ferg Ranson

Return to the scene

It seems that slowly but surely the action is returning to the classic car scene with several events returning to the calendar and actually taking place! Below is a selection of pictures sent to me and found online from Mini derivatives that could be seen in the last week or so.

60 Years of the Mini Cooper was celebrated at the Circuit de la Châtre in central France last weekend,

 with lots of Minis and Mini Coopers attending as well as this Mini Marcos, seen here early 

morning in the pit street

Picture Gérard Zanol

And it wasn't the only Marcos attending the sunny event. Two more of them seen here front row

Picture Gérard Zanol

And two more Mini Marcoses, both Mk4s seen at the National Mini & Metro Show at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon. The yellow car is owned by Des Bennett and the orange one by Richard Porter, who both built it from new and still own it after more than 40 years!

Picture Richard Porter

London Concours was one of the few events that took place last year. It returned to the city for 2021 where it took place at the fields of the Honourable Artillery Company from June 8-10. Stunning place with some stunning cars. See the Unipower?

Picture Tim Scott 

Last year Tim Carpenter's Unipower GT was on display here; this year it was Gerry Hulford's car, looking ever so good in the sun. Remarkably, the wing mentions Stanley Robinson and John Blanckley as drivers who, as far as I know never drove this car. Very confusing!

Picture The Sporting Minis

Derek Wilkins brought his ex-Cars & Car Conversions Cox GTM over to Shelsley Walsh last weekend, where 60 Years of Jaguar's E-type was celebrated together with the Mini Cooper Register

Picture Ian Hunt

Jamie Crudgington is having fun in the gorgeous Mk1 Mini Jem of his father Pete. They brought it to a track day at Mallory Park a few weeks ago and will be racing it at Donington soon in an action-packed field

Picture Pete Crudgington

Another track day, another cool Mini derivative. That's Guy Loveridge with the Ogle SX1000 in between a wide variety of other racing cars at Blyton Park in Lincolnshire on June 2nd

Picture Guy Loveridge

The National Mini Cooper Day at Beaulieu took place last weekend, too, and saw things turn back to as they were two years ago. Seen here a particularly nice MiniSprint, a Stewart & Ardern built car? 

Picture Richard Porter

Another rarely seen Mini derivative at the National Mini Cooper Day and like the MiniSprint it's another Neville Trickett design, too: a Siva Mule of which 12 were made in the 1970s

Picture Richard Porter