Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #77

Not one but two Bulanti Minis found in Australia!

New pictures of that Mini Marcos in Africa emerge

A very sunny Cub Six, also known as the Sundancer

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 #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

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #29

The Best of 'Minis at Le Mans'

The Ogle that almost made it to Le Mans

Le Mans' coolest trick: the Marcos' modified roof

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #21

Broadspeed's own Broadspeed GT

Scamps at Santa Pod

The fascinating legacy of Quasar Unipower guru Danny Chabaud

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #19

Biota importer re-imports yet another Biota

Mystery Mini derivative (87) - Autotest Special

Readers: where are they from and what do they own?

From DART to Kingfisher, Tricar to Landar

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #7:

Wild Heerey GTM found in France

Unipower GT goes continental

Butterfield Musketeer at Racing Car Show '62

Whatever happened to the Saga?

Some cars are easy to track down, others aren't quite so. The Saga fits in with the latter and has proved to be quite a - erm - Saga - to find. So far with no result.

The Mini based creature was built in 1964 by Brian Diss, who’d just left sports car manufacturer Elva. Diss told me back in 2009: “When I left them, I decided to build this on my own and finished it as a prototype. My job at Elva was making the moulds and that was also what I wanted to do with this car. It was meant to have a hatchback in the production version.” Diss based his Saga on a tubular steel frame chassis with a double marine ply floor. It used an 850cc engine from a written-off Mini with new subframes at both the front and the rear. He made the body from aluminum. Diss married to a French girl not long after and took the car with him to France, where he opened a garage in Avignon. "I sprayed it a dark red, an Opel Monza colour, and used it to go on a holiday to southern France. We must have done 20,000 miles in it.” Diss, his family and the Saga came back to England after two years, now setting up a company repairing accident cars for insurance companies. The prototype was sold in 1970 or 1971 and was last seen in the mid-1990s (click!). Where is it now?

These unique pictures were given to me by Brian Diss.

The Saga when it was in France, repainted Opel Monza red

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Diss thinks he drive some 20,000 miles with it while in France

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The registration '470 LP 80' is from the departement of Somme

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The car was re-imported to the UK later and re-registered 'GAP 65C'

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Anyone remembers it in France? And where is it now..?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

What it's like to drive Le Mans Classic in a Mini Marcos

I asked Nicolas Joffre, the owner of the Mini Marcos that made it to the Le mans Classic of last weekend, what it was like to drive the car in world's most famous race. And Nicolas was kind enough to do a lovely write-up about his experiences. This is the event in his words:

"Les Hunaudières in a Mini Marcos!"

"The project to take part in the Le Mans Classic was born just over three years ago. In fact, it began with the first edition of Le Mans Classic in 2002, but the real opportunity came three years ago... the day we were offered a Mini Marcos! We quickly decided to prepare this car for Le Mans Classic, to FIA standards. It wasn't easy, because no Mini Marcos had ever obtained an FIA PTH (historic technical passport) because of its fibre chassis. The other Mini Marcoses which drove at the Le Mans Classic previously all had 'PTH passports in progress', which are just for four months but no longer."

"Thanks to the team at Matter (a French rollover bar specialist), we were able to get the first FIA rollover bar approved for a Mini Marcos also. The cage is fitted to the front and rear subframes and we were able to do a lot of work on the body to save as much weight as possible. Despite the cage and modern safety features, the car weighs just 560kg! As far as the engine was concerned, we opted for a fairly straightforward preparation, in the spirit of what had been done at the time, and a gearbox with an end drive that was as long as possible."

"And so we arrived at Le Mans with a brand new car and a freshly built and just run-in engine. The Mini Marcos are competing in grid 4, alongside the legendary Ford GT40s, AC Cobras and Jaguar E-Types. Quite a scary prospect! But from the very first laps we realized that our Marcos was setting a much faster pace than we'd expected, on a par with the Porsche 911 2-litres and the well-prepared MGBs. We were hoping to break the 200 km/h barrier and we did just that on the first lap, with a speed of over 210 km/h. We were also concerned about the stability of the Marcos at high speed... but against all expectations, it handled fantastic! The Marcos does like to slide, however, and a few passes over the red curbs were... acrobatic! The tricky part, however, was the stability under braking, where the rear end tended to want to go in front, but our lack of driving before the event meant that we weren't able to make precise adjustments, which was definitely to our disadvantage!"

"However the joy was short-lived, because on our third lap, while I was at the wheel, in fourth gear at 6,000 rpm in Les Hunaudières, a noise was heard, followed by a rather brutal lack of power! The diagnosis was quickly discovered by the L3M Racing Team. The piston on the 4th cylinder was partly broken and no longer gave much compression. We couldn't give up, even with a significant loss of power, we wanted to go all the way! And I can promise you there's nothing to regret. The Marcos held out for 2 out of 3 runs, before coming to a final halt at the Arnage bend. But what a joy, my friends!"

"We'll be going home with our heads full of memories and images that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. I remember the moment in particular when the two leading Ford GT40s came up to me on the Hunaudières straight after the second chicane. Night was falling on the Le Mans circuit, and with my eyes glued to the rear-view mirror, I saw these two machines coming down on me in a deafening but spellbinding noise. The two cars brushed against me and the Marcos swerved slightly before the duo disappeared  as quickly as they had come. For all endurance enthusiasts, and the 24-hours of Le Mans race in particular, to be in the middle of this legendary battle is just a dream, so thank you, yes, a big thank you to the Mini Marcos!" 

The team with left to right: Oleg Baccovich, Dominique Bruchet, Cyrille Lamande and Nicolas Joffre

Picture courtesy Nicolas Joffre

Three years of preparation went into the Marcos before it was unloaded at the Le Mans track

Picture courtesy Nicolas Joffre

Night shift. The cars don't drive 24 hours, but several 45-minute sessions throughout the day and night

Picture courtesy Nicolas Joffre

"Our Marcos was setting a much faster pace than we'd expected"...

Picture courtesy Nicolas Joffre

..."On a par with the Porsche 911 2-litres and the well-prepared MGBs"

Picture courtesy Nicolas Joffre

"We were hoping to break the 200 km/h barrier and we did just that on the first lap at over 210"

Picture courtesy Nicolas Joffre

Four drivers, all of them doing their own stint in the Le Mans Classic 2023

Picture courtesy Nicolas Joffre

Mechanic Jean Pierre Brulé was present to serve the team, as he was back in 1966 

Picture courtesy Nicolas Joffre

Hairy moment: the Marcos is stranded, the two leading GT40s come along in their battle

Picture still from Youtube

Le Mans Mini Marcos: now a comic book!

Yes, Le Mans Classic will take place this weekend but, no, 'La Puce Bleue' won't be there. A shame, I know, also because this year marks the centenary of world's most famous race. Although a major step in the Marcos' restoration was made last weekend (click) it is far from presentable at present. And so I'll just have to give up on another deadline I wouldn't have wanted to have missed...

Apart from the re-ignition of its restoration there is, however, some other really cool news. About a year ago I was contacted by Denis Bernard and Christian Papazoglakis who are respectively the script writer and artist of a great series of comic books about all the adventures that stick to the 24 hours of Le Mans. They had plans to make a special album for the Le Mans centenary with 24 of the best stories about the 24-hours races of the last 100 years. And they thought the Mini Marcos, coming 15th overall right in between the famous Ford-Ferrari War of 1966, was among those 24 best ones and deserved a place in it, too. There's no doubt I was honoured! 

And so I have made it to a comic book myself now. It's called '24 Heures du Mans - 100 ans d'innovations' and the Mini Marcos segment starts on a dark day in December 2016 when my friend Jurgen and myself saw the car - or what was left of it - for the first time on a shady address in Portugal where I was supposed to hand over a duffel bag full of money. Then it harks back to perhaps its finest hour in June of 1966, when the car held the entire audience's breath at Le Mans by having a flat tyre - with no spare at hand - right in front of the grandstand. It's something which really happened. Then over to the car's theft in Paris 1975 and to the the present day with the Marcos under restoration.

So if you are at the Le Mans Classic this weekend, do look up the publisher's stand (Editions Glénat) to purchase a copy of this great 56-page book or order it from their website here.

What? Me as a comic book figure! Finding the car in Portugal as pictured in the book

 From 24 Heures du Mans - 100 ans d'innovations

The story is titled 'La résurrection de la Puce Bleue' and is 1 of 24 in the book

 From 24 Heures du Mans - 100 ans d'innovations

 '24 Heures du Mans - 100 Ans d'innovations' is available now at 14,95 Euros only

Picture Jeroen Booij

Le Mans Mini Marcos: reunion on its way

Exciting times. I will be in Pau, southern France on Saturday to pick up the one and only 1966 Le Mans Mini Marcos - on its wheels and with the engine running and dyno'd. Looking forwards to the reunion after such a long time. More to follow soon.

November 2021 - the last time I saw the car. Reunion now on its way

Picture Joost van Dien

Engine, built to original 1966 spec by Philippe Quiriere, will be in and running

Picture Jeroen Booij

The Targa Florio Mini Marcos (4)

Over to the 4th and (for now) final episode about the Mini Marcos that made it (briefly) to the 1967 Targa Florio (for part 1 click here, part 2 here, part 3 here)

Our Swedish Marcos-man Per Haegermark wrote earlier: "Before I can tell you with 100% certainty that #7034 is the Targa Florio car, I have to see one more document which I have ordered from the National Swedish Archives. They normally need three to four weeks to find the requested documents. Will get back to you a.s.a.p."

Well, the time has come for the document to arrive, so over to Per again: "Hi again Jeroen, Many thanks for the most interesting article you have compiled. Great job! Now, I think we are almost home. The final bits of the jigsaw puzzle come here now: I just received copies of the original registration document of #7034 from the National Registration Archives and I was very, very happy to see that the first owner of the car really was Jan-Eric Andreasson. Wow! The original registration number was 'AA 13515' and it was road registered for the first time on 19th October 1967 - that is after its racing career was ended. In the meantime I spent some time in picking out all racing and hillclimb entries of #7034 from my worldwide 'Historic Marcos Racing Records' database (more than 1500 entries between 1960 and 1975). Copy attached. I was very surprised to find only 10 entries out of which the car only managed to finish just one: the Röforsloppet Hill Climb driven by Börje Österberg."

"All other entries were either classed as 'Did not finish' or 'Did not arrive'. It seems that the car really would have needed a proper shake-down before entering the race tracks at all, wouldn't it? The reason for not having arrived at the Karlskoga and Skellefteå races was most probably that the team were putting it back in race trim after the crash at TF during the early stages of summer. For one reason or another they skipped Västkustloppet in favour of the Röforsloppet which both were arranged on the same day in August. The man behind the wheel was the most experienced driver Börje Österberg instead. The sticker on the bonnet says: 'Fest-Is' which was the most popular orange juice then and still is. It was not common with sponsorship in those days at all."

"Hope this mystery now has been resolved once and for all. It would be interesting to find out when and by whom the original engine was exchanged and when it changed colours etc. I believe it was green after its white/green era. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Cheers for now, Per"

That is wonderful. Thank you very much for your enthusiasm Per.

Börje Österberg in the Targa Florio Mini Marcos at Röforslopet hill climb on August 6th, 1968

where he came first in class. Note the repainted front after the Targa Florio accident  

Picture Lars Liifw via Per Haegermark

Now in France, this is confirmed to be the Targa Florio car wearing chassis number 7034

Picture Leboncoin

Börje Österberg was a Swedish ice racing champion in Minis. He is wearing the helmet here

Picture www.gelin.se/hakan-och-bilar

Elmhorn Troberg of Stockholm became the official Mini Marcos concessionaire in Sweden, 

but Andreasson's Targa Florio car had been an earlier import

Picture Jeroen Booij

They came up with this lovely brochure to attract Swedish Mini Marcos customers 

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Ring Knutsdorp was the first race in which Andreasson entered the Mini Marcos

Picture progcovers.com

A week later Skarpnäck was the second. The Mini Marcos did not finish in both races

Picture progcovers.com

The Targa Florio Mini Marcos (3)

If you have managed to read though part 1 here and part 2 here of this intriguing story about the Mini Marcos that made it to the 1967 Targa Florio race, you may like this part 3 too. Take a deep breath!

As we found out earlier Swedish racer Jan-Erik Andreasson, who entered his Mini Marcos in the 1967 Targa Florio, owned two Mini Marcoses in 1967. They were both built in the workshop of Ragge Håkansson in Köping, the one used on the Sicilian road race was the first to be finished with a 1299cc engine with twin-choke Weber carburetor good for 130hp and a Jack Knight five-speed gearbox, an integrated roll-over bar plus a low weight due to 'a lack of interior trim, soundproofing, Perspex glass in all windows except the front screen.' The second car was built later. Quoting again from the Bilsport article, which was published in November 1967 - six months after the Targa Florio race: "Of Andreasson's two cars, one is on wheels and has already been seen in the Swedish Championship races where it has competed against thoroughbreds like Porsche Carrera 6 and Lola T70. The other car is still just a shell resting outside Ragge Håkansson's workshop near the city of Köping, waiting for a new owner."

Question was which chassis numbers these two cars wore, and which of them was the Targa Florio car? Fact is one of the cars survives in Sweden and has been restored in more recent times: chassis number 7064, which does fit in with the dates. Interestingly, some pictures of it in its pre-restored condition were made by Richard Porter in 1995 and show it in white with a broad red stripe over its body. According to Swedish Marcos historian Per Haegermark that's correct: "As we all know the Targa Florio car was white with a green stripe and the sister car looked exactly the same but had a red stripe." That car wasn't built up as a racer though and being a slightly later car it has some different features also, among them details in the body's engine bay area.

I must admit that the reason for this whole quest in finding out which the Targa Florio Marcos exactly is, was born out of an advertisement of a car offered for sale near Lille in northern France recently. This car wears chassis number 7034 and the Swedish registration 'FHD 465'. Translated from the French ad: "Put on the road in October 1967, after having had a first life in competition in Sweden as well as a participation in the 1967 Targa Florio, with racing number 176, before being registered. A justifiable history that needs to be studied in greater depth". I have to admit that I was skeptical at first when I contacted the current owner James. He wrote to me: "Thank you for your interest. I send you some evidence of his past life.". What followed in the next few weeks was a most interesting exchange of e-mails which got deeper and deeper into the subject. It must be said that James had taken the whole thing seriously and tried to turn every stone in his quest for proof. He'd contacted the FIA, the Targa Florio organization, the registration offices and several clubs and specialists, some with success, some not so, but he sent me copies of all this correspondence. He also added: "The marks of the accessories have left traces on my car. I have a whole history of these previous Swedish registrations, although unfortunately the first ones are still missing. I do have addresses to deepen and complete this history but I do not have the health for it. The co-driver of the 1967 Targa Florio (Johnny Lundberger-JB) tried to cheat by passing off a car, not yet built at the time, for that of the race in Sicily. I remain at your disposal for further information." 

Although it seems to have wiped out its checquered past, this car, chassis number 7034, fits in just right with the dates also. And while being red in colour now and missing some of the original features on it, I got more and more convinced that James could very well be right. And Per Haegermark agreed. He wrote: "Hi Jeroen, Many thanks for getting in touch with me concerning the Mini-Marcos #7034. Yes, I can agree with you that it's kind of a mystery that the Targa Florio car has been hidden away for so long. I have suspected for may years that #7034 really was the TF car but it wasn't until I made some enquiries at the National Swedish Archives who keep records of the old style (pre-1973) automotive registration documents, that I managed to link the car to the car mentioned in the Bilsport article. At the same time, I also happened to find the sister car #7064 which was built by Ragge Håkansson at the same time."

Ad he continued: "The original registration document (a copy of which I was sent also by James-JB) shows that the petrol tank contains 75 litres and the engine output is 105 SAE bhp. The sister car #7064 had a petrol tank containing only 28 litres and the engine output was 90 DIN bhp. The TF car definitely needed the long range petrol tank. Before I can tell you with 100% certainty that #7034 is the TF car, I have to see one more document which I have ordered from the National Swedish Archives. They normally need three to four weeks to find the requested documents. Will get back to you a.s.a.p. One thing which I would like you to change in your article is that chassis #7034 is a Mk2 and not a Mk3 body shell. Apart from this, I think everything is correct. If there are any difficulties to understand what's written in the Swedish articles, please do not hesitate to contact me for translation aid. For your information, I'm attaching some photos of #7034 in various guises. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Kind regards, Per"

So that's it for now. Let's await Per's answer before we finalize with a conclusion, but I'd say things look as good as can be for chassis number 7034. Let me finally ad the list of subsequent owners the car has had, as they may be recognized by readers here and lead to more. Apart from Jan-Erik Andreasson (unconfirmed) these are: Anders Lindahl, Lars-Göran Ridell, Ohlson Bilfirma, Hasse Nörgaard, Claes Grönbäck, Lennart Andersson, Morgan Karlsson and Patrik Kaufmann. Before receiving 'FHD 465' it wore the registration numbers 'L 55135' and 'OA 70785'.

And one final thing that struck me from another report was that the car maybe didn't even make it into eight kilometres of the Targa Florio race. Translated from Swedish I found the following: "The first of the ten 72 km laps was not long before one of the Swedes disappeared with a bang. It was 'Nenne' Andreasson, who after just eight corners put his Mini Marcos in a pole."...

First outing? Jan-Erik Andreasson racing at Knutsdorp on 30 April 1967

Picture Åke Wremp via Per Haegermark

Another early picture at a race in Röfors with Börje Österberg at the wheel

Picture Lars Liifw via Per Haegermark

The other Mini Marcos of Jan-Eric Andreasson before restoration: chassis number 7064 

with its then-owner Viktor Kärrkvist in 1995

Picture Richard Porter

This Mini Marcos, for sale in norther France, ticks all the boxes to be the Targa Florio car

Picture Lesanciennes.com

It comes on a Swedish registration plate FHD 465, issued in October 1967, which fits in also

Picture Lesanciennes.com

Targa car wasn't red originally but "marks of the accessories have left traces on it"

Picture Lesanciennes.com

The early style dashboard also fits in with the build date and the Targa Florio

Picture Lesanciennes.com