Blyton Park 2018: the cars (well, some of them)

Last week we saw some of the people coming over to sunny Lincolnshire, now it's time for a closer look to some of the cars, notably Tim Harber's Biota, Frank Hubbard's Oyler Contessa and Tim Carpenter's Unipower GT.

Tim Harber had been trying to buy this Biota for the past two years, but it was only days prior to the Blyton Park event that he struck a deal. The car hadn't been on the road since 2003

Picture Jeroen Booij

It wears a Mk2 nose, but it is in fact a Mk1 car, perhaps a bit of a hybrid like this one?

Picture Jeroen Booij

Interior is all standard with the typical 'Clam seats' and unusual gearchange pattern

Picture Jeroen Booij

To Tim's own surprise the car started almost on the button. Engine is a standard 1100

Picture Jeroen Booij

When did you ever see two Biotas on the track? It happened at Blyton Park...

Picture Jeroen Booij

Frank Hubbard's Oyler Contessa was beautifully restored in under 18-months period. Body, with all seams removed and typical vinyl roof were in remarkable good state

Picture Jeroen Booij

All original parts that could be maintained were restored, only mod is that Frank didn't use the Wolseley Princess grille that it came with - he didn't like that 

Picture Jeroen Booij

It had just passed the 25,000-miles mark when Frank bought it. Interior is very richly equipped

Picture Jeroen Booij

Oyler of Halifax coachbuilt very few cars. This one came about in 1978. By 1981 they'd gone

Picture Jeroen Booij

Oyler's centre badge shows a naked lady. Not even a Rolls-Royce has that!

Picture Jeroen Booij

Tim Carpenter is seen here having thoughts on how to repair his car. What went wrong..?

Picture Jeroen Booij

Well, hammering it down on the track caused serious cracks in the top of the left hand side rear suspension mount, as can be seen here

Picture Jeroen Booij

Having planned to drive it back home to London that afternoon and not wanting ‘to sleep somewhere on a Lincolnshire airfield’, Tim took his car to the Mini grass track racers who were on the other side of the circuit. They welded in a new mount on-site!

Picture Jeroen Booij

A couple of days later I received a message from Tim: "My race fabricator friend made some really nice new suspension mounts for my car. When we looked, we saw that the other side was starting

to crack as well. The new ones are much more substantial so should last another 50 years at least!"

Picture Tim Carpenter

Coachbuilt cover stars

Okay. Take a good look at the very 1970s picture below. It's a cover shot from 'The Motor' in 1975. The centre attraction is the opulent Panther De Ville. But there is some more opulence in there as the three Minis shown are all far from standard. The thing is that at least two of them are pretty mysterious, so there's a good reason for showing them here. 

Right behind the Panther De Ville there is a namesake: the Tilling Mini De Ville, which I reckon is the least known of the three. Among its interior features you will find tinted and electric windows and quarterlight, plenty of veneer, a centre armrest and an adjustable steering column. Stranger is the exterior rear treatment, of which the article says this: "By special treatment, the roofline above the rear window is raised and moulded to simulate the traditional 'Landau'." But unfortunately there's no good picture showing this. Perhaps anyone out here knows more about Tilling and their Mini conversions?

Then there is the Oyler Contessa with its door open. That car, built by Oyler Coachtrimmers of Halifax, is a trimmed treasure indeed. The Oyler company was part of the Homfray Group - big carpet manufacturers and so the interior was richly equiped to say the least. 'When they've finished, you wouldn't know it was a Mini' Motor magazine writes. Apart from carpets and dralon everywhere you could also find cigar lighters en suite with champagne panniers and chrome glass holders. But the Contessa also is a hidden treasure as information about Oylers coachbuilt Minis is so scarce. The car in the article is said to be owned by a Mrs. Stephenson, and I believe it to be the same one as in Oyler's brochure. Did they ever build any more than that?

Last there's the car on the right back behind the Oyler Contessa: a Wood & Pickett Mini Margrave that's been fully deseamed. There's lot and lots more information about W&P to be found and it's a fact that many more Margraves were built. But how about this particularly good looking chestnut brown example?

Opulence galore: Panther De Ville, Tilling Mini De Ville, Oyler Contessa and W&P Mini Margrave

Picture courtesy Motor magazine