Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #138

Broadspeed GT replica about to be build - 40 years after being sold as a kit

More Deep Sanderson pictures from the Williams & Prichard vault

And now... the end is near

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #108

Tumult over Terry's collection. Scrapped and saved

More pictures of Samuelson's Moke six-wheeler

RIP Colin Wells - 48-year-long prototype Ogle owner

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #79

5 Stimson Scorcher replicas / rip-offs

Unipower GT: lost film footage found, director's daughter tracked down and a heavy crash

The 4-wheel drive Mini derivative - made by the Ford Motor Company

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #60

Background discovery: the crashed Mini Marcos of the 1967 Targa Florio

Peter Sellers and the Unipower GT 

Mystery Mini derivative (89)

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #51

Neville Trickett's Siva Mule 00001 found!

Other William Towns' prototypes now also registered

Yuk Hodgon's mad rally Mini Marcos

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #40

Will the real Kingfisher prototype please stand up?

Mini Marcos sold - in memory of Aad

New 'bomb release test' picture of Autocars Marcos

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #38

Minis at the 'Ring (5) - crashing the Martini Mini ASC

The real Mini Miura - Lamborghini's Mini based prototype

Preparing the Ogle for Knebworth Park

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #31

Peels are coming back to Peel on the Isle of Man

And this Peel Viking is ready for the party - after 44 years

While this is the actual Turner Ranger prototype - it lives, too

More about Sonny's Unipower GT

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #30

1970 Stunners: Sonny and his Unipower GT 

Agricultural mysteries: frontal-, central and rear wheel driven

Mini Trafalgar Coupe in Australia

The Mini Metro based Roadster that doesn't exist

Okay, this has little to do with Minis. But I wanted to share it here never the less as it is such an interesting little piece of what could have been British motoring history. It's a Mini Metro based roadster prototype, or at least bits of it, offered for sale directly from its creator Nick Shakespeare. Nick was working for Austin Rover as a placement student in 1983 when he came up with the idea. He wrote: "They gave me a Metro rolling shell to build the project on which I did at home." And so a concept was born. Well, the design sketches for one such car plus the left hand side of its body, hand made in steel, to make pictures of what looked like a complete car. 

Nick continues: "But Roy Axe who ran Austin Rover styling did not see a future in MG at the time, so it wasn't progressed. Some early finite element structural work was done on the Metro body, which showed it lost 80% of its torsional rigidity when the roof was removed. As part of my degree I had to show how the structure could be strengthened and it ended up being stronger. They did make a Metro convertible subsequently."

Interestingly, the drawings do not show an A-series engine, but a 2.5-litre V6 placed amidships. A bit of a Unipower GT for the 1980s perhaps? Nick went on in engineering and design with various companies and set up his own company Bespoke Design Ltd 25 years ago, specializing in one-off and prototype car bodies. He kept the Metro Roadster side but offers it for sale now. "Would make a good wall hanging." he ads. See it for sale here.

The stillborn Metro Roadster looks like a real car, but that's a trick

Picture Nick Shakespeare

Design drawings date back to 1984 when Nick worked for Austin Rover

 Picture Nick Shakespeare

Hints of Jaguar's D-type?

Picture Nick Shakespeare

Ghost view shows V6 engine placed amidships

Picture Nick Shakespeare

'Panel Break Down' shows the number body pressings needed to build the car

Picture Nick Shakespeare

But only a left hand side was made in metal by hand and is the one seen above

Picture Nick Shakespeare

Nick kept it and offers it now for sale

Picture Nick Shakespeare

Eat this! The Mini powered Opel prototype

Now this is an unusual story! It's about an Opel that was originally planned to be built in Romania under dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu's reign after a 675 million dollar investment in a new factory that would produce 150.000 of these cars a year. That's a weird story on its own. But how about the prototype being powered by a Mini drivetrain..?

My German colleague Frank B. Meyer found out about this fascinating tale, researched it, interviewed some of the people involved and got it published. I read it and simply had to drop Frank a line the other day. He was kind enough to send me the only remaining picture of the prototype and allowed me to quote from his article, especially from the now 84-year old former chief design at Opel George Gallion. Gallion worked in Rüsselsheim under Alexander Cunningham - the big Opel boss at the time and designed several milestone cars such as the original Manta and Monza. And then there was this Mini based prototype, meant to persuade the Romanians in investing hundreds of millions in a new factory. Gallion about building it in the early 1970s: "We bought a scrap Mini for 200 German Marks or something like that. We got rid of all of the body parts and fabricated a new car around the Mini's chassis. It did run and drive, as we drove it around the place." One of his colleagues dared taking it up to the headquarters to the great GM-boss of the time: Bob Lutz. Gallion: "Lutz was kind of impressed, but what we really needed was a go from Detroit. And Cunningham knew that chances were small that they would get that. Gallion: "To impress the GM bosses we had an advertisement agency make some sort of promotional little film about this compact Opel. Cunningham would show it upon his next Detroit visit, together with 1:5 and 1:1 models, saying "The boys in Rüsselsheim have been playing around with this idea". And so it went. Cunningham showed them all to his superiors in Detroit. Gallion: "And, bingo! They loved the idea and gave us the green light!". And so Opel's team was sent to Romania in the winter of 1975 or 1976, met a governmental delegation in one of Ceaușescu's hunting castles, drank lots of slivovitsj brandy and were accompanied by a long-legged 'tour guide' named Natascha who turned out to be a spy. But nothing more was heard from Romania after the trip and the whole Romanian project was eventually canned. Opel didn't give up though and many years later, the car did see production: it had become the original Opel Corsa, built in a new factory in Spain.

 

A small footnote came from Frank B. Meyer when he sent the image: "Dear Jeroen, the history of the image is a little complicated: it's a screenshot from the film that Opel people produced in order to convince GM to build a small car. George Gallion had the film at home; Lutz Keiss, a journalist, borrowed it, took the screenshots – fortunately, because Keiss told me that the film was later destroyed during a flood in his basement. Stay safe and curious!" Thank you very much Frank!

This is the Mini powered Opel prototype, built for the planned Romanian Opel factory. The picture is a screenshot from original film footage that is lost forever

Archiv George Gallion

Opel man George Gallion with one of his designs: the 1975 Opel Manta GT/E

Picture Opel PR

UPDATE 14 January 2022: One keen reader knows of another picture of this car on the world wide web, which I have copied in below. It's not very clear but does give another good view on the car with the Mini engine visible. The source is a website about the Opel Corsa A-series' history, click here. 

Another picture of the prototype, found on a website dedicated to the Opel Corsa

Picture opel-corsa-a.com

Nimbus Coupe prototype freed from the brambles

Report from the bramble bushes in Somerset. Remember this find of a Nimbus Coupe formerly a prototype car and later raced by Gary Shillabeer? Well, it has finally been freed from the brambles by Simon Denman. He wrote: "Hi Jeroen. I can tell you my late father was best mates with Gary Shillabeer and that’s who he got it from.  I honestly can’t remember much about when dad got it from Gary, but I seem to remember some tension between my mum and dad when he bought it - hence why it was probably left in the orchard with the initial plan of waiting til mum calmed down!"

"Sadly Gary recently died too so I can’t ask him. I’m trying to find the other open top kit car which might be in brambles too which must have come from Gary at about the same time. I’m pretty sure I know where the front clam is - as for the main middle but I’m not sure my memory is it was bought from Gary at the same time and I think the main tub was green and the front clam was primer grey, it might of had scalloped sides but I haven’t seen it since I was a kid. We are clearing up the farm and are selling it all, so the Nimbus will be up for sale. I have also got a lot of other bits including a series bits - none of which I believe came from the Nimbus though. It would appear there is much of a Mini in pieces in one of the sheds! Including a complete 850 lump and Mk1 boot lid etc! I will be in touch with photos of what I can find of the other one. If you know anyone interested in the Nimbus feel free to point them my way before I stick it on eBay. Speak soon, Simon."

It sounds as if the open car could be that other Ian Shearer design - the Boxer Sprint. But then Ian told me years ago there was just one made (this one), so it has to be something else..? We'll see when Simon finds it, I reckon. In the meantime, let me know if you are interested in the Nimbus Coupe and I'll get you in touch with Simon.

That's the Nimbus Coupe prototype as it was raced by Gary Shillabeer in the mid-1980s

Picture Simon Denman

But Q304 NYA was also the car used at the Nimbus Coupe's press launch back in 1984

Picture Simon Denman

Shortly after the launch it must have been bought by Shillabeer and transformed into this

Picture Simon Denman

Shillabeer campaigned it briefly before it disappeared only to turn up last year

Picture Simon Denman

The car will need lots of work, interior seems to have been stripped also 

Picture Simon Denman

Last on the road in 1986 means it has been on the road (and track) for two years only

Picture Simon Denman

There used to be an engine built by Avonbar Racing fitted, but the engine bay is empty now

Picture Simon Denman

The car in its heyday, raced in 1984 at Cadwell Park with Shillabeer behind the wheel

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

While earlier that year it was used at the press launch in East-Sussex, seen here

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Ogle prototype resurfaces - not for the faint-hearted

An Ogle SX1000 that was a bit of a mystery to me for many years has now resurfaced. I was made aware of the car when I was sent a picture of it back in 2013. The car was then spotted when its elderly owner, mister Colin Wells, went to a parts shop and a Maximum Mini reader saw him and had a little word. Wells kept the car for the next few years, owning it for more than 50 years in total. But being now almost 90 years old he stopped driving and so the time had come for him to part with it. Two weeks ago a new owner was found in great Mini enthusiast Andy Varnam.

I'd already noticed that the car's front as well as it's rear lights had been changed, and there were some other unusual things, too. These changes were mostly made by mister Wells who seems to have kept the car on the road on a shoestring. But this Ogle is a bit of a special one anyway as it appears to be chassis XPT1 - that has to be for Experimental Prototype number 1. Together with an even earlier second prototype that makes it Ogle history. 

There's no doubt the car is overdue for a major restoration, though, and in the two weeks that Andy now owns it he certainly hasn't taken half measures. By this time he's separated body and chassis - or what is left of that. Mister Wells, at some point, decided to sandwich the original steel (Mini) floor between layers of fibreglass matting underneath and inside. That may have kept the Ogle together, but when taken apart the remaining floor turned into dust! No problem for Andy, he says, who's cracking on with the restoration at a pace you won't believe. Once a new floor is fitted he is hoping to build it up this summer again and aims for September to have the car ready! He's keeping the 998 engine it came with, which was rebuilt not too many miles ago. Keep up the great enthusiasm Andy!

This very tired Ogle Mini - used as an everyday car for over 50 years - is in fact a prototype

Picture courtesy Andy Varnam

Andy Varnam took it over from Colin Wells, who is now approaching 90 and stopped driving

Picture courtesy Andy Varnam

This is the picture I was sent in 2013. Note changed rear light clusters and modified front

Picture Richard Hawcroft 

Here in Andy's garage, the modified front is better visible here. Restoration about to be started

Picture courtesy Andy Varnam

Andy started with taking it apart two weeks ago, the rear lights one of the first things to go

Picture courtesy Andy Varnam

And it didn't stop there. Over the years loads of modifications had been carried out on this car

Picture courtesy Andy Varnam

But the most revealing job came when the body was separated from the chassis...

Picture courtesy Andy Varnam

The original steel floor, sandwiched between fibreglass matting, was non-existent anymore. Just dust!

Picture courtesy Andy Varnam

Front subframe is still held with bits of the chassis. Andy will keep the 998 engine

Picture courtesy Andy Varnam