Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #96

One more celebrity owned Mini missing 

Japan Mini Day 2025

Triad reborn: a Mini based marvel on Menorca

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #76

 

2025 Season has kicked off - this is what happened in May

Unique one-off Mini based single seater for sale

Fisher Spyder looses all oil at Doune hillclimb

 

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #58

Sir Elton John and his Wood & Pickett Mini Margrave

Where is the Winter brothers Heerey GTM today?

Mini derivatives of Los Angeles - say a little prayer

Now in Maximum Mini Newsletter #56

Maximum Mini Find of the Year 2024: Siva Mule prototype

The same car when new (top) and as found (bottom)

Picture Jeroen Booij

Splash out in 2025! 1st owner Wood & Pickett Mini Margrave for sale

Picture Car and Classic

Splash out 2! Barn find Mk1 Mini Jem for sale, too

Picture Jeroen Booij archive 

Classic Motor Show 2023 - the Mini derivatives

Go to the NEC this weekend for the Classic Motor Show and you are likely to bump into the Minikits Club there. They have another great display of Mini based cars with a Siva Buggy, Jimini 2, Stimson Safari Six, wild Scamp Mk3 and rare Turner Ranger. Great stuff! Last year they even won a Classic and Sports Car Club Award for their effort. 

Another club attending is Midas Owners Club with a lovely Mk3 Mini Marcos jammed in between two Midases and somebody spotted a coachbuilt Mini, too, believed to have been built by former Wood & Pickett employees. Have a good weekend.

A Mk3 Mini Marcos sandwiches by two Midases!

Picture Midas Cars

And five more Mini based cars on the Minikits stand

Picture Paul Wylde

Restored Stimson Safari Six is among them

Picture Paul Wylde

And how about this? A lovely and road registered Turner Ranger

Picture Paul Wylde

This coachbuilt Mini is said to be built by ex-W&P employees

Picture Marc Eden

The many faces of a wild custom Mini of the 1970s

After two recent articles, here on Maximum Mini, reader David Kiss decided to drop me a line. The reason was that two of the cars described brought back some sweet memories. David wrote: 

"Dear Jeroen, Not sure if you would be interested but I have been inspired to write following two of your recent blogs about custom Minis. In brief, I was given a 1961 Mini on my 17th birthday (1971), I kept this car for 12 years over which time it morphed from a humble 850cc into a 1750cc (Maxi/Allegro) powered custom, similar custom De Ville type build to the recent pics of '50 MAR'. (click here for the recent article about that)"

"I sold the car in 1983 as it was unsuitable for my new married life....(it may still be out there?) Re DART: my (late) dad was also in the RAF and Dizzy Addicott was a pal of his, I remember my (late) mum saying "He was a real speed freak". I'm sure I met him many years ago as a young boy but have no real recollection of him (recent article here). If my 1750cc Mini is of interest I do have quite a few pictures of it during my ownership. Keep up your great blog. Regards, David Kiss" 

Well, I did like that, and asked David for the pictures he mentioned. The next day I received a whole lot of them, with clear descriptions, too. David added: "I'll attach a set of pictures of the car over my ownership showing the various stages of its 'development'. I'm not sure how much detail you wanted me to go into but I'll waffle away and you can pick and choose as you like should you wish..... As I mentioned, I was given the car for my 17th birthday (1971), a 1961 bog standard cherry red 850cc Morris Mini Minor in pretty sound condition. My Dad and his brother-in-law ran a local Morris garage and the car was a 'trade-in'. With my Dad running a garage I had been interested and driving (in a field) cars since I was 11 years old. I used the car daily, generally flat out like all seventeen year olds... The poor old thing soon expired and with the desire to go faster I replaced the engine with one from a BMC 1100..."

"On recently checking the 240TPG on the DVLA system I see that the last change of owner was in 2007 so one never knows if it's still out there... as many others I would quite like to see if it's still about, perhaps even owning it again... curiously I now own another 1961 Cherry Red Mini, however, very standard, very original! Well I hope I've not rattled on to much, Best regards, David."

It's just lovely David. Thank you very much!

"This picture shows the car with the 1100 engine fitted. Note the 12" wheels as per BMC 1100 and also other go-faster mods!"

Picture courtesy David Kiss

"A bit later and now repainted (very dark brown) plus flame motif. Paint work was courtesy of the firm I worked for at the time, we repaired all the new Toyotas that were damaged in transit, they were all imported back then, 1973-ish"

Picture courtesy David Kiss

"The company had a low-bake oven system and the flames were designed and painted by one of the very talented staff. The car had also acquired a BMC 1300 by then and was relatively now quite a fast machine. The 1300 worked well for some time but I eventually wore it out so what next..."

Picture courtesy David Kiss

"This picture shows a Maxi 1500 engine basically installed. I had to cut and extend the front of the subframe to fit the larger engine and subsequently modify the front of the car. Many other items had to be fabricated, driveshafts, engine mounts etc. It was quite an awkward job but I was able to use the facility of dad's garage (and his help), which got the project completed. Note the DAF's: the garage had lost it's BMC dealership and was now a DAF agent!"

Picture courtesy David Kiss

The 1500cc car with David as its builder and proud owner in the mid-1970s. Note Jaguar leaper

Picture courtesy David Kiss

"The grille is from a Vauxhall VX4/90. The bonnet was held in place with four large dome-headed bolts and had to be removed completely for access to the engine"

Picture courtesy David Kiss

Much-modified and fast, but not enough for David at the time. There was more to follow! 

Picture courtesy David Kiss

 "Here the car is seen with another modified Mini that I came across (1975). I can't recall what mods it had. Shortly after this picture was taken my modified front subframe failed, so back to the drawing board. I then decided that more radical changes should be carried out..."

Picture courtesy David Kiss

"Bodywork mods, shortened rear side windows, de-seamed, small rear window etc etc... I had some wheel discs made as there was very little choice of alloys wheels that suited, but I didn't proceed with these. Note the hardboard template on the bonnet, this was used to make up a veneered dash, (Mk2 Jag) instruments were fitted behind smoked glass panels, illuminated when the ignition was switched on. An old friend was an excellent woodworker and made me up the dash to an exceptionally high standard (as good as a Rolls), sadly I never took any pictures of this. I had considered Merc headlamps but again this did not materialize"

Picture courtesy David Kiss

"Now painted and complete with two tone vinyl roof... all the rage at the time. The engine, waiting to be fitted is a tuned 1750cc Allegro SS, note that the subframe is standard so as not to suffer the same issue when fitted with the 1500cc engine. It was the oil filter that was problem but this latest incarnation has a remote system as can be seen. The car still has an extended nose to house the radiator etc... I had also modified the bonnet and it now hinged forwards"

Picture courtesy David Kiss

This shows the modified bodywork in its full glory

Picture courtesy David Kiss

"This is when I put it up for sale due to getting married and not being a suitable family car. With the 1750 cc engine it was quite a thing to drive, it had lost the nimbleness of the original Mini but was mighty fast, with its 5-speed gearbox it would cruise at 90mph and was capable of 120mph+ Of course today there are many easier engine conversions with the abundance of front wheel drive cars but back then this was limited more or less to BMC/BL cars... the only other engine that may have been a candidate back then was the V6 Ferrari Dino engine..! out of my price league though"

Picture courtesy David Kiss

Wood & Picketts on BBC footage, including '50 MAR'

This lovely little video from the BBC archives, shows some rather outrageous Minis. The most interesting ones, if you ask me, are the two Wood & Pickett Mini Margraves at the start. And they are two very well known cars, too. The blue one is a car used at the Earl's Court Motor Show of 1978 of which we now can see its registration: 'WOE 951T' (which was last taxed in 1989, or so it seems). 

The other car is least as interesting: it's the infamous '50 MAR' built for in 1974 for Al Sharif Omar Almandily. W&P boss Eddie Colins told me about that: "One of the novel things in his car was that he had not one but two telephones. He was a crazy man who rang up himself asking how he was doing!" Although several people doubted the survival of this lavish W&P Mini, it was believed to survive in an underground parking in Cannes, France, but modified with a rather ugly Mercedes grille, white painted roof and different registration (III UN). With the BBC footage unearthed we can now confirm it is indeed the same car: on the video it is seen with the later modifications, but still wearing the '50 MAR' plate.

The infamous '50 MAR' in its original guise, built for Al Sharif Omar Almandily

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Not one but two telephones plus television on board - 'illegal in the UK' 

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The car as it was seen last May by Paul Blank. We can now confirm it is indeed the same

Picture courtesy Paul Blank

It is joined by a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow in an underground parking in Cannes, France

Picture courtesy Paul Blank

Current plate is 'III UN'. Unfortunately this very special Mini is not much cared for

Picture courtesy Paul Blank

1978 show car on the Wood & Pickett display in London. We learn this was registered 'WOE 951T'

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The two seen together in the BBC footage that was undisclosed earlier this week

Picture still BBC Archives

A Wood & Pickett mystery Mini

Trevor Ripley owns a lovely Mini Cooper 'S', which was coachbuilt by Wood & Pickett, but what misses is the history from its early days. He wrote to me hoping I could possibly fill in a bit: "Hi Jeroen. With recent forum posts referring to W&P, it has prompted me to have another go at trying to research the history of my W&P Cooper S, built 20/12/66 and first registered 9/2/68. It must have been at W&P for conversion in 1967. After Hayley Mills' but presumably before Lawrence Harvey's cars. Any ideas where this fits in?"

I had a good look to see what I thought and wether I had any pictures of it or of similar cars. Well, there are some clear similarities to other early W&P converted cars but nothing substantial unfortunately. Trevor did tell me a bit more though:

"I bought the car 15 years ago. The guy I bought it from had it since 1991. The previous owner to him was a lady from West-London. I have googled her address and satellite image shows a large house with swimming pool, so she sounds to have been pretty well off. No records going further back unfortunately. It looks like the car remained in the London area until I got it. Supplied new to Ironbridge Garages, Southall, Middlesex as Tartan Red / Black. Then presumably to W&P. There must have only been very few MK1's converted by W&P as Mk2's were out in Autumn 67 onwards. The car is still totally original as from W&P. Unrestored and doesn't need it. It would be great to find who the original owner was but I doubt I will ever know unfortunately. Unfortunately I should have requested a history check from DVLA when I first got the car when I had the chance. Nowadays they will not give any information due to the GDPR rules. Hopefully something may come to light in the future. Cheers. Trevor"

Maybe someone out here knows more about it?

TGP 222F is a rare Mk1 Mini Cooper 'S' that received the W&P treatment

Picture courtesy Trevor Ripley

Original Tartan Red just visible under bumper. But "Unrestored and doesn't need it"

Picture courtesy Trevor Ripley

Early Wood & Pickett Minis had a dashboard like this. Not yet full of gadgets

Picture courtesy Trevor Ripley

Seats are Microcell Recliners. Also note matching rear seat and door cards

Picture courtesy Trevor Ripley

The fantastic four

Not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 fine coachbuilt Minis are lined up in the showroom of Woodham Mortimer in Essex now, or in their own words: "The finest Collection of Minis in the world has now landed at our Chelmsford HQ". All four of them are stunning cars which certainly don't come cheap. If they do sell for the prices mentioned they will break all records. The cars are:

BGJ 947B

1964 Austin Cooper 'S' based Radford de Ville hatchback, sold new to the UK and seen in a number of period publications. Asking price £240,000.

CPF 3H

1970 Morris Cooper 'S' based Radford / Freestone & Webb Mini de Ville hatchback, sold new to France. Asking price £155,000.

YYU 292H

1969 Morris Cooper 'S' based Wood & Pickett Mini Margrave, owned by a number of celebrities in the UK. Asking price £140,000.

LCV 236E 

1968 Morris Cooper 'S' based Wood & Pickett Mini Margrave, left hand drive and originally sold to the US. Asking price £140,000.

The fantastic four: coachbuilt Minis join at Woodham Mortimer's shop in Essex

Picture Woodham Mortimer

A Margrave Mini on Malta

Model car builder Max Derrez recently bought a book and was surprised about the sheer number of cars using the Mini's base. The one he ever came across was a Wood & Pickett Mini Margrave on the island of Malta when on holidays there years ago. "The owner told me he'd rather sell his wife than the car, or so he said to me", Max added. He didn't have any pictures of the car did he? Well as a matter of fact he did!

They arrived just a day later: "Hello Jeroen. See attached pictures of the W&P Mini that I saw on Malta back in 2001. These photos aren't very good as dawn came in when I took them. The car came with the Vauxhall grille and had all of its side seams removed, which must have been quite a job. As I wrote to you before, the owner knew he had something special. Very best, Max Derrez"

That is, of course much appreciated. Anyone here who knows more about this particular car, registered 'JAB 905' on the isle of Malta..?

UPDATE 13:00: Other fellow-Dutchman Henk van Brakel photographed the same car on the island of Malta in 1997 when it was still on its British plate: 'FOX 767L', added below now. Thank you!

Reader Max Derrez spotted this Wood & Pickett Mini Margrave on Malta back in 2001

Picture Max Derrez

Max wrote: "The owner told me he'd rather sell his wife than the car, or so he said"

Picture Max Derrez

Dark shadowlite windows, deseamed, fabric roof, Webasto and more... Do we know this car?

Picture Max Derrez

The car must have been a UK-import as Henk van Brakel spotted it on Malta on its British plate

Picture Henk van Brakel

Summer 2022 - the show is on

It's summer and it's showtime once again! I have been sent lots of pictures of cars making it to shows in the last month or so and share some of the best of these here, together with some more bits and pieces that may interest you folk. I hope you'll enjoy them - and keep those pictures coming. 

Over in Australia this Jem was spotted last month by a friend of Ogle owner Neil Griffin. Neil wrote: "Jeroen, a friend who now lives in South Australia saw this at an impromptu car show over there." 

I think it's a Taylorspeed built car?

Picture via Neil Griffin

Neil Kilbane of Ireland spotted this 1977 Jimini Mk1 "Came upon it at a car boot sale about 25km from me. The guy said he had it for 20 years but never had it on the road. He was looking for €3500 for it!"

Picture Neil Kilbane

Not one but two Mini Ice cream vans with 'Batman' bodies by Whitby Morrison. One of them is owned by Andy McPail, who took this picture on a show at the British Motor Heritage Centre in Gaydon

Picture Andy McPhail

US reader Burton Reif attended the Mini Meet West in Kingston, Washington with his Ranger Cub, which he drove from Portland Oregon (previously seen here). He was surprised to see a Mini Marcos Mk4 driven all the way from Sacramento, California!

Picture Burton Reif

And a picture from the other side, giving a better view on Burton's Ranger. This photo was taken by the Marcos' owner Michael Kimball who is a keen Mini Marcos promotor in the US

Picture Michael Kimball

Three coachbuilts in a row! Gorgeous Radford Mini De Villes left and right with a Wood & Pickett Mini Margrave in between them, all three absolutely stunning cars owned by one and the same enthusiast

Picture George Knight

Mini Jem racer Pete Crudgington took this picture at Castle Combe of his own racer (left) back to back to the Mini Marcos Mk3 of Sam Polley. Both race in the CSCC Swinging 60’s Series

Picture Pete Crudgington

Ever saw a Status 365 from the underside? I hadn't! Stimson-fan Paul Wylde took this picture while his mate's Status was placed on the lift for some work to be carried out

Picture Paul Wylde

Another Mosquito came out of its hiding in July. Damien Lescroart wrote: "I knew about the existence of this Mosquito for years but never found any info or pictures of it. It appeared today"

Picture via Damien Lescroart

Mark Glasher's pretty Unipower GT made it to the prestigious concours d'elegance of the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June. It came out in a class for mid-engined 1960s cars

 Picture DrGrumoLunatic / Youtube

A well-used Birchall McCoy was seen at a show not far from my place in The Netherlands recently. It's the only McCoy that I have ever heard of in my country, and I really should have been there!

Picture Erik van den Eijnden

Also in The Netherlands, this Ogle SX1000 is in for a brake overhaul. Oh, hang on, it's my own car!

The full Cooper 'S' braking system was incomplete and clogged but works fine again by now

Picture Sipke Blom

Maximum Mini fan Barry Tilbury has been collecting Mini variants for years now. But it was only recently that he managed to find a place to put them all together. Scamps and more here...

Picture Barry Tilbury

...And more! Hat tip to anyone who can identify all of them under those covers, they're all Mini derivatives... Barry wrote: "When are you in the UK next I would love you to visit" Great!

Picture Barry Tilbury

Barry's latest purchase is a very interesting Mk1 Biota, which now joins the others. The car was seen here before when it was found on a peacock farm in Wales back in 2014 (click here)

Picture Barry Tilbury