Fireball Midget moulds survive

An interesting find on world's best known auction website last week: the moulds for the Fireball Midget were offered for sale from Somerset. The Midget was a Mini based racing car intended for British Midget racing, popular in the late 1960s. It used a tubular frame with a Mini front subframe bolted in at the back. Kits were sold at 295 GBP, an extra 100 pounds gave you a complete car. From the brochure: "A 'works' Fireball will be entered for the majority of races during 1969, so the work's representatives will be on hand in the paddock at the race meetings to give any type of help that customers may require." I have no idea how many Fireballs were built in the end, but I have never seen one myself.

This front and rear body mould for the Fireball Midget are believed to be the original set

Picture Ebay.co.uk

It came with 'molds for the original padded, stitched and shaped seat covers for this classic car'

Picture Ebay.co.uk

The seller also offered one set of body parts, made from the moulds. They sold, too

Picture Ebay.co.uk

Rare photograph of the Fireball Midget. I would love to learn a bit more about it

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

New books from France and New Zealand

Enguerrand Lecesne, the French author of 'Mini Cooper et 'S' de la serie a la competition' and 'Mini histories inedited', has just come up with a new title: 'Mini Toute l'histoire'. And as the title suggests it is a book that covers the Mini in all its aspects. From the very early prototype stage to the last car off the line in 2000. It's not alone in covering this subject as others have made books chock full of any aspect of the Mini before, but it has to be the first in French. That it is virtually impossible to describe all aspects of the Mini is of course no news. Such a vast subject simply cannot even be covered on the 192 pages that Lecesne uses for it. Other then his earlier books, which focussed more on the French market and its drivers, this one simply is more general. One of its chapters is dedicated to Mini derivatives, though, telling the story of 33 of them in brief. And some have a nice slice of French history attached to them. My car is in it, too! The book is beautifully presented and available direct from the publisher ETAI here.

Mini Toute l'Histoire by Enguerrand Lecesne, available now

Picture Jeroen Booij

The book covers a chapter on Mini derivatives, too. Here Marcos, Jem and Deep Sanderson

Picture Jeroen Booij

And more… Biota, ABC, Aurora, Landar, Status, ERA, Midas…

Picture Jeroen Booij

It's the first book that mentions the survival of the Le Mans Mini Marcos! Lecesne also (re)searched the car for years

Picture Jeroen Booij

Meanwhile, I had also received not one but two books from New Zealand author Patrick Harlow, not brand new ones but ever so fascinating. Patrick focuses totally on New Zealand cars and wrote these two books about them. 'Alternative Drivestyles' covers a grand amount of New Zealand custom built cars, and features anything from Lotus Seven-clones to fantastic DIY-creations named Urba-Car, Tri-Via, Brownie's Joy and Four-B-Two. Not much Mini-based cars in here, though. That's the territory of Harlow's 'New Zealand Manufactured Cars'. A vast 307 pages encyclopedia covering just about anything on wheels made in New Zealand with the idea of being marketed and sold. That means a comprehensive history on the cars of Ferris De Joux (fascinating) but also full stories on the Magnum Spectre (Harlow owned one of them), the little-known Everson Cherub, the Ibis and RD Wasp. This is a reference work unlike any others.

Alternative Drivestyles - New Zealanders have some great DIY skills

Picture Jeroen Booij

New Zealand Manufactured Cars - this is more of an encyclopedia

Picture Jeroen Booij

Mini de Joux - the story of Ferris de Joux' Mini GT is told in detail

Picture Jeroen Booij

As for the Magnum Spectre. Harlow owned one of the two cars made for a while

Picture Jeroen Booij

New images of ART Mini Marcos

Thanks to some of you, I can now share some more pictures of the Dutch Mk1 Mini Marcos that was raced by Hans Casteleyn of the ART ('Algemeen Racing Team') in the late 1960s and earliest of 1970s. This car was seen at Zandvoort and Welschap regularly and was damaged during a race in September 1968. Puzzling the pieces together I now understand it was repaired and repainted in its ART livery with green stripe. As you may remember the car survives to this day (in blue - see here). Two or three months ago I was contacted by the son of Hans Casteleyn, who told me he was eager to buy it back but I do not know if he succeeded. I'd love to hear from you again!

This is Hans Casteleyn's Mini Marcos at an early stage. No flared front arches yet and no ART stickers

Picture Rob Petersen/ Jeroen Booij archive

This is no doubt the same car, also seen here at Zandvoort circuit in August 1968

Picture Racehistorie.nl

Oops. Car number 14 is involved in an accident, just like the Henk Nieuwenhuis Mini Special (13)

Picture Autovisie / Jeroen Booij archive

But it's repaired and this is how we know it. Flared arches and broad green stripe over its body

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

And we now have a colour photograph, too! Taken in the pit street of, again, Zandvoort in '69

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

It wore number 4 during a series of races at Zandvoort in 1969, while it used '44' for the next season

Picture Rob Petersen

Another great colour image. Car ran a 1293cc engine with eight-port Arden head

Picture Racehistorie.nl

In the paddock at Zandvoort, joined by another ART Mini plus an Opel Kadett coupe

Picture Racehistorie.nl

The ART team proudly showing their carriages. Opel and the Mini Marcos plus two Formula cars

Picture Racehistorie.nl

And again, seen here at the Racing Car Show in Amsterdam in May 1969 joined by others

Picture Racehistorie.nl

The car is road registered in 1972 and believed to have been used on a daily basis for some time

Picture courtesy Gert-Jan Westerveld / Jeroen Booij archive

I found this ad in an old issue of Hot Car magazine. Casteleyn's son even remembered the telephone number quoted (which I have blurred here)!

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

That pit street colour image seemed familiar to me. Then I suddenly knew. The resemblances of this picture of my own car, taken in April 1966 during Le Mans tests are pretty amazing!

Pictures Jeroen Booij archive

Another Ogle in America

There have been several Ogle SX1000s in America, although all of the four seen here have come back to this side of the world by now, in order of appearance to the UK, Switzerland, Italy and the UK again. One car made it the other way 'round. It was the car seen in Maximum Mini 1; spotted in London and offered for sale in 2012 (click here).

I now understand it resides in sunny California, as current owner Wade Ogle contacted me. He wrote: "Hi Jeroen, I got a note from my friend Adam that you were very helpful in answering some questions. He also said you had asked about my Ogle SX1000, which is #061 and was graciously featured on the cover of your first Mini book. Just to keep you up-to-date, I was the fellow who bought #061 from the RM Auction in London about 5 years ago, and had it brought over to California. While I am no direct relation to David Ogle (that I know of), I am a car guy with a fairly large car collection, and do share the same surname, so when the opportunity to buy this one came up, I had to jump on it. Truthfully the car has been resting quietly in my garage for most of this 5 year period, but last month my wife and I, along with Adam and his girlfriend, took the Ogle out to the 'Little Car Show' in Monterey during the Monterey car week. Indeed, the Ogle was a big hit, as few had ever seen one before, and before the day was over we were honored with a plaque. We then participated in the little car cruise, which was a lot of fun."

"Rest assured the car is being lovingly cared for, and I have made contact with Ogle aficionados and previous owners Chris Gow and Geoff Hunter, who have both been very supportive. We are now excited about sharing it once again. Our next event will be the All British car show to be held at the Blackhawk Auto Museum about a month from now. This show happens to be put on by the San Francisco chapter of the Mini Owners of America club (MOASF), which sounds like an ideal event for our little Ogle to participate in. I’m very excited!"

Wade Ogle (no relation) now takes care of the Ogle SX1000 with chassis number 61

Picture Wade Ogle

The car, seen here at the 'Little Car Show' in Monterey, was fully restored by Geoff Hunter in the UK

Picture Wade Ogle

New: Maximum Mini Heritage

I get so many requests from people who want to find out more about specific cars, that I think the time has come for a new service. I also think its fair to say that Maximum Mini is by now the largest source on Mini based cars built between 1960 and today. The Maximum Mini files include original build specifications, sales literature and historical correspondence on many of these cars plus contain a photographic archive with more than 50,000 pictures.

So if you would like to know more about a Mini derivative, Maximum Mini Heritage can supply you with copies of all relevant documents. Contact me and I should be able to give you the available background information, even if a car is very obscure.

This new service includes the following:

A copy of each photograph, sent digitally:
£ 6.00

A file on the make and model of any Mini based car, including words and a selection of photographs, sent digitally:
£ 45.00

A full file on a specific car, including all the material and information available from the Maximum Mini archives, presented in a Maximum Mini Heritage folder, with updates up to 12 months from order:
£ 275.00

Last but not least, I am pleased to offer an elaborate Heritage search service. Do you want to find the car you have always wanted to find? Then I am your partner. In the past 10 years Maximum Mini has proved even the unfindable can be found. From Quasar Unipowers to Mk1 Mini Marcoses with or without Le Mans history. From Gordon Murray’s personal Mini based car to the sole Zagato Mini Gatto. Now, how about your dream derivative? Feel free to contact me.
£ P.O.A.

Found: the IGM Minbug by Gordon Murray, seen standing next to Maximum Mini's Jeroen Booij here. Murray had given up searching for the car - Maximum Mini carried on and succeeded

Picture Maximum Mini archive / Michiel van den Brink

Found: the long-lost Le Mans Mini Marcos that famously came 15th overall at the 1966 24-hours race.

Nerve-wrecking search involved bags of cash and all-or-nothing drive to Portugal

Picture Maximum Mini archive / Jurgen Kersten

Found: the Zagato Mini Gatto. Elio Zagato and his chief designer Ercole Spada were certain it was scrapped. Maximum Mini found it in a Milanese shed where it stood since 1973 with 4,107 recorded kms.

Picture Maximum Mini archive / Pieter E. Kamp

Found: One of 13 built Quasar Unipowers in a French barn. And it was one of three there! 

Picture Maximum Mini archive / Arno Lingerak

Odnik: Indeed based on a 1958 prototype Mini?

Two more pictures of 'Odnik' - the Irish built Mini special that was raced by Jack O'Donoghue in 1961 (more about it here), have come to the light thanks to Irishman Aidan Mc Grath. And I believe we can now almost surely say the car was based on a 1958 Mini prototype. The stamped grille of the car is the first giveaway, as there were only two Mini variants that had this feature: the 1958 prototypes and the Mini Van (announced in June 1960). Odnik could well have been based on an early Van, but the registration points towards something else. 'CZA333' was a Dublin registration from November 1959. Apart from prototypes, there were no vans at this time yet. 

What's more, judging from the old photograph that I found and the new ones that Aidan came up with, I don't believe this car to use the longer wheelbase of the van. It looks like a saloon to me, and the same goes for the rounded rear, with the filler cap on the left. This looks like it was converted from a saloon rather than from a Van to me. Or is it? '59 Mini Register man Bill Bell said of the first photograph: "Looking at the wheel base it looks like its a modified Van. I doubt very much it's a 58 prototype. They were all in such poor state after they had finished testing and as far as we know all were scrapped." 

I'm not so sure. Jack O’Donoghue worked for the Austin importers/assemblers in Dublin and may have been able to get hold of a '58 prototype Mini. Minis were built under a license in Ireland from as early as 1959. Fact is that O'Donoghue got rid of the car’s roof, modified its rear end in steel, cut the doors, lowered the handles and fitted a Sprite windscreen. He won his class during a Hewison Trophy qualifying trial in December 1961. Could the car survive? And be found? That would surely be sensational...

UPDATE 13:00: An avid reader drops me a line: "I spoke to the last known owner of the car and he can't recall what he did with it, but thinks he scrapped it. I am due to meet a previous owner next week, who used the car in the UK in '65/'66 before bringing it back to Ireland and selling it. I will ask him for his thoughts on the history of the car, as he would have known Jack."

UPDATE 8 January 2019: A sketch of the car has resurfaced, making clear it was definitely not based on an early Van. Read and see it here.

Jack O'Donoghue in action in his Odnik in December 1961. This was the only known picture of it

Picture Jeroen Booij archive / Autosport magazine

But then Aidan Mc Grath came up with this. Stamped grille points towards 1958 Mini prototype, as does wheelbase? 'CZA 333' is a november 1959 registration

Picture via Aidan Mc Grath

Odnik's rear was modified quite heavily, too. Again, the round shape points towards a saloon to me, as does the filler cap that is positioned at the left hand side

Picture via Aidan Mc Grath

BBC footage of RTV found

It's always nice to receive a message from a manufacturer of Mini based cars, former or even current, and I was thrilled to hear from Scamp-man Andrew MacLean this week. He wrote: "Hi Jeroen, at very long last….we've managed to find a copy of the famous BBC Tomorrow's World and BBC Top Gear footage of the Robert Mandry Mini based RTV, dating back to 1983." You may remember the RTV as the go-anywhere Rough Terrain Vehicle seen in Maximum Mini 2 and on these pages.

In fact, we saw an RTV in moving images before as the vehicle to be driven to a most unusual record, but Andrew has to put some things straight on that one. Andrew: By the way, the 'Blind Run' RTV was not built by Robert Mandry. Robert sold the RTV manufacturing rights to Lawrence Hawgood, (not Spyder Sport as mentioned in Maximum Mini 2) who took it to the next level. The Blue RTV in the Blind Run video is Ford Escort based....It is badged as Ford...Perry's Ford. It mentions that it is Ford Escort based in the video as Ford were sponsoring the run as well. Please correct this on your website. Thanks. And please mention that a Robert Mandry RTV played a big part as well, in the run, as back up vehicle....It was painted the same colours and carried the British Gas and Perry's Ford logos. I still own this amazing Mini based vehicle and it still wears the same colours...undergoing a slow restoration. Thanks again. Andrew MacLean."

Thank you for letting me know this, Andrew. I have updated the Blind Run article now - see here. Andrew still owns two RTVs and tells me he took over all the spares and production rights from Lawrence Hawgood about 5 years ago, now having enough to build several new Mini based RTVs. Have a look here when interested. Andrew also shared some more information on another of his former Mini-based adventures, but I'll keep that for the next time. Enjoy the video for now.

VideoBBC Tomorrow's World / BBC Top Gear via Andrew MacLean

Finally: more on the Mini milk float

When you've read Maximum Mini 3 (still available here when not) you have come across some truly strange Mini based creations. Some were in fact so strange that finding out more information about them proved virtually impossible. No one knew about them and no-one wanted, or so it sometimes seemed. It went for the Mini based milk float. I knew it was from New-Zealand and I knew it dated back to the 1960s but that was about it.

Now. Thanks to Miguel Plano of Canada (again!) I have found out more. Miguel found a leaflet on the thing, showing the two photographs below plus some additional words. It turns out the Mini milk float was officially named the Minimilk-float and invented by dairyman Mr. Moore of Timaru in New-Zealand. "He tows his tiny little milk lorry behind a larger vehicle on long-range work, allowing it to operate independently on local deliveries, such as in congested housing schemes; he thus effects some worthwhile savings in his transport costs!"

The creature was built to Mister Moore's own design with a 5 ft. 6 in. high cab and was built up using an 850 Mini. I wonder if any of you remember it from the days he drove it around the streets of New Zealand?

cutaway bodywork for easy getting in and out. The Minimilk-float was, rem, different!

Picture via Miguel Plano

Mr. Moore added: "We know it's a queer looking thing but it is just great for the job it was built for!"

Picture via Miguel Plano

Market round up (Summer 2017)

Time for another market round-up (previous versions here and here and here). What Mini based cars are offered for sale at this moment? I have made a selection, the majority of these ads have been tipped-off by readers. Keep them coming! Oh - and some more cars here.

GTM coupe, built up to look like a Cox GTM.  Previously seen on these pages. See it for sale here

Mk4 Mini Marcos in France, built up in Belgium with 1275 power. See it for sale here

Magenta, also in France. 1979 car. Rare to see it in a state like this. See it for sale here

Riley Elf 'Jolly'. Very unusual take on the Elf, found in Missouri, USA. See it for sale here
UPDATE January 2018: Can you believe this car sold in auction for $60,500 ?!

The Wolseley Hornet based Willson Special has been for sale for quite some time now. See it here

Rare RTV, ready to work on any farm or do any (slow) expedition. See it for sale here

Nimrod, also seen for sale here previously. Who will give it some love? See it for sale here

Stimson Trek. Probably the best possible example of the species? See it for sale here

Stimson Mini Bug. Nice Mk2 car in great colour. It's in Northern Ireland. See it for sale here

Also in Northern Ireland: a flashy Foers Nomad. One of 175. See it for sale here

Hustler Six, restored and looking very good, in Norfolk. See it for sale here

Scamp Mk2 dressed up as a military mobile drinks bar..! See it for sale here

GTM Coupe. Looks superb and I think it could be the (a?) works demonstrator? See it for sale here

Foers Nomad built up with most unusual side skirts and spoilers. See it for sale here

Mini Marcos Mk4. This one is in Italy and registered as a 1976 car with 1340. See it for sale here

Andersen Cub. 1987 car with 998 power, in Suffolk. See it for sale here

AEM Scout. Purple with cream leather. Brilliant for Summer 2018 already! See it for sale here