Ecurie de Dez demonstrator - maroon or green?

The lovely photograph below of Dez Higgins' Ecurie de Dez Mini 2+2 was shared recently by Malcolm Savage. He wrote: "This is an official publicity shot with a local South Australian tv personality. Funnily enough I saw one in a used car yard in Adelaide maybe fifteen years ago."

I wonder what the colour of that car was. Could it have been British Racing Green, as the one used by larger-than-life character Jack Kaines (full story here)? It's also probably the same car that was used for a test drive in Wheel-Spin magazine of October 1967, which even put it on its cover. It's purplish maroon there, but I'm not so sure if that was the car's real colour as it seems to have been inkted in. Who knows?

UPDATE 17:00: The lady is identified as tv personality Anne Wills, who wasn't afraid of some motor promotion (click).

Shiny as a mirror. South Australian tv personality (who?) sees herself in smooth boot lid

Picture via Malcolm Savage

Same car, same photoshoot, I think. But what was the car's paint colour?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

 Maroon-ish colour here seems to have been applied in picture?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The Mini's outer limits in print

Readers of Mini Magazine are updated about the restoration of the the Le Mans Mini Marcos in the magazine, where they can follow updates in the 'Our Cars' section. But since early this year I have agreed to make another series of articles for Mini Mag, now about the weird and wonderful of Mini based vehicles. We've called the column 'The Outer Limits' and the first few of have now seen print. From racing versions of Ogle SX1000s to the wacky Gyro-X and the mad Fairley Spoke in the current issue. Oh - I forgot to mention Kees Plugboer as a supplier of some of the pictures of the Spoke, so here we go. Thanks again Kees!

The twin-Mini Cooper engined Deep Sanderson 105 single-seater is up next. So if you like your Maximum Minis and love some more in-depth informations about some of the craziest of creations ever to have seen Mini mechanicals - or even Minis to use outlandish power supplies, go to your newspaper stand and buy that mag.

The March and April 2019 issues of Mini Magazine sporting 'The Outer Limits' column

Picture Mini Magazine

Persuaders' 'Space Queen Special' clip

This is what I wrote in Maximum Mini 3 about the vehicle seen below: "Made for the television series The Persuaders, this Mini Moke-based car appeared in the 1971 episode ‘The Long Goodbye’. As a promotion vehicle for Space Queen soap, the mobile rocket is driven by the gorgeous Valerie Leon, who says she is, “supposed to be cruising at 5 miles an hour handing out 5 pounds to anyone with a Space Queen label in their front window.” But then Roger Moore comes by with a little more haste..."
With two of my favourite actors in it and a groovy 'made for movie' Mini derivative, it's a favourite from a series which - in my humble opinion - had the best possible opening theme of all time (click!). With the little movie clip now appearing on the world wide web and available to everyone, I think it deserves to be shared here also. What's not to like about it?

"Would you please get off my rocket!"
Movie clip: ITV, via 'Vintage et Industrial'

Mystery Mini derivative (57)

Here we have a real mystery. These two pictures were found by Roald Rakers and he was eagle eyed enough to notice the A-series engine behind the single seat. Or actually: engines behind seats, as not just the red car wearing number 77 appears to use Mini power, but also the yellow one wearing number 66. Click up to see them bigger. All we know is that these pictures were taken at the Kaldenkirchen oval in Germany in 1987. This is a track used for auto speedway, so these cars must have been entered in that, too. The red car advertises 'Roban Engineering' and I can only find a company in Port Talbot, UK with that name. The yellow car's advertising is not quite so clear - 'Plorius' perhaps. Who knows mnore?

Kaldenkirchen 1987: a Mini powered speedway racer with links to Roban Engineering

Picture via Roald Rakers

Same track (Kaldenkirchen), same year (1987), same race? Yellow car is A-series powered, too

Picture via Roald Rakers

Zoom to see it better. Like the red car it seems to have Weber carb. Is that 'Plorius' on its side?

Picture via Roald Rakers

Will Chambers Special ever drive again?

After over twenty years of neglect, things finally looked good for the Chambers Special in December last year. The 1967 designed and 1969 registered one-off is based on Mini and 1100 mechanicals and was the brainchild of engineer Michael Chambers. It’s an interesting car with some unusual features. Among them rear seats that face backwards, a heating and ventilation system, made to blow air through eyelets in all four of the seats, doors with built-in armrests, safety locks and strengthening for side impact plus a very clever adjustable steering column.

But it had become a ghost of its former glory after having been neglected since 1997. But then it finally found its devotee late last year, who was eager to get it restored. But things started to go wrong when the car was transported from Kent to Cheshire. The company that did so, lost the car's rear hatchback door in transit. The new owner, never the less, persisted to believe the Chambers Special deserved to be brought back to its former glory, and made plans to have a new rear door refabricated. That plan is still there, but sadly the project has been put up for sale once again never the less. Will the Chambers Special ever return to the road after all?

On its way to a new owner, when the future looked bright for the Chambers Special

Picture Simon Pike

Rear hatchback door is still in place here. But it got lost somewhere between Kent and Chechire

Picture Simon Pike

Interior had been stripped out, but moulded-in seats - facing backwards at the rear - are still there

Picture Simon Pike

A new home and new plans to get it back on the road, even if a new rear door had to be made

Picture Simon Pike

Mostly complete, too, but restoration is a daring task never the less. Who is going to do it?

Picture Simon Pike

Chambers Special is now on the market once again, looking for somebody to give it some tlc

Picture Simon Pike

John J Thomas' Ranger Cubs

John J. Thomas has been involved with several Mini based cars. He was a former Broadspeed employee who was involved with Magenta cars and became an agent for Ranger cars. He built a Ranger pick-up six-wheeler which gained lots of publicity at the time and even came up with a twin engined Ranger pick up at one point (click here).

There was of course another Ranger model - the Ranger Cub. This was a three-wheeler, but very few four-wheel versions came to life also, and Thomas was involved with these, too. Some pictures came to the light recently thanks to Ken Warburton, and I thought I'd share them here too. Enjoy.

The Cub's simple chassis frame with the body next to it. Kits started at 265 GBP

Picture John J. Thomas via Ken Warburton

The Cub was marketed as 'The Mini based three-wheel kit car that gives 

cheap motoring to fun loving people'

Picture John J. Thomas via Ken Warburton

The finished three-wheeled product, all ready to tow a caravan - well, why not!?

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

But that's a rare Ranger Cub 4, the four-wheeler version of which just 4 were made

Picture John J. Thomas via Ken Warburton

Dutch Mini Marcos looking for new owner - and engine

Some cars are turned into miniatures, but it can be the other 'round also. Take Marcel van Eenennaam's Mini Marcos, which was build up with the famous Corgi Mini Marcos model in mind using a paint colour that the Americans call 'Candy Apple Red', white striping along the sills, head lamp covers and eight-spoke alloys in silver.

The car came by on these pages before when spotted at the 2016 IMM (click here and scroll down). It showed an intriguing bonnet bulge at the time, giving breathing space to a chunky twin Weber set-up to fuel a 7-port head. However, that set-up is gone now and Marcel is planning to sell the car sans engine. He is working on a lovely new project and wrote to me: "I am selling it since I simply have no time for it within the next year or so. But if it won't get sold, I'll store it and keep it." Do you have a spare engine and like the car? Then see its ad here...

This is a smart looking Mini Marcos Mk4. It's empty behind that big bonnet bulge though  

Picture Marcel van Eenennaam 

Correctly registered as a Mini Marcos GT and on Dutch plates, the car is now for sale

Picture Marcel van Eenennaam 

If Marcel's Mini Marcos rings a bell, it may well be because of this Corgi model!

Picture Pinterest

Derivatives at London show plus Cilla Black's Mini Margrave

A fine selection of Mini derivatives made it to the London Classic Car show, held last weekend in Excel, London. A well-known Broadspeed GT, SHADO Jeep and Unipower GT were seen in action on the indoor parade laps, while another coachbuilt Mini owned by a British celebrity came to the auction block. This was the 1977 Wood & Pickett Mini Margrave owned by singer Cilla Black from new. This car received a mild W&P treatment back in the day, with no deseaming of the body and keeping its standard 1000 engine, but does come with a full interior in black leather with walnut dashboard, fitting in with the piano-black exterior. The car was estimated to sell for between £30- and £40,000 but I don't think it sold. Let me know if you attended the sale or just happen to know more.

Broadspeed GT demonstrator has now been sold and was seen on the London Classic Car show

Picture Mini & British Lifestyle

SHADO Jeep is used on the road regularly now, and was driven over to the show also

Picture Colin Baines

 Unipower GT is local to London but a regular at events throughout the country

Picture Mini & British Lifestyle

Cilla Black's Wood & Pickett Mini Margrave is - very fitting - all black and was for sale

Picture Coys of Kensington

Interior in full black leather looks good, note it's an automatic. Question is: did it sell? 

Picture Coys of Kensington

Engine is a no-frills 998cc and looks to both as new as bog standard

Picture Coys of Kensington

'Motor Sport tries Motorail' - the full film

It's been over eight years ago that I wrote about a promotional film named 'Motor Sport tries Motorail' about the 1968 Motorail Trophy (click here). I bought a dvd with the film at the time, showing a number of cars which were transported by train from London to Torbay to do a hill climb and an autotest event. It was filmed in early May 1968 and two cars of particular interest in the movie are Morris Bishop's clever four-wheel steered MoBi-One and a fine Camber GT / Maya GT (this one). Well... the full movie can now be found on the internet in a good quality and I thought I'd include it here also. Enjoy and have a good weekend.

Movie British Transport Films

CariMoke instigator speaks

A message from the horse's mouth, or so to speak. Scamp builder Andrew MacLean, who took over the Jimini project in the 1990s, let me know he was behind the Barbados built CariMoke also, indeed a Jimini made under a licence as mentioned here last week (click!). He wrote:

"The old white Carimoke, no 29, is Mini based, one of about 30 manufactured, under licence from me, by Evolution cars in Barbados, but the others in the photos are Suzuki based! Sadly the new set of moulds I supplied (subcontracted to Fi-glass of Edenbridge) for the Mini based Jimini / Carimoke, developed osmosis as the moisture content leached out by the heat of the Barbadian summer. New moulds were taken off one of my UK supplied bodyshell and altered to accept Suzuki Maruti running gear as can be clearly seen in the photos. Quite a lengthy story deserving much more than the comments in Maximum Mini 2 that I took over Jimini production to kill it off!"

"The Reeves-Law family paid the Scamp Factory a visit in 1995 with a view to buying a Scamp Mk3 manufacturing franchise to take with them to Barbados, at the time I had an early 'Highlander' Jimini as well as Dave Cameron's immaculate metallic blue demonstrator and several freshly produced white GRP body tubs. They liked the slightly more curvaceous Jimini and there and then agreed a deal. I had already made many strengthening improvements to seats and seat belt mountings, with an eye on SVA specifications, spending a fortune. It was assessed by my late friend Dr George Reid from STATUS with praise. The 1990's were busy years with other Scamp manufacturing franchise sold to Jamaica and ....Nigeria. .. I look forward to your visit, it's the 50th birthday of the Scamp this year! It is quite a story. ..I'm responsible for over 400 Mini based kits....so far!"

Thank you Andrew, that does clear up things!

The old white CariMoke no. 29 - one of about 30 made by Evolution Cars of Barbados

Picture via Henk van Brakel

And another. It was a Jimini built under a licence. The initial plan was to build the Scamp

Picture P. Braun / Flickr, via Henk van Brakel 

Later CariMokes, however, used Suzuki power and were manufactured from a different mould, too

Picture P. Braun / Flickr, via Henk van Brakel

Several CariMokes are believed to survive on the island of Barbados

Picture via Henk van Brakel