Freewheelers drive Mini Bugs

Remember 'Freewheelers'? I don't, but reader Paul Wylde does. And I'm sure he has some fond memories of it. It was a television series about a group of teenagers who get caught up in the plans of an ex-Nazi officer and it was broadcast between 1968 and 1973. Sounds like a cult show to me - an image that is further enhanced by the appearance of two Stimson Mini Bugs. Paul wrote: "Here are some photos of MK2 Minibugs used in the Freewheelers in 1972. It was filmed in and around Goodwood and in one of the photos you can see the Halnaker windmill and one of the two cars that were used. Both cars are still about." Thanks again Paul! Anyone who has some Freewheeling moving image?

UPDATE 30 October 2017: Here we go! 

Hide and seek - RPX 885K is properly registered as a Mini Bug with 850 power

Picture courtesy Paul Wylde

Filming took place in and around Goodwood, also not far from Stimson's place 

Picture courtesy Paul Wylde

 This is the other Stimson Bug - an orange one. And that's Halnaker windmill

Picture courtesy Paul Wylde

Good casting: Stimson Mini Bug would have been a dream drive for this teenager

Picture courtesy Paul Wylde

The Freewheelers and their Stimson (video)

The late 1960s / early 1970s British tv series The Freewheelers has come past here before, but only in 'screen grabs' (click here). This was a series about a group of teenagers who get caught up in the plans of an ex-Nazi officer; totally period and starring a Stimson Mini Bug. I asked for moving images, and now received them. Talking Pictures TV was showing The Freewheelers once again recently and days after the broadcast, a video appeared on Youtube compiling the Stimson driving scenes. I thought there were two cars seen in the series, an orange one and a yellow one, but this appears to be not the case. Ian Wegg wrote: "There was definitely only one Mini Bug used, 'RPX 885K', you can also see the registration a few seconds earlier in the Halnaker scene. The orange colour is the result of auto correction on the screen grab." He seems to be right! Oh - as you may also remember, that one car was found only a few year ago, and it's awaiting a restoration awaiting its restoration now! Enjoy the video.

Video courtesy Youtube / Colonel Buchan

Freewheelers Mini Bug found

Before we have our man Barry Stimson himself dish up some more tales here, have a look at this. A Stimson Mini Bug, which feels rather sorry for itself, oh yes. But according to Barry Tilbury, who bought it recently, it is one of the cars that featured prominently in the 1970s television series Freewheelers. In fact he says it is the car registered RPX 885K, which can also be seen here in its heyday. We don't know, but would love to see it being restored. More information is welcome!

UPDATE 4 February 2015: Barry sent in a copy of the car's document - it's the one!

A Stimson Mini Bug, no doubt, but a rather special one to 1970s tv fans

Picture courtesy Barry Tilbury

According to the new owner the car is complete but needs a restoration

Picture courtesy Barry Tilbury

Stimson's stories (6)

Following Barry Stimson's death on the last day of 2022 (click) this is another part in a series of interviews with the designer. This time about marketing the Stimson Mini Bug in print, on the motorshow and on television. "It was exactly like you’d do a documentary about the swinging sixties" Over to the late Barry:

"We went to France to get the pictures for the Mini Bug brochure. It was unbelievably fun to drive the vehicle there. You know it was in 1970 and not all the bloody tourists were there yet. The girl I took with me was Patsy and she can be seen in the brochure. She was known as one-eyed Patsy since she had just one eye, which you can't see because she's wearing sun glasses on the pictures. But she was a lovely soul. And a tough cook, too."

"The car on the Racing car Show stand still was the same car, I think. So much was happening at the time. Jem cars came to me because they’d seen the Mini Bug on television. Can we be agents for the Mini Bug, they asked. They seemed really nice people. The Mini Bug was also used on the Cliff Richard Show and Olivia Newton John was filmed in it driving it and then in studio shots with a wind machine whilst singing. It was also in a television series The Freewheelers (footage here). They asked me to talk about design on radio and tv – it was usually William Towns or me who was asked. The trouble is that in those days everything was shot on 16mm film. And although the BBC transferred a lot of the stuff; they scrapped a lot of it, too. There was also footage shot on the beach of Littlehampton for a motoring programme named Wheelspin. They just hired a helicopter and went filming for a complete day." (footage does survive though - see here).

"They were supposed to be difficult times but it didn’t affect me in the slightest. It was pure fun. A mate was stage manager of the musical Hair and another friend was Julia Goodman who was an actress. It was all fun, exactly like you’d do a documentary about the swinging sixties. It was all promo girls and Champagne celebrations. Meanwhile, I’d got involved with Ian Smith, who wrote The Lotus Story. He knew all sorts of people who said to me he wanted to get in business; we can sell lots of these - that sort of thing. That’s how Barrian Cars was formed, after my and Ian’s names. He was friends with people like Graham and Betty Hill and Colin Chapman. Rosalyn, Ian’s wife and I flew to Monaco for a promotional thing. Ian drove the bloody Bug to the south of France. Over there I was introduced to all the people and we had diner and all the rest. Ian clearly wanted to introduce the car to other people there and it was intended to drive the race circuit at Monaco with Jacky Stewart behind the wheel. But David Benson, a Daily Express journalist, took it on the course first and stuffed it into a wall. The wall fell onto a person working on the other side of it and there was a lot of commotion. They wrote it off and it had to be shipped back. I had to spend another two days with one of the girls, which wasn't too bad."

"Ian Smith also was a member of the Dog House club in Mayfair and I went there too, to meet up with some of these people. I wasn’t all too impressed, but it was agreed that Barrian Cars would give a Mk2 Mini Bug to the club for charity and they were raffling it off. The car got built but I wasn’t in a position to donate a kit to a bloody charity, I didn’t have any money, so eventually Lord Stokes of BMC supplied us with a brand new engine and sent it off. But when it came here there was no distributor cap and there other bits missing and so I phoned them up. A couple of days later, I had by now completely forgotten about it, a box was sent over which contained 20 distributor caps, 100 spark leads, five carburettors and all other sorts of parts. I rang them to tell them there were way too many parts and they told me these parts came in boxes of twenty or ten or whatever and there was no union job to take things oút of boxes. This is how British Leyland went under, maybe..?"

Making pictures for the brochure with One-eyed Patsy - "A lovely soul and a tough cook"

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

A great opportunity to drive the Mini Bug demonstrator over to the south of France

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The things you come across abroad... Barry jumped out, Patsy still in the car here

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The Mini Bug was to return to southern France soon with Ian Smith at the wheel

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Barry in his element on a cross-country road somewhere near the Mediterranean

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Racing Car Show time, more dolly birds needed at Jem Cars' display. The year? 1971

Picture Jeroen Booij archive 

Rare colour picture of the show. Mini Bug, Mini Jem and Jem Futura on the left

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The Morning Telegraph article by Ian Smith, who drove the Mini Bug all the way to Monaco, 

only to see it being written off into a wall by journalist David Benson there!

Picture Jeroen Booij archive

Stimson cars tribute at Restoration Show

Have there ever been five different Stimson designs together on one display? I don't think so. Paul Wylde and his team of Minikits enthusiasts have been working for ages to get just that together and they've finally succeeded, too. This weekend you can see a most colourful display of Stimson vehicles brought together at the Classic Car & Restoration Show in the NEC in Birmingham. The Stimson Mini Bug is there in two variants, joined by a Stimson Scorcher, Stimson Trek and Stimson Safari Six as a grand tribute to their creator who passed away on the last day of 2022.

Paul added: "I will send you some with Roger Fauchon's family (Roger was the man who built many of the bodies for Stimson) who will be here tomorrow and with the Stimson family on Saturday." Well done guys!

UPDATE 27 March 2023: pictures of Fouchon and Stimson families and more added, see below.

A colourful display of Stimson vehicles can be seen in Birmingham now

Picture Paul Wylde

This as a tribute to Barry Stimson, who died on December 31st last year

Picture Paul Wylde

Paul's Mk2 Stimson Mini Bug

Picture Paul Wylde

Barry Tibury's Mini Bug, as used in 'The Freewheelers'

Picture Paul Wylde

Colin Baines' Stimson Safari Six

Picture Paul Wylde

Philip Lyons' Stimson Scorcher

Picture Paul Wylde

Barry Tibury's Stimson Trek

Picture Paul Wylde

Bonus - 1960 Mini with ultra rare LMB boot. One owner from 1960 to 2020!

Picture Paul Wylde

Paul Wylde (center) with Roger Fouchon's daughters and grand daughter

Picture courtesy Paul Wylde

Caroline Stimson and sons try out the Stimson Scorcher!

Picture courtesy Paul Wylde 

The Minikits team together with the Stimsons on Saturday

Picture courtesy Paul Wylde

Lovely painting of Barry Stimson presented to Caroline

Picture courtesy Paul Wylde 

2015 is here and we have two winners

Happy new year!

Let's start 2015 with the announcement of the 'Best Find of 2014'.
You voted for the Mini engined Méan Sonora, which resurfaced last year in a Belgian garden. The car is currently under restoration by Louis Lempereur who is very happy with the results of the poll. 57% of the 131 voters chose his car as the Find of the Year. Louis wrote: "That is good news! The Méan friends here in Liège will also be very happy! I am busy now and my son who helps me with the project is currently in China, so there is not too much time for the Méan currently… But I promise to send you some info and pictures within 2 or 3 weeks. Thanks again for your support!" Looking much forwards to that, of course.

The Méan 'BMC Mini' Sonora when it was brand new back in 1967

Picture Maximum Mini archive

Meanwhile, we have another winner here, as I have had a good look at the answers that came in for the Christmas Puzzle. Only 4 of you decided to give it a go and among them Paul Wylde, once more, was the one with most right answers! Paul, let me know if you want another Maximum Mini 2 book, or somethings else. Of the 50 questions Paul gave 11 fault answers. Runner-up was Dean Renwick, who had 15 faults, but to my surprise he answered the more difficult questions perfectly right and made mistakes with the (in my opinion) easy ones! Arunas Racelis made 20 faults and Mikael Pettersson 21. All the right answers are listed below.


1. Which comical 1970 film featured a Unipower GT?
'Crimen Imperfecto'

2. In which television series a Siva Buggy was used frequently?
'The Perishers'

3. What 1968 James Bond parody featured a Mini Moke based vehicle?
'Salt & Pepper'

4. Which television series used not one but two Stimson Mini Bugs?
'The Freewheelers'

5. The 1964 movie ‘Beach Blanket Bingo’ features which Mini based one-off?
(Ed Roth's) Surfite

6. What kind of equipment was once fitted to the Nimbus Don Parker Special’s engine?
A Wade supercharger

7. What carburettor(s) ran the Deep Sanderson 301 at Le Mans in 1964?
A 45DCOE Weber

8. What is the main (technical) difference between the Cox GTM and Heerey GTM?
The subframe holding the Mini engine made place for a space frame

9. What special cylinder head is fitted to the Fisher Spider?
An Arden 8-port head

10. What was unusual about the chassis construction of the Sekura Mini?
It was made of steel profiling for the tractor industry, allowing super-slim pillars with no welding

11. What was the price that a Beach car fetched last August at an auction in California?
$165,000 ($181,500 with the auction fee on top of it)

12. What was the original selling price for the MiniSprint Traveller?
£750

13. What was the base price of the ‘Hustler in Wood’ in 1980?
£595

14. What was the price that Peter Sellers supposedly paid for his coachbuilt Hooper Mini?
£2600

15. What was the base price of the Wildgoose conversion on an existing Mini Van?
£425

16. What was the nickname of the Le Mans Mini Marcos in 1966?
'La Puce Bleue' (the blue flee)

17. The Unipower GT initially had another name. What was that name?
Hustler GT

18. What was the nickname of the original Deep Sanderson prototype?
Perfume Delivery Wagon

19. The Roamer was built under at least two more names. Which ones?
Arrividerci Winchester and Moons Moke

20. What was the name of the Dutch-built Stimson Mini Bug?
Barclay Mini Bug

21. Which British newspaper gave away a Broadspeed GT in a very easy contest?
The Daily Express

22. The only British-built Nota Fang does not survive. What happened to it?
A Friesian bull decided to sit on it!

23. What was the only colour available for the Status 365 and why?
Yellow - it was the cheapest ready mixed (marine) gelcoat that the makers could get

24. Which famous Italian designer offered a coachbuilt version of the Mini saloon in 1966?
Bertone (the Bertone Mini Minor VIP)

25. Which other Mini based vehicle was designed by Scamp instigator Robert Mandry?
The RTV (Rough Terrain Vehicle)

26. What happened to the roof moulds of the Ecurie de Dez?
They were destroyed by Des Higgins himself, who soon regretted doing so!

27. The Gecko was developed by a one-model specialist? What model did they specialize in?
The VW Beetle

28. Before the Butterfield Musketeer, Richard Butterfield (re)designed which car?
A Triumph TR3 named 'Mulsanne'

29. The Fletcher GT features a redesigned Ogle rear with light clusters of which car?
The Austin 1800

30. In which Mini derivative was the Minister for Interior of Uganda supposedly interested?
The ASD Hobo

31. In what kind of premises was the Lightspeed Magenta built?
In a former British Railways goods shed

32. In what kind of premises was the mould of the Taylorspeed MiniJem made?
In a surfboard factory

33. In what kind of premises was the Ranger Cub built?
In a former Cinema theatre (which was supposedly haunted...)

34. In what kind of premises was the Libra Magnum built?
In a barn next to the house of Trevor Foxen's mother

35. In what kind of premises was the first AF Spider built?
In Alexander Fraser's kitchen

36. How many records did Allan Staniforth set with his original Terrapin in October 1968?
9

37. How many records that the TransXL Mini Marcos broke stand to this day?
4

38. Which Mini derivative amassed 10 sidecar records in one year?
Owen Greenwood's Mini 'sidecar'

39. Which 3-wheeler is said to have driven round Malory Park at under the lap record?
The ABC Tricar

40. Which car set a record at Bathurst, Australia, when it was clocked at 127.8 mph?
The Broadspeed GTS by Brian Foley

41. How many inches shorter than a standard Mini saloon was the Gordon Mini?
14.6 inches

42. How many Mini powered Davrians were officially built?
10 (5 Mk7s and 5 Mk8s)

43. How many years did it take Robert Lawther to build the Lawther GT?
5 years

44. What is the number of Camber GTs and Maya GTs tracked down for this blog?
10 (5 of each)

45. What was the capacity in ccs of the Kingfisher Sprint's engine in Turbosport guise?
1480cc

46. How many Ogle SX1000s were built?
69

47. How many Codford Minis were built?
3

48. How many Foers Nomads were built by John Foers?
164

49. What is the kerb weight in kgs of the Hrubon Phaeton?
220kgs

50. What was the age of Desmond ‘Dizzy’ Addicot when he passed away in 2005?
83 years

What is the Best Find of 2015?

The end of 2015 is getting near, which means it's time to make up which the best find of the past year here - a Maximum Mini tradition. So far this year, 11 Mini variants worth noting were found in sheds, lock-ups, gardens and garages and I made a selection out of 5 of them.

You will find the cars that have made it to the contest below. To vote simply go to the poll on the right side of this blog (click here if you read this through an email message) where you tick the box of your favourite find. The one with the most votes wins - it's simple as that. Now, over to the candidates.

1. The Spanish coachbuilt Cooper by Taka-Hira

A coachbuilt Mini, but not as we know it. This 1964 Mini Cooper was discovered by Francisco Carrión in Spain and turned out to be coachbuilt by Roger Taka-Hira. Full story here.

2. The Freewheelers Mini Bug

A beautiful Stimson Mini Bug was found in Switzerland (click), but it didn't have television history like the one that was found by Barry Tibury. Full story here. 

3. The German lock-up Landar

In the summer of 2015 one of the four Landar R7s built came out of a lock-up in Germany. It turned out to be the second car built in 1970. Full story here.

4. The Ranger threesome

After reader Ian Whitehead bought a project Ranger Cub he found another two of them, or at least the bodies plus a spare chassis frame. Full story here.

5. The Shropshire Mini Jem

You don't see a Mini Jem Mk1 very often, but Richard Proudlove found one in his native Shropshire. In a bad shape but all time warp and complete. Full story here.