Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2023 i MiniWorld

British Motor Heritage reports that a total of 45 Mini bodyshells left their factory in 2022, destined to be used for Mini restorations and what BMH described as “new classics” like the high-end revamped Mini Remastered vehicles. As well as 45 Mini shells in saloon mark variations and Clubman saloon there were 32 MGBs (roadster and GT) and one MG Midget. BMH Managing Director Graham Payne said: “Last year was certainly a very busy one, that’s more than justified our ongoing investment in the refurbishment of the original BMC/Leyland tooling – the invaluable hardware which makes us the only company able to produce replacement bodyshells to the exact specification of the originals. Where our products do differ from the originals, however, is in the quality of the steel and the…

Scottish Mini Specialist McDonald Minis, in Edinburgh, Scotland, has closed its doors for good due to the retirement of proprietor Clarke McDonald. He has been working on Minis since the 1960s and has served the Mini community over the years by maintaining local Minis. Clarke is looking forward to spending more time on his own Mini projects which include getting his Mk4 Mini Marcos back on the road and restoring his first car, an early 1960 Morris Mini-Minor DeLuxe, which he has owned since 1968. Clarke is pleased to have received many kind messages of thanks on his retirement for advice given and work carried out to keep his customers' Minis on the road. He remembers well the occasions that he was in MiniWorld. “I had the pleasure of meeting…

Good tyres really do make a huge difference to the handling and ride of a Mini, and also to the amount of road noise. These are vitally important considerations when choosing new ones. Another very important point is that tyres contribute to the overall look of a Mini, almost as much as the wheels. I have seen many a good restoration let down by the wrong tyres. The wrong choice could also be down to incorrect size as it is no good, for instance, trying to stretch a 145x10 tyre over a 6x10” rim. It could be tyre quality or the tyre not being appropriate for the use and style of the Mini. Tyre type can be broadly split into two groups; standard original, and performance and modified/competition. In most…

Kevin senior’s first foray into Mini ownership was in the early 1980s, when Kev junior was still in nappies. “I was driving around in a cream Mini HL with a vinyl roof and walnut dash,” Kevin recalls. “I loved the car but, with us having a baby, it was just too small and had to go.” The HL made way for an Austin Metro City X but, as far as he was concerned, the spacious hatchback didn’t offer that familiar vibe unique to Mini. “From that moment on, I promised myself I’d buy another Mini one day,” he smiles. By the late 1990s, Kev jr. had begun to develop his own passion for Minis and, with his dad in tow, they’d often find themselves at Mini-related shows and events. It…

Wirral Minis welcomed over 150 cars back to their annual run on 15 January. The 2021 run was hit by COVID and the 2022 run ended in Shropshire, due to restrictions being different in England and Wales. As usual, most bookings came from the Northwest, Wales and the Midlands but we also saw some familiar faces from London, Sussex and Glasgow. Tickets are made available to people who have done the run before and over half the tickets were sold as soon as they went on sale. The run began in Bromborough on the Wirral (the bit that sticks out between North Wales and Liverpool) and then snakes down the coast. The cars parked on top of the Great Orme, which towers over Llandudno, before heading back into the town…

The UK Mk2 Mini had a short-lived production period starting in 1967 and finishing in 1969. At a glance, when compared to a Mk1, the Mk2 has a squared-off grille without moustache ends, a larger rear screen and rectangular rear light lenses. It still had the external door hinges and sliding windows which were then removed for the Mk3. It's unusual to see Mk2s nowadays but in this issue we are lucky enough to have two fine examples: a 1968 Austin Mini Cooper and a 1967 Morris Mini Traveller. They are both adored by their owners who love the sense of nostalgia that Minis give them. Our next featured Mini follows the time-line nicely as it's a Mk3. Paul Marsh's 1975 Mini 1000 is a lovingly restored, performance-modified example of…

A total of 13 Mini Mokes took part in the first London’s New Year’s Parade Day since the start of the COVID pandemic. On 1 January the Moke Club took a very active role as transport for all three of the Miss Great Britain winners. Moke club organiser, Andy Woolhouse, said: “We even had one member stop overnight, on Millbank parking area in a motorhome with their Moke.” When asked about the contribution of the Moke Club to the event, Director, Joe Bone, stated “The Mini Mokes were truly incredible and personify everything that the parade stands for. They were fun, quirky, British and absolute crowd pleasers. What more could anyone want? Hopefully we will see the Mini Mokes in LNYDP for many more years to come!” For more information…

Paul has an eye for a good shape. He spends his working days as a clay modeller, shaping top secret vehicles of the future. “I work for Jaguar Land Rover within the Design Studio. I predominantly work on exterior and interior models for Land Rover from concept through to realisation.” He’s probably not allowed to say any more than that unless we all sign the Official Secrets Act. The basic Mini saloon ticks the right boxes for him and perhaps his first car, a 1977 (Mk4) Mini saloon bought in 2004, might have set him thinking about design as Mini has done to so many others. Rather than wait for his retirement years before recreating his much-loved first car, he has managed to do it only a few years down…

The Angus Fire Armour Company of London was the first to offer one of these for sale, launching it at the conference of the British Fire Services Association in Hastings, England, in December 1963. The flyer said: “It is with a feeling of great satisfaction that Angus Fire Armour introduce the wonderful Firefly Mini Fire engine. Constructed on the well tried Mini ¼-ton Van and powered by the BMC four-cylinder petrol engine developing 47bhp at 5,500rpm, this robust light fire appliance is capable of getting to the very seat of a fire regardless of narrow and congested roads or restricted means of ingress.” Bexley Hospital, also known as the Bexley Mental Hospital or Bexley Asylum, of Dartford Heath in Kent, showed a keen interest. They ordered their Firefly on 20…

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London & Surrey Mini Owners Club, organiser of the London to Brighton Mini Run, recently announced that it is likely that the 2023 event, on 21 May, will be the last running of the annual Mini run which began in 1986. The popular event is an annual highlight for many Mini owners from around the world. Last year’s start point was changed from Crystal Palace to Sutton and recent changes by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, mean that it may be difficult for the run to continue from a start point in London. Club spokesperson, Samantha Emery, posted on Facebook: “Sadly I have to announce this is probably going to be the last London to Brighton Mini Run due to the extension of the ULEZ.” On 29 August 2023 London’s…

The 2023 Mile of Minis event will take place on Sunday 12 March. The event is organised by The Italian Job which raises funds for children’s charity Buttle UK. Each participating team has been asked to raise £30 for the charity. Event participants will use a road book with tulip-style directions to navigate from MINI Plant Oxford, and through Oxfordshire countryside, to the end point of Silverstone Circuit where they will be able to visit the Silverstone Museum. Find out more information online at: www.italianjob.com/mile-of-minis…

When asked how important Minis were to him during his youth, Nigel Sandell told us: “I rallied them and raced them. I was obsessed with them and I spent every spare penny on my Minis. My wife had Minis; we were very much a Mini family.” Tinkering with Minis has influenced his life as he learnt skills such as welding and engine building. This enabled him to become an apprentice mechanic which led to him specialising in high-end cars. “The Rolls Royce thing got under my skin, just like the Minis had, and I was hooked.” He recalls his first Mini, a 1964 example that he bought in 1979, which slowly evolved with Cooper S elements. Minis spark nostalgia for Nigel. “My wife Jackie had a Riley Elf as her…

Until the arrival of MiniWorld, reading material for Mini enthusiasts was supplied by two magazines in the main. These were Cars and Car Conversions and Hot Car. Neither magazine is still published. Cars and Car Conversions, also known as Triple C or CCC, was the magazine from which MiniWorld evolved. Many motoring magazines build their own project cars. Here at MiniWorld we have certainly kept up with this tradition by building both magazine-owned Minis and those owned by contributors. In the years that I read CCC there were a quite few cars built or modified, one of the most interesting being a Mini that was being turned into a lightweight 1000cc racer by regular contributor Fred Game. There was a series of features about the car, the one pictured appeared…

Stories like this really do help to put a smile on faces after so many years of consistent worldwide tough luck. Good things can happen after all. As any Mini owner knows, 1959 has to be celebrated. Why? Because it was the birth year of this story’s slightly reluctant hero: Lee Bundell. All the stars aligned that year to bring both Lee and the Mini into being. It was the beginning of the golden era of ‘car ownership for all’ in the UK and, if our understanding of history is correct, district nurses across the globe were suddenly racing 848cc Minis at Curborough, Brands, Monte, up the A1 and across the Nullarbor Plain. It’s no surprise that Lee spent his formative years avoiding Ladybird books and reading Haynes manuals and…

New Year’s Day is always popular with classic car owners. It’s a time to brush the cobwebs off of the covers and take our cars for a run, providing there’s no salt and grit on the roads. It’s often a last-minute decision, depending on whether it’s raining, how much partying was done the night before and, of course, whether the car decides to start after a few months since any shows. Luckily this year, after a wet New Year’s Eve, 1 January was a mild, dry day and, after just a few attempts at turning the key, my Mini decided to burst into life. Brooklands Museum was our chosen destination; the birthplace of British motorsport and the perfect place to start a new year, meet up with friends and start…

■ OWNER AT THE TIME: Holger Boborowski ■ ISSUE: July 2006 Remember the flip-paint craze? Well, it was all the rage in the mid-2000s. The incredible paint job on this modified Checkmate flipped from gold to brown to blue and back. But that wasn’t the only reason this Mini was interesting. It also towed a rebuilt Eriba Puck caravan with the same paint scheme. Owner Holger Boborowski worked for DuPont Paints as a master craftsman painter so it’s unsurprising that the paint was so good. Holger bought the fire-damaged Mini Checkmate in his native Germany for just 1DM in 1999. Only a few rust repairs were needed as well as a new boot lid, from an Innocenti Mini, a new bonnet and Mk1 rear light in-fills. He also fitted a…