Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2024 i MiniWorld

Although this issue of MiniWorld carries a January cover date, it hits the shops (and subscribers’ doormats) in early December, making it the very last one of 2023 – and what an eventful year it’s been! MiniWorld found itself with a new editor eight issues ago, following Karen Drury’s decision to step down after many years at the helm. Karen is now enjoying her time away from the hot seat while still being very much involved with the magazine. You’ll be reading Karen’s feature car articles, Logbook updates and show reports for a long time to come, and I’m grateful to her for making the handover so straightforward all those months ago. Over my first eight issues as editor, it’s been a real pleasure getting to know so many of…

Cooper Sport duo Devon-based Mini specialist Richard Williams has various late-model Cooper Sports in stock at the time of writing, including the two lowmileage examples shown here. The first is a two-owner car finished in the ever-popular combination of Solar Red with a silver roof and bonnet stripes. It was first registered in September 2000 and has covered just 18,550 miles since. Described as “factory original”, it had the same lady owner for its first 21 years and appears to have been very well maintained, with paperwork showing a total of 20 services by the same garage. It still has its original book pack and spare keys, and comes fitted with a matching set of Yokohama A539 tyres. As you’d expect with an asking price of £22,995, the car is…

There’s not long to wait now until the British Mini Club’s first event of the year, with Mini Fair getting 2024 off to a great start on Sunday, January 28. Taking place at the Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford, this season-opener represents an early opportunity to celebrate the Mini’s 65th anniversary year in style. Described by the club as “the biggest and best indoor Mini show”, Mini Fair’s central location offers easy access from around the UK, with the venue boasting 6000 square metres of exhibition space over two levels, as well as a 200-seater restaurant. With an official theme of ‘Mini Turns 65’, it’s sure to be a busy day. Now in its 24th year, Mini Fair always attracts thousands of enthusiasts during what’s traditionally a quiet time of the…

UNDERBODY WORK One thing that’s almost always certain when rust repairs and restoration are being carried out on a Mini is that a lot of the major work will be low down on the car in the floor and sill areas. If the Mini bodyshell is intact (or largely intact), then the work can be carried out professionally on a ramp. Alternatively, axle stands can be used when you’re working on your car at home. The same methods can be used when the Mini is stripped to a bare shell, but a better idea (if you have the space and the shell is reasonably sound) is to use a body spit or rotisserie. Using a spit massively improves access to the lower areas and underneath; work can be carried out…

Here at MiniWorld, we often hear from readers who’ve recently completed their first project or are perhaps part-way through. They’ll usually have spent many years yearning for their own Mini, only to finally take the plunge and embark upon a resto, making the most of any automotive DIY skills they might have picked up via previous car ownership. But that’s not the case with Callum Rice, the proud owner of this stunning machine that started out in 1982 as a humble Mini City: “I’d never even changed the oil in any of my other cars,” he laughs. “This was a complete eye-opener and a real labour of love.” Callum, 41, bought the Mini as a non-runner in 2018, travelling from his home in Dumfries, Scotland to southeast England to view…

Festive Mini tours A company that specialises in classic Mini tours, smallcarBIGCITY, is offering festive excursions around London. With Christmas songs, hot cocoa and snug blankets all on tap, it promises to be a memorable experience, with tours running through into January. “London really comes to life at Christmas, and we’re thrilled to offer an unforgettable experience that captures the essence of the season,” says Robert Welch, co-founder of smallcarBIGCITY. The Christmas Lights Tour of London provides a two-hour journey through the city’s brightest and best-decorated streets. Guests are chauffeured in a Mini with a passionate local guide at the wheel, taking in iconic thoroughfares like Oxford Street, Regent Street, Mayfair and more. The cars feature full-length sunroofs for a perfect view of the festive lights, as well as tartan…

Nobody can deny that race cars have a pretty hard time, although that’s very much the nature of their existence. Sure, they have a charmed life from the outset, with bountiful trinkets bestowed upon them in the form of the latest upgrades, technological gizmos and artful speed-orientated addenda, but the trade-off is that they get the very life thrashed from them at every given opportunity. And worse even than that, they tend to have a fairly short shelf-life. How long does a race car last – one season, two, half-a-dozen? It depends on the formula, the level and the budget, of course, but they do often get callously cast aside when a faster alternative usurps them. Look at (to pluck a formula from the ether) the Supertouring-era BTCC racers of…

Going electronic I have experienced several instances of points and condenser failure in the past couple of years and feel the time is right to convert to electronic ignition. I have noticed that there’s some play in the shaft of the existing dizzy, but have been told that if I fit electronic ignition it will overcome the problem and the worn distributor can be retained. Do you agree with this and, if so, how much play is allowable for the ignition to work without problems? Peter Matthews Electronic ignition will work on a worn distributor provided that the wear is not excessive; I would suggest that if the play in the shaft is more than very slight, it would be far better to replace. Depending upon the type, replacement distributors…

Jason Spry and his father, Laurence, had a lot of fun together thanks to Minis, as Jason recalls: “Dad never owned Minis himself or did any kind of racing, but when I was 13 we went to our local banger racing track, Westworld Raceway in St Columb, Cornwall, to watch a race meeting. After seeing just a couple of races, we decided to build a car for me to race in the youth Mini class.” Jason immersed himself in the whole racing experience, and he and his dad enjoyed spending time together working on the Mini and attending the race meets. It all had quite an effect on the youngster: “I’ve had a passion for motorsport and cars ever since.” A second Mini followed: “We built one with a 1380…

Thanks to the Mini Cooper Register, John Parnell (author of the book, Original Mini Cooper & Cooper S) and other sources, there are plenty of facts and figures out there when it comes to Mini Cooper and Cooper S production. And that means just about every Mini enthusiast understands the significance of the 970 S, the shortest-lived and rarest of all S variants – with just 963 examples built between June 1, 1964 and April 5, 1965. At the time of this rare model’s launch, the Mini range also featured a 998cc Cooper and a 1071cc Cooper S. So, why would BMC add a 970cc Cooper S? In essence, it was all about marketing. The Mini was dominating world motorsport at the time; a car badged as a Cooper S…

2024 January 28 Mini Fair The British Mini Club reckons this is the UK’s biggest and best indoor Mini show, now in its 24th year. As well as Mini displays, club stands and concours competitions, there’ll be over 100 traders and Mini-jumblers selling parts, accessories and more. It all takes place at the Staffordshire County Showground from 9.30am. www.britishminiclub.co.uk February 23-25 Race Retro One of the UK’s major historic motorsport events returns to Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, with a combination of circuit racing, hillclimbs, singleseaters, marque series, GTs and more. There will be a Live Stage hosting motorsport stars, plus two rally stages boasting 140 ex-Works and WRC cars in action. www.raceretro.com March 22-24 Classic Car & Restoration Show Now a well-established favourite, this season-opener at the NEC, Birmingham, offers enthusiasts…

The 2023 Classic Motor Show, sponsored by Lancaster Insurance and held as usual at the NEC, Birmingham, proved to be the perfect finale to this year’s classic show season, attracting a total of 71,290 visitors – a three per cent increase on 2022. An impressive 319 car clubs exhibited at the event, including some of the best-known names from the Mini scene. The British Mini Club, Mini Cooper Register, North West Mini Meets, Midlands Mini Club and Cooper Sport 500 Register all had stands, as did the popular Derbyshire-based museum, the Great British Car Journey, which had a number of immaculate looking Minis on display. This year’s NEC show saw various new features added, including a chance to meet some of the UK’s TV and YouTube classic car stars. Show…

Quick and quiet Last month’s MiniWorld featured one of BL’s double-page ads promoting the newly updated Mini line-up of 1980, which came with extra soundproofing across the range. The headline last time was “You’ve never heard it so good”, but we reckon this one’s even cleverer: “Fast as Nastase without the racket”. It was referring, of course, to Ilie Nastase, the former world number one tennis player from Romania, one of just five players to have ever won more than 100 pro titles (57 singles and 45 doubles) according to the Association of Tennis Professionals. As with the advert featured last month, the text beneath the image described the areas where soundproofing was now applied, including the roof, rear parcel shelf, front and rear floors, dashboard and bulkhead. As the…