Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2024 i MiniWorld

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On Saturday 30th March, various classic and modern Minis from the Norfolk Mini Owners Club (and friends) met at Gridserve in Norwich for a twisty and scenic run over to Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton. Participants were able to have a look around the planes and the vast selection of memorabilia, grab a cuppa and cake, and take part in a raffle. The run then continued to Suffolk Boating Lake and Cafe for some time at the seaside; the sun shone for them and lots of fun was had! The club rounded up the proceeds so that £90 was donated to Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum and £150 to Amber’s Army – a local charity which aims to ‘create rainbows in the darkest days’ for Norfolk families who…

More often than not, when we come across a classic Mini rebuilt to an impeccably high standard such as this, we discover its proud owner has had a lifelong association with these cars, numerous examples typically passing through their hands. Not this time though, as Jon Gunnell has only ever owned one Mini and it’s the car he drives today. “I’ve always had a soft spot for them,” he confesses, “but with starting a family at a young age, I thought owning a Mini would never happen.” In fairness, Jon did come close by choosing an Austin Metro as his first car, which offered the necessary practicalities of being able to squeeze a pushchair and the associated baby paraphernalia in the boot – just! Having already pretty much given up…

As we are now into the summer season and the weather is hopefully improving, most of us will have dusted off our Minis, they will be up and running and we will be enjoying them. But as the season gets underway, any niggles that developed during the laid up season plus the results of any work carried out during that period will begin to show. And a few new issues may start to show up as they tend to with all older cars. Now is the time to sort them, and for those that are not immediately rectifiable, plan the work for late autumn ready for next year. Summer is a good time to carry out work as warmer temperatures make working outside possible and a freezing cold garage won’t…

Tickford coachbuilders is a name that has been linked to luxury motors for generations, and Aston Martins in particular. Both companies originate from Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire and were merged in 1955. But by the early 1980s, Aston Martin decided to turn the Tickford branch into an engineering service subsidiary to develop and rework existing cars to a higher standard of finish and performance. Aston Martin Tickford soon carried out a number of backroom engineering and tuning projects in a brand new factory a few miles down the road. The Tickford Capri for Ford became the best known of these. But there were many more, ranging from developing the Jaguar XJ-S convertible’s roof mechanism to building a number of lavishly equipped long-wheelbase London Taxis for VIP transport. The Tickford Capri…

The notion of the sleeper has beguiled car enthusiasts for as long as the concept of modification itself. Whether it’s Prohibition-era moonshine runners in hopped-up sedans or mischievous spanner-jockeys lining up at Santa Pod, there’s something endlessly entertaining about the idea of an unassuming-looking car that’s able to move improbably quickly. And that was the thinking behind the rebuild and restoration of this month’s cover star: the City E was originally conceived as a frugal and sensible entity, but there’s a deliberate and considered silliness to Jon Gunnell’s example, with its hot 1380 and impressively upgraded chassis. Further hidden treasures can be found within the Morris Cooper S on p.12. This trad-looking Mk1 hides some truly ingenious engineering ideas, with a spicy 8-port engine running custom fuel injection. And if…

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – small grassroots car meets are often the most fun. There’s no ego, no showboating, just a bunch of like-minded enthusiasts getting together to appreciate each other’s cars and have a bit of a chinwag. One of our favourites is the Southside Hustle, a meet that’s been growing in popularity over the last few years; taking place on Wimbledon Common Southside on the first Sunday of every month, petrolheads meet around 8am and it’s generally all over by late morning – so (if you’re fairly local) you can get back home before anyone realises you were gone! It’s a chance to say hello to MiniWorld’s editor too – plus a whole bunch of others; the editors of Octane and The Road…

Multi-marque shows offer a lot of diversity, it’s baked into their very nature. And within the swirling maelstrom of unusualness that’s always found at Retro Rides events, it’s pleasing to see that there’s been a swelling Mini contingent in recent years; indeed, the 2024 Weekender was positively swarming with them. If you haven’t yet visited the Retro Rides Weekender, it’s one that you really ought to pencil onto your calendar for 2025. Running since 2018 at the picturesque and historic Goodwood Motor Circuit, this two-day event began as a southern offshoot to the long-standing Retro Rides Gathering, but has grown exponentially into a magnificent event all of its own. There’s an incredible amount to see, from hydro-hopping lowriders to period-perfect Modsports racers and much more besides, and the thing that…

Restoring a Mini to any real extent usually entails wholly or partly stripping the body and replacing panels. If certain omissions are made during reassembly the car will not drive as nicely. An example is the panels such as the door skins, rear quarters and the roof should have factory fitted sound deadening in the form of self-adhesive bituminous pads. Sometimes the roof had them too and sometimes felt. All were stuck to the insides of the panels. In addition, depending upon year of the Mini, felt was used under the carpets and behind the dash/on the bulkhead and from around 1980 on, a bituminous coat was applied to most of the floor. Some or all of this material will require removal in order to carry out restoration and/or panel…

So much of life is about contrast between good and evil, right and wrong, peace and violence; the poppies on the battlefield, the smiling assassin, the fight at the wedding. The flawlessly presented Mk1 you see here throws this perennial cosmic truth into sharp focus: it’s at once delicate and forceful, slender and muscular, a bullet with butterfly wings. The essence of the car resides within the way it’s been comprehensively reimagined by the craftspeople and experts at Swiftune. On the one hand, it’s a beautiful high-end restoration; on the other it’s encapsulating all of the knowledge they’ve earned and learned from developing and building consistently successful race Minis over many years. The panache of a Cooper S inside and out, with racing prowess smeared across the chassis and brimming…

MiniWorld was sad to learn of the recent passing of Terry Baker. Terry was instrumental in growing the much-admired Legendary Grand Tour into the successful and altruistic event it is today, raising a huge amount of money for charity, and being recognised by the Pride of Britain Awards for his efforts. 2024’s Legendary Grand Tour will be going ahead in Terry’s memory this August, with an evening dedicated to celebrating his life and charitable works. Further information can be found at www.smallcarsbighearts.co.uk…

2024 JUNE 22 Lucas Classic 2024 Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb www.thelucasclassic.com JULY 4 Mod ’n’ Mini Night Ace Café, London https://london.acecafe.com 7 Mega Mini Meet Lytham Hall, Lancs www.facebook.com/megaminimeetlytham 11-14 Goodwood Festival of Speed Goodwood House https://www.goodwood.com/motorsport/festival-of-speed/ 14 BMC & Leyland Show British Motor Museum, Gaydon www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk 27 PUPfest 2024 British Motor Museum, Gaydon www.minipickup.club 28 Cotswold Classic Mini Tour Fairford to Lechlade gary.haynes0509@hotmail.co.uk AUGUST 1 Mod ’n’ Mini Night Ace Café, London https://london.acecafe.com 3-4 Mini Festival Brands Hatch www.brandshatch.co.uk/2024 3-4 Fastest Mini in the World Brands Hatch www.fmitw.com 21-25 Mini Beer&Betzel Kembs, Alsace minibeerbretzel@gmail.com 23-25 The East Anglian Job Applewood Countryside Park, Norfolk http://www.nmoc.co.uk/east-anglian-job.html 23-25 Silverstone Festival Silverstone Motor Circuit www.silverstone.co.uk/events/silverstone-festival 31 - Sept 1 Fort Mahon Plage Mini Festival Côte d’Opale, France laurent.roussel62520@gmail.com SEPTEMBER 1 Minis by the Sea…

Like so many fans of the BMC Mini, Jim Stafford joined the ranks through family. It was his dad who lit the spark; wind back to the late-1990s and his father bought an Australian-assembled 1978 Leyland Mini S, as Jim puts it: “the Clubman-style one with the square front…” It was not in the best condition and Jim’s sister at the time conveniently had a boyfriend who set out on a restoration project that was so successful that, by the new millennium, it was scooping trophies wherever it went; Best Boot, Best Engine Bay, Best Interior, People’s Choice award, Best Car in Show, to name just a few. Jim was impressed. Who wouldn’t be? But until this earth-moving moment, Jim was hooked on locally-built General Motors Holdens – as so…

Today, a great many of us rebuild, will rebuild or have already rebuilt our Mini engines. This may be due to engine failure, part of a restoration or to upgrade the existing engine/increase the capacity - usually by fitting a 1275cc engine. But if we go back to the first three decades of the Mini, when most were everyday transport, a lot of those everyday Minis regularly had their engines rebuilt or replaced too. This was almost always down to wear; engine oil did not provide such good protection back then and most A-Series engines were getting to the point of being worn out by the time they had covered around 75,000 miles and many earlier than that. As a result, lots of Minis were fitted with factory reconditioned Gold…

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For Mini owners who like a full-on weekend of driving their Minis, mingling with fellow enthusiasts and plenty of entertainment, the Riviera Run is hard to beat. Expertly organised by Cornish Mini Club to raise money for local charities, this event was first run in 1995 and has taken place at Pentewan Sands Holiday Park since 2017. The brilliant holiday park has really nice static caravans to stay in and great camping facilities for folk who prefer to take a tent. It’s situated in a stunning seafront location and the showground is just behind the sand dunes. This year’s event was one of the best ever as there was so much to see and do over the bank holiday, with two days of Mini shows and an open car show…