A Brief Overview Of The History Of A Mini Classic Cars.USA

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The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered an icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout (that allowed 80% of the area of the car's floorpan to be used for passengers and luggage) influenced a generation of car-makers.The vehicle is in some ways considered the British equivalent to its German contemporary, the Volkswagen Beetle, which enjoyed similar popularity in North America. In 1999 the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th Century, behind the Ford Model T.

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This distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis. It was manufactured at the Longbridge and Cowley plants in England, the Victoria Park / Zetland British Motor Corporation (Australia) factory in Sydney, Australia, and later also in Spain (Authi), Belgium, Chile, Italy (Innocenti), Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yugoslavia. The Mini Mark I had three major UK updates: the Mark II, the Clubman and the Mark III. Within these was a series of variations including an estate car, a pickup truck, a van and the Mini Moke—a jeep-like buggy. The Mini Cooper and Cooper "S" were sportier versions that were successful as rally cars, winning the Monte Carlo Rally four times from 1964 through to 1967, although in 1966 the Mini was disqualified after the finish, along with six other British entrants, which included the first four cars to finish, under a questionable ruling that the cars had used an illegal combination of headlamps and spotlights. Initially Minis were marketed under the Austin and Morris names, as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini Minor, until Mini became a marque in its own right in 1969. The Mini was again marketed under the Austin name in the 1980s.

Design And development.Classic

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Designed as project ADO15 (Austin Drawing Office project number 15), the Mini came about because of a fuel shortage caused by the 1956 Suez Crisis. Petrol was once again rationed in the UK, sales of large cars slumped, the market for German Bubble cars boomed. Leonard Lord, the somewhat autocratic head of BMC, reportedly decreed: 'God damn these bloody awful Bubble Cars. We must drive them off the road by designing a proper miniature car'. He laid down some basic design requirements: the car should be contained within a box that measured 10 × 4 × 4 ft (3 × 1.2 × 1.2 m); and the passenger accommodation should occupy 6 ft (1.8 m) of the 10 ft (3 m) length; and the engine, for reasons of cost, should be an existing unit. Issigonis, who had been working for Alvis, had been recruited back to BMC in 1955 and, with his skills in designing small cars, was a natural for the task. The team that designed the Mini was remarkably small: as well as Issigonis, there was Jack Daniels (who had worked with him on the Morris Minor), Chris Kingham (who had been with him at Alvis), two engineering students and four draughtsmen. Together, by October 1957, they had designed and built the original prototype, which was affectionately named "The Orange Box" because of its colour.

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The ADO15 used a conventional BMC A-Series four-cylinder water-cooled engine, but departed from tradition by mounting it transversely, with the engine-oil-lubricated, four-speed transmission in the sump, and by employing front-wheel drive. Almost all small front-wheel-drive cars developed since have used a similar configuration, except with the transmission usually separately enclosed rather than using the engine oil. The radiator was mounted at the left side of the car so that the engine-mounted fan could be retained, but with reversed pitch so that it blew air into the natural low pressure area under the front wing. This location saved precious vehicle length, but had the disadvantage of feeding the radiator with air that had been heated by passing over the engine. It also exposed the entire ignition system to the direct ingress of rainwater through the grille.

MAINE classic

Boothbay Railway Village
Route 27, P.O. Box 123
Boothbay, ME 04537
Features: What began as a village restoration has morphed into an eclectic collection of transportation memorabilia and village history. The car collection includes such attractions as a circa 1830 one-horse shay, an 1860 carriage built in Farmington, ME, an 1897 Haynes-Apperson Surrey, a 1904 curved dahboard Oldsmobile, a 1923 Ford Model T depot hack, a 1926 Franklin Victoria sport touring car, a 1929 Packard Model 640 limousine, a 1939 Lincoln Zephyr 12 cylinder, a 1941 Willys Americar Speedway Sedan and a 1962 Rolls Royce.

Cole Land Transportation Museum
405 Perry Road
Bangor ME 04401
(207) 990-3600
Features: This is a repository of vehicles and memorabilia that chronicle all areas of transportation in Maine's history. That includes a collection of more than 2,000 photographs, the largest display of snow removal equipment under one roof in America, and 10 fire trucks ranging from a 1910 hand tub to a 1948 Ahrens Fox.

Jay Hill Auto Museum
Route 4, Jay Hill
Jay , ME 04239
(207) 897-5257
Features: (No Web site.) Small exhibit of antique vehicles.

Owls Head Transportation Museum
Route 73 adjacent Knox County Airport
Owls Head, ME
(207) 594-4418
Features: The facility deals with more than 100 historic aircraft, automobiles, bicycles, carriages and engines on permanent display. The aircraft collection contains replicas and originals representing the first century of flight, from Cayley’s unmanned glider (1804) to the legendary Curtiss Jenny of the barnstorming era. The auto collection spans the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and includes the 1963 Prototype Mustang and a 1935 Stout Scarab, called the world’s first mini-van. Only six were made.

Seal Cove Auto Museum
PO Box 190
Pretty Marsh Road
Camden, ME 04843
(207) 244-9242
Features: One of the largest, if not the largest, collections of brass cars, containing more than 100 rare autos -- such as the 1907 Chadwick seen here -- and about 30 antique motorcycles.

Skyline Farm Carriage Museum
95 The Lane
North Yarmouth, ME 04097
(207) -829-9908
Features: Housed in one of Maine's first indoor riding rings, the horse-drawn carriages and sleighs represent the types of vehicles used for personal tranportation prior to the 1920s.

Stanley Museum
40 School Street
P.O. Box 77
Kingfield, ME04947
(207) 265-2729
Features: This is a sister entity to the Stanley in Estes Park, CO, established in 1981 and located in the Georgian-style Stanley School built in 1903. Kingfield is the birthplace of the Stanleys — important to note because the steam car for which they're most often remembered was built in Watertown, MA. The Museum commemorates and preserves the heritage of the Stanley family that created the famous Stanley Steamer automobile. The exhibits cover all facets of Stanley family history and memorabilia — airbrush painting and photography, violins and examples of Stanley steam cars from 1905, 1910, and 1916.

Wells Auto Museum
Route 1
Wells, ME
(207) 646-9064
Features: More than 80 cars covering 1900-1963. Some of the gems are a 1963 Studebaker Avanti, a 1949 Cadillac Fleetwood, and a 1907 Stanley Steamer. Also, a collection of nickelodeons, antique arcade games, license plates and toys.

Classic Cars Gallery Pictures Video and Information .USA

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Some are very inclusive, To examine the largest car to be a classic. Others, including the Classic Car Club of America maintain that 1959 is the last year for a car to be a classic.
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The History Of The Mini Cooper Classic Cars .USA

Sir Alec Issigonis' original Mini of 1959 set new standards in design and engineering. Issigonis produced his masterpiece as an answer to the European fuel crisis of the late 1950s. Issigonis was challenged to produce a car four feet wide by four feet high and 10 feet long that would seat four adults in comfort and take their luggage to boot.

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An automotive icon, his design lasted decades in virtually original form. His revolutionary concept of a transverse engine with submounted transmission allowed compact external dimensions with maximum interior space. Combining economical transport, character and fun, Mini became a car for everyone, from celebrity to the everyday person in the street

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The front‑wheel drive, wheel‑at-each‑corner design was not only space-efficient, but was soon to prove extremely roadworthy. In 1961, the Mini Cooper, engineered by race car constructor the late John Cooper, was launched. This car set new motor sport standards and took triple Monte Carlo rally wins between 1964 and 1967 amongst a host of competitive titles. The Cooper name has been closely associated with performance Minis ever since and appropriately the MINI Cooper, was the first car in the new MINI range to be unveiled.

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As Mini gained its extra power it combined its inherent personality with a great driving experience for any motorist. The car became Britain’s best-ever selling vehicle with over 5.3 million produced. The first Morris Mini-Minor was made in Oxford, the home of the new MINI and Minis have been made in Europe, South America and Australia.

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Mini, a household name in Europe, was sold in the U.S. between 1960 and 1967, and around 10,000 cars were sold in that time. Over thirty years later, some 12000 cars are on U.S. roads today. (maybe they breed). At the end of its production life in 2000, 5.3 million Minis had been produced and the car was voted ‘European Car of the Century’ by a panel of 130 international journalists.

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The MINI Cooper is a modern development of this genuine classic. Building on the classic Mini styling cues, it offers the very latest technology, and is one of the most advanced cars of its size in the world. Designed for handling and performance, great looks and safety, the MINI Cooper, is a real motoring enthusiasts car. Like the original, the new MINI is designed to appeal to all drivers regardless of age or gender. Such is the interest in the new MINI that there were fan‑based U.S. websites for the car well before it hit the streets.

History Of Mini Cooper Classic Cars in the United States.USA

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The MINI brand is reintroduced to the U.S. in 2002. The Classic MINI was sold in the U.S. from 1960-1967. The Classic Mini was withdrawn from sale in 1967 with the introduction of new emissions regulations. Approximately 10,000 Classic Minis were sold in this period and 12,000 Minis are on U.S. roads today. Mini Owners’ Clubs exist throughout North America.

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The MINI Cooper made its U.S. debut at the North American International Auto Show in January 2001. The exhilarating 115 horsepower MINI Cooper will go on sale in spring 2002 and the even more powerful 163 horsepower MINI Cooper S will follow shortly after. Prices will begin below $18,000. Some 20,000 units per year are scheduled to reach U.S. shores and the cars will be sold through approximately 70 dealers.

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There is no other car like the MINI Cooper in the U.S. marketplace: MINI Cooper's size, quality, engineering, and distinctive design gives the car a unique position. MINI is creating a completely new market in the U.S., the small, premium car sector.

The new MINI Cooper is the first all-new product from the MINI brand since its inception in 1959. The 11' 10" Cooper features the latest in BMW Group engineering and safety technology such as six airbags, all‑round disc brakes as standard, and features such as Dynamic Stability Control and Electronic Brake Distribution are available as options.

Adolescent classic

Vivid, block colours on cars are perennially inflicted upon us by most car makers. The Italians seem particularly at ease with dousing anything from their outlandish Lamborghini Murcielago, to their chic Fiat 500 with paints described as ‘Fluorescent Green’ or ‘Tropicalia Yellow.’ In Great Britain, such gregarious displays of colour are now mainly confined to cars like the Ford Focus ST (btw how would Ford badge an ST Diesel variant?) which of course is available in, among other questionable colours, ‘Electric Orange’. Irresponsible use of colour peaked; it seems for us British, during the 1970’s. British Leyland were splashing all kinds of nonsense across our motor cars and seemingly no hue was spared the spray booth; giving us mimosa yellow, blaze orange and even cosmic blue. But whatever happened to the vinyl covered roof? No dubious paint option of the era was ever complete without a resplendent piece of mottled vinyl to cap it off. Examples of this practice include Triumph’s Dolomite Sprint and Jaguar’s XJ Coupes. I’ve never thought of vinyl as an engineering or even cosmetic necessity on the exterior of a car, since the vinyl is stuck to a roof that is already doing quite a good job of covering the top side of the vehicle. However, I’ve read that Jaguar used it on their XJ Coupe’s to cover rough weld markings, but that sounds rather suspect to me. More likely they thought it looked stylish, but as with any fashion device, perspective can be a harsh critic and I imagine people now either love or loath their vinyl roofs, but it still doesn’t explain their permanent extinction...or does it?

Style over substance, vinyl roofs and garish colours leads me straight into my next car, of which I was a passive occupant for nearly a decade. A 1981 Morris Ital. It looked as though it had been dipped in cheap custard, before having a black bin liner steam transferred to its upper portions. Friends, relatives and sometimes complete strangers would often remark on our whereabouts weeks after the event, so conspicuous was our ride. And it wasn’t just the looks (if anyone has a photo of one in yellow with vinyl roof I would love to see it), it also had a droning engine / exhaust note that was quite unlike anything else I’ve ever heard, possibly because even by 1984, the technology was so outdated, there was nothing left on the roads to compare it to.

The most memorable event in our Ital, was a collision with one of those shiny milk lorries on our way to Pevensey Bay in 1985. Approaching a Give Way junction that admittedly looked like a roundabout, my dad mistakenly thought it was his right of way. He was wrong. Ignoring the oncoming tanker and continuing on, the Morris Ital suffered the indignity of being rammed in the front passenger door at some speed. I remember the tubby milkman jumping from his cab with remarkable deftness and being very nice to us all in the aftermath. The Ital took the punishment like the tank it was and only needed a new front door and a bit of paint. It didn’t even stop us from continuing our journey to the campsite and apart from being a little shook up and a few tears out of my younger brother, we were all fine.

My parents had chosen a school virtually outside our catchment area, so the 4.5 miles to ‘middle school’ were undertaken in the Ital, I don’t think there were any direct busses, suffice to say that none of my class mates had ever heard of the village I was from. Mum with two other mums with children spilt the school run. We had the worst car by some margin (the other two cars were a mark 2 XR2 and a Mazda 626). It didn’t help that one of the other kids we drove to school with thought he knew everything worth knowing about cars, as his dad was involved in some form of motor sport and always drove around in a brand new Vauxhall Senator. This lad was constantly telling us how shit our car was and how his dad could perform high speed handbrake turns; this claim seemed particularly enviable at the time. By the late 1980’s I would exit the school gates cringing at the sight of the Ital and wishing that at the very least, it could have been painted in something less yellow, which is so typical of an adolescents ungratefulness isn’t it. My Dads cars have always been worse than my mums and his two car purchases during the late eighties didn’t help matters. They were (in order) a mark 1 Vauxhall Cavalier, which had the most pristine bodywork but died of terminal engine failure in a matter of months and its replacement, a Datsun cherry estate, which lasted a couple more years. The Datsun had the most amazingly sweet engine, but the bodywork of a Lada bathed in acid. Its colour? Yellow, but only where it wasn’t brown and flaky from the rust. It failed its MOT test when the tester could put his hand through one of the holes in the bodywork. To this day that car is my dads personal favourite.

Briefly back to the Ital then, a car which holds many happy memories that doesn’t include why or exactly when we got rid of it. Perhaps I have blocked it out as a painful recollection. Or maybe it’s because the memory of the day we got our next car is emblazoned. Our Nissan Primera ushered our family into the truly modern age of motoring, the car and its magnificence I will explain in a later blog. In comparison to the Ital it felt like taking a ride in an alien spaceship and it comes as little surprise that the Morris Ital was voted the second worst British car ever in a poll in 2008. Some cars are ahead of their time and some cars are just behind it.

The Primera Years.Classic

The Primera years started with the end of the Morris Itals. It never actually stopped working, which with hindsight seems quite impressive after ten years active service. It had just got to the point when much newer cars suddenly became affordable, although the decision to get rid wasn’t entirely down to economics. Mum had been moaning for ages about how fed up she was with the effort it took to park the thing and to be fair you did need super human strength to manoeuvre it at low speeds. However the real kiss of death for our Ital was her experience behind the wheel of a brand new Saab 9000 Turbo, borrowed off my dads boss whilst he went on holiday. The Saab had been immediately requisitioned for the school run and dad wasn’t back in the drivers seat until the following Monday when he got to drive it back to work. Thanks goes to Neil from RBS Croydon, who was blissfully unaware his company car was used as a taxi service for one week back in 1994. Climbing back into the Ital after getting used to all that Swedish sophistication was a genuine shock for all concerned and it had mum and dad hurrying down to Wilson's in Epsom to marvel over what the world of motor car manufacturing had produced in the decade since their last major car purchase. It wasn’t long before a fine Nissan Primera was selected.

We thought it beautiful. A maroon, four door hatchback, two litre, 16 valve automatic had entered our lives. What a car and what a motoring revelation. These days a high degree of reliability is not just expected, it is assumed. Compared to the Morris Ital and its ancient engine technology the Primera seemed to be powered by something beyond mere internal combustion. Not until its immobiliser started playing up in 2002 did it once fail to start first time. It felt so futuristic to sit in too, the wonders of injection moulding gave the Primera a snug, textured interior in grey and black plastic, the dash integrating into the doors. We revelled in the warming fuzzy material of the seats which felt so luxurious compared to the Itals cold vinyl. Add to this the electric windows in the front, a tape player that actually worked and a heater that could defrost the car even when buried in a snow drift and we were smitten.

It was the family workhorse that ferried us all over the country for eight years and it did us proud. We never went abroad on holiday as my younger brother had terrible asthma as a child and needed to be within a short drive of an A&E. Mum also had claustrophobia, so planes were out of the question, plus we had sod all cash. So during our teenage years we mainly went camping and this brings me to the most amazing facet of the Primera. I challenge anyone to produce a car that in relation to its external dimensions, has more internal luggage space. It is quite extraordinary what you can fit in a Primera and we had no trouble fitting all kinds of camping equipment into its cavernous boot. If you don't believe me, buy one off eBay and see if you can’t fit everything you own into the back of one, especially with the back seats down. Mums Primera lasted until late 2002. We took H678 FBB back to Wilson's to trade her in for a newer Nissan due to the intermittent immobiliser fault. Mum was most put out when they would only offer £500 for her in part exchange and on asking why so little, they tried as tactfully as possible to suggest that with 196,000 miles on the clock, they considered it a reasonably high mileage vehicle. The visual assessment was equally as damning, revealing at least one dent in every panel, the cost of rectification they said, outweighed the value of the car.

When I met my wife years later, she also drove a Primera. A 1.6 litre manual in black, with Nissan alloy wheels and a big noisy exhaust. It was a Primera with a very different character to my family car and yet my wife and I loved it until the day we blew its head gasket coming off the M61. Being my wife's first car, she felt the need to personalise and 'upgrade' the interior, which of course meant adorning it with animal print seat covers and massive pink fluffy cushions, all of dubious taste. At the time we could only afford to run one car and 'Princess' (that was our black Primera, not my wife) was what we used for the daily commute. I was briefly the shipping manager of a commercial importer in Cheatham Hill, Manchester and I remember with a mixture of embarrassment and pride my first day. Arriving late I had to drive past the warehouse lads, who were outside having a smoke. Princess, with her pink cushions and zany cow print seats were in full view. It’s fair to say they laughed their socks off and as a result I was shown very little respect from them during my time there. I didn’t mind as it was a fabulous car to drive, the stubby gear stick with its short throw produced satisfying gear changes and it handled beautifully. It also accelerated off the line very swiftly, but only nought to thirty. Anything of greater speed took an age, which was perfect for my wife, who loved driving fast but who was a rubbish driver at the time. Princess ended her days banger racing. We found out that she lasted just the one corner, being shunted from behind and on losing control received a terminal crunch into the tire wall.

To the original Nissan Primera then, a quietly British built car introduced in 1990. Despite denting very easily, it was in my opinion, streets ahead of the competition in terms of price, reliability and practicality. Ford took another three years to launch their Mondeo and that was more expensive, far less fun to drive and had far less internal space. Writing this has made me want to get another Primera. Maybe I will. So what is next you may ask? Before I get started on some of the other cars in my life, my next couple of blog posts will be on the nature of the classic car obsession itself and some of the consequences involved in its pursuit.

Mini Obsessions - Part 3, London to Brighton Mini Run!!Classic

I think my wife Leesa is unusual in thinking real mini’s look a bit ridiculous. Leesa’s a fashion designer who prefers her cars low and wide, like Jaguar’s XJS. She gets the whole ‘mini thing’, but also believes most people look silly driving them, whereas most girls seem to love the mini’s aesthetics if not the actual experience of being transported in one. After spending a whole weekend in the Cooper for the 50th London to Brighton Mini run last summer, Leesa decided it was the most uncomfortable, noisy, rusty, rubbish car she had ever been in. Fair play; anyone who has owned a mini can relate to at least one of those adjectives and yet she loved the experience. Leesa was also good enough to design and print some special ‘the Italian Job’ T-shirts for us, we knew the film was being shown on the Saturday night and she made sure we all had our own individual photographic stills and quotations from the original 1969 classic. It was quite hard choosing lines that were both funny and personal. Of course we wanted to choose dialogue that was slightly more obscure, so people would clearly understand how much we loved this film and de facto the Mini. Despite feeling very cool in our bespoke t-shirts we also felt we had missed a commercial trick when we arrived at Crystal Palace and saw people lining up and handing over large sums of cash to purchase very boring looking t-shirts that weren’t half as good as our Leesa’s.Our Mini Cooper (called Pickle due to the number plate ending PKL) is a 1996 1275 cc multi point injection version, which didnt impress my wife (as detailed already) or my mechanic, who says a carburettor set up allows much smoother running and that Rover / BMW never developed the fuel injection properly in the first place. (An opinion I have no reason to doubt coming as it does from a man who recently rebuilt a Honda Type R engine in his spare time). However my reasoning for purchasing a 1996 model mini, was that it had the last major update before it went out of production (e.g. MPI, airbag, side impact bars, new seats) and was a ‘real’ cooper and therefore should hold some sort of value. My wife knows good value when she sees it and when she saw it for the first time, with its faded charcoal paint, its rusty front end, its bubbly doors, dented roof and filthy seats, she immediately knew I had over spent. We did what we could to make Pickle more presentable, my brother and I spending the best part of the weekend before the L2B run cleaning the car (neither of us can do anything mechanical). My mechanic also took off me the cash equivalent of a further 25% of the Minis purchase price, in order to get it ready for its first big trip out. Leesa’s scepticism over my choice of mini prior to the trip was whole heartedly confirmed once we she saw the other minis and realised how boringly common and unkempt our standard cooper was by comparison. Why hadn’t we bought a 1100 or a Mary Quant special, or just made ours different in some way?! The customisation people achieve with their Minis is truly awesome and the event did initially make us feel like big fat frauds bringing along as we had a Mini that– despite all the polishing- had so obviously received such little recent care or attention. Having said that, everyone we spoke to was very polite about mini pickle.

The London to Brighton run itself was fantastic and amazingly well organised by the London and Surrey Mini Owners Club. As the light faded on Saturday evening, we all watched the 1969 original ‘The Italian Job’ on the biggest screen I have ever seen, the whole crowd shouting out the famous lines “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” as we sat in the very spot the scene was filmed. An evening we will never forget. We won’t forget the next morning either.
It was our first time doing the L2B run, so we were unaware of the four o’clock start and having slept for approximately twelve minutes, we were awoken in our tents by the bark of angry A-series engines. After fumbling for torches and unzipping sleeping bags, we established that we weren’t about to be run over in our beds (there were men in high-vis jackets keeping things in check), it was just the more experienced Mini drivers getting their ‘wheels in-line’ for an early exit out of Crystal Palace later that morning. Despite the sleep deprivation and the hasty tent packing in the dark and rain (to make way for yet another line of minis), this was fun and exciting. The two hour queue on the way out was less so. It was mainly due to the logistical nightmare of arranging a world record attempt for the longest unbroken and moving line of Minis ever. We were all quite proud to have been part of this and were all very pleased when it was confirmed that the previous record had been smashed by an extra 500 Minis, the new record now stands at 1450 Minis in total. However, by the time we had crawled out of the Palace grounds, to sit in the London traffic, all four occupants of Mini Pickle were in dire need of the toilet. My brother Alastair who did the driving on the day admitted recently that he nearly did relieve himself where he sat, the pain being that excruciating. I’m obviously very glad he resisted. With the traffic at a standstill and no public conveniences in sight, we resolved the toilet issue by turning into a suburban side road, where we found a line of garages with a nicely overgrown hedge and in the middle of South-West London and in broad daylight, took it in turns to relieve ourselves. Not our proudest moment, but we were desperate and punishment was duly meted out in any case....as we got back into Pickle we realised a swarm of green fly had attached itself to our heads and clothing, this caused a two minute screaming session as we fought off the attack, squishing and swotting the little buggers as they launched themselves from surface to surface. Carnage quickly over and with a suspicious looking interior colour change, we were back on the road.
It took forever to get to Brighton, but the peculiar sense of British madness and mayhem along the route and the camaraderie shared across the CB radios was fantastic. Edel and myself had both bought CBs at the Birmingham mini event, but at the last minute Edel managed to lose her CB radio. I still don’t know how anyone can lose a four foot aerial. It gave our mini passengers the opportunity to speak to complete randomers across the airwaves which was very entertaining. Petrol stations on route looked quite bizarre with only minis queuing up for petrol, air and sweets. On the way down Theo and Pickle took it in turns to lead, we passed each other on a few occasions just to get some photos. On arrival in Brighton I recognised one of the organisers directing traffic down to the sea front as the ex-boyfriend of my ex-girlfriends ex-best friend (yes, a whole bunch of relationships that haven’t stood the test of time). Shouting his name from the passenger window (“Mike!”) in a friendly manner was a little embarrassing for me when I saw it had caused complete bemusement on his part, the momentary scan of my face revealed the worried look of a man thinking ‘why does this stranger know my name?’ I’m not the most memorable of people, but I had met Mike on many occasions. I’ve had dinner round his house and even did an army assault course for charity with him and his mates. It was quite entertaining for everyone else in our Mini that I looked like a stalker. If Mike’s helping out again this year, I really should go and re-introduce myself, but I will probably end up spontaneously shouting out his name as we again drive by, giving him an unsettling déjà-vu moment, that I will again have good cause to feel embarrassed about.
If you like minis then get yourself down to Brighton on the 16th May. Last year it took us nearly an hour to run out of minis as we walked from one end of the sea front to the other (towards the fish and chip shop end) and the sight and sounds of so many minis is intoxicating. Last year Paddy Hopkirk was the guest of honour. Paddy, the legend that he is, presented the grand prize winner of the raffle with a beaming smile and the keys to a shiny mid 90’s Mini Cooper. Yes, inevitably, it was charcoal grey cooper with a white roof...! The nice lady that won it got all emotional and as the tears of joy weld up in her eyes, you could see the crowds collective disappointment turn to stout approval, the mini clearly going to someone that appreciated it. Both Theo and Pickle will be attending this years mini run and if you anyone reading this is going, it would be very nice to make your acquaintance.
I will leave you with some of our ‘the Italian Job’ t-shirt quotes, although they don’t make for a synopsis of the film, I do think they rather encapsulate the humour. Enjoy:
“Out of jail five minutes and already I'm in a hot car” (referring to the Pakistani Ambassadors Daimler Majestic Major)

Beautiful 1956 Chevy 210 Old School Hot Rod 2011

This beautiful 1956 Chevrolet 210 was built the way it was done in the 1960s. Features include solid, all steel body panels. Gorgeous Roman Red base color with White and Yellow flames, and tasteful Blue pinstriping. The original, functional tail light fuel fill is still in place. Fit and gaps on doors, hood, and trunk is excellent. Exterior finish is smooth and mirror gloss. The glass all the way around is crystal clear and in excellent shape. The chrome and stainless trim is in very good shape. Blue Dot tail lights. American Racing highly polished wheels with new radial tires.Show quality engine and engine bay. 283 Cu. In. engine. Rochester Quadra- Jet four barrel carburetor. Vintage Weiand aluminum intake manifold. Iskenderian mild hydraulic cam and valve train. Delco Remy transistorized ignition. Holley polished aluminum valve covers. Hedman headers with dual aluminized Dyno Max exhaust. Heavy duty radiator with cooling fan. Harwood overflow tank. Automatic transmission. Ten bolt rear differential. Frame is painted Red. Floors and suspension are finished in gloss black. Blue undercarriage lighting. Coil over shocks on all four corners. Moon traction bars. Manual steering and manual brakes. New fuel tank and lines.

Maroon tweed interior. Dash is completely refinished in Roman Red. Seats, headliner, carpet, door panels, etc. in excellent condition. Vintage Sun Super Tach. Sun oil, water, and volt gauges. Leather wrapped steering wheel. Hurst Pro Matic shifter with custom Billet Bowtie shift handle. AM/FM/CD with Pioneer Bass Reflex 3 way speaker system. Trunk is finished for show display. Trimmed out in carpeted and tweed panels. Custom leather spare tire cover. Rear mounted battery.

The appeal of this Street Machine is not limited to Old School enthusiasts. Anybody that is a Tri- Five fan, wants a great looking, dependable cruiser, or is looking forward to attending car shows and collecting trophies, will enjoy this car.

This could be the most shapely car ever built 2011

This is a case of split identity: two prototype cars wore the same gorgeous body designed by the great Italian design firm Pininfarina in 1968-1969. First was
Pininfarina Ferrari 250 Prototipo P5, shown in Geneva in 1968; the second -
Pininfarina Alfa Romeo 33 Coupe Prototipo Speciale made for the Paris show in 1969

Treat your eyes to the slim and sensual forms the likes of which has not graced the highways since.. well, 1969. Certainly we can not complain if Pininfarina's design virtuosos used it on more than one prototype car.
(Images credit: AllSportAuto)










If you have pictures of the Ferrari prototype, presented a year earlier in 1968, send them in. It would be fun to compare the twins.





Other prototype for Ferrari made by Pininfarina in the same time period: