Description
Kelham Hall | Newark, Nottinghamshire Viewing: Tues 22nd September 2026 from 12pm Auction: Weds 23rd September 2026 12pm Location: Kelham Hall Main Street, Newark, Nottinghamshire NG23 5QX Registration No: Un-Registered (formerly P245 WFH) Chassis No: SAXBMHC97A1100101 MOT: None One of the final two Works-prepared competition Minis Features six-speed gearbox, limited slip differential, ventilated front brake discs, four-*** brake calipers, dash-adjustable brake bias, data logging instruments, and much more! Initially prepared for the 1996 Nürburgring 24 Hour Race, achieving second in class, driven by Michael Hess, Thomas Beyer, Mark Hales, and Joachim Weber Thereafter reconfigured by Enterprise and fitted with a 1, 293cc Swiftune S engine before being road registered by British Motor Heritage and entered for the 1997 Monte Carlo Rally Part of the Ronald White Collection since 2009 Accompanied by a large history file, including extensive coverage of the car’s provenance By the time the production line at Longbridge finally closed in 2000, more than 5, 000, 000 Minis had been built. Alec Issigonis’s purest design reimagined the small car, this masterpiece of packaging making best use of its tiny—just over 10ft.—length to seat four adults. Revolutionary features such as the gearbox tucked under the transverse engine, tiny 10in. wheels and innovative architecture—putting the body seams on the outside—made use of every cubic inch of volume. Though its original proposed engine size of 948cc had been downgraded to 848cc before launch, so as not to embarrass more expensive BMC cars, its sparkling handling soon attracted the tuners, including John Cooper, whose hotted-up Mini attracted the attentions of BMC and Issigonis. From 1961, the factory offered the Cooper as a regular production model, with the still more powerful Cooper S available from 1963. Soon, as well as being driven by royalty, Minis were practically unbeatable in rallies. By 1964, the Cooper had grown to its definitive 1, 275cc incarnation. The Mini grew up, of course. Rebranded Rover in 1989, in 1996 it gained fuel injection, a driver’s airbag and the radiator moved around to the front. The iconic Cooper reappeared in 1990, and was offered again as a factory model from September of that year. Buyers were kept busy with an extensive options list with which to personalise their cars. When enthusiasts talk about works Mini Coopers, they are usually thinking of ‘33 EJB’ and its sister cars which, between them, achieved three official outright victories in the Monte Carlo Rally between 1964 and 1967, to say nothing of the model’s numerous outright victories in the British, European and Finnish Rally Championships, and the British, European and Australian Saloon/ Touring Car Championships, across the 1960s. The works’ involvement with Mini racing did not end with the demise of the original Coopers. It was revived when the Cooper made its glorious comeback in the ’90s. Although they did not recreate the Mini’s earlier successes, the new racers were worthy successors to their 1960s forebears, and ‘P245 WFH’ represents an extremely significant development in Mini history, being one of the last two competition Minis developed by the works (possibly the very last). Setting Rover back some £36, 750 plus VAT each to prepare, they were probably also the most expensive. Our car was originally prepared by Enterprise Racing of Oldbury with an engine by Bill Richards Racing, on behalf of Rover’s British Motor Heritage division, the first registered keeper. In its Almond Green paint, the historic racing livery of the Cooper Car Company, it was despatched to the ADAC Nürburgring 24 Hours, where it finished 89th overall and an impressive second in class, piloted by Michael Hess, Thomas Beyer, Mark Hales and Joachim Weber. Things were even better in the 1996 ADAC Nürburgring Six Hours, when Weber, Hess and Beyer drove to victory in the Group A 1, 400cc class. In late November, 1996, the two cars were completely overhauled and prepared for rallying, gaining a new look in the traditional Red of the old BMC rally cars. While the sister car was built to Group N specification, our car was to compete in Group A. Enterprise again did the bulk of the work, though the 1, 293cc S-specification engine with twin-point injection was specially prepared by Swiftune. Further specification included an almost-unique Tran-X six-speed gearbox, a limited-slip differential, 3. 9:1 final drive, ventilated front brake discs with four-*** callipers, finned rear brake drums, a hydraulic handbrake, dash-adjustable brake bias control, fully rose-jointed suspension with front and rear adjustable anti-roll bars, and a lightweight Max Mosan wiring loom. The body shell was lightened and strengthened, gaining a welded-in Tarcal roll cage made from T45 steel tubing, to include the rear damper turrets and front bulkhead, and the front and rear subframes were also modified and strengthened. The interior is...
