Description
I have for sale my 'R1 Manx', Yamaha R1 motorbike engined mini track car, which is a 90% finished project.
It was originally a 1990 Mini Cooper (now fitted with a Clubman front and re-painted in a custom livery), that I have owned since 2001. In 2008 I took it off the road to restore the chassis and rectify any rust issues, and to convert it into a bike engined mini track car, after purchasing a 3k mile 2003 fuel injected Yamaha R1 engine (150 bhp approx) from 'Yorkshire engines', who are a reputable breaker of motorcycle engines and parts.
Over the next 3 years, an engineering friend of mine and I spent hundreds of hours designing a custom drivetrain, engine cradle and exhaust system, plus many other bespoke parts. Aside from amount of hours that have gone in, I have approximately 10k in receipts from the project.
Unfortunately, we never managed to get the mini working reliably and the main problem I've had is the drivetrain/ diff setup binding when it's hot after running the car for 20-30 mins.
Furthermore, the car has no reverse gear, so if you wanted to register the car for roads on the UK, the engine frame and wiring would need to be modified to accept a starter motor setup that can drive the main drive sprocket in reverse.
Features:
Brakes - 4 pot brake calipers at the front, lightweight superfins at the rear,
Suspension - hi lo adjustable trumpets, standard rubber cones, pro-tech adjustable dampers front and rear.
Chassis/ interior - bespoke fuel tank, carbon fibre boot floor and door cards, flocked fibreglass 2 piece dash, perspex side and rear windows, bucket seats, Schroth harnesses, Yamaha R1 digital clocks, speedo healer, gearshift indicator, carbon fibre parcel shelf, lightweight aluminium 'streetfighter' door skins and a mini clubman fibreglass flip front, fitted with aerocatch and dzus fasteners.
Paintwork: The special black, white and yellow livery on the car is based on the 1978 Kenny Roberts Yamaha racing colours, featuring the classic 'speed block' design that featured on the Yamaha MotoGP bikes of that era (* If you're a fan of motorcycling you'll know exactly what I mean). The design is all paintwork, including the 'R1 Manx' logo, with no stickers on the car.
Bad points/ issues:
Paint/ Bodywork - The car has done very few miles since being built, with only a few track days and is dry stored when not being used. The only issue on the bodywork is at the rear valance where it's showing slight bubbling on the paint where the seam was welded. Apart from that it's a rust free mini. There's a few slight cracks in the fibreglass bonnet as it flexes at high speed. My plan was to buy a carbon fibre bonnet to replace it as it will provide more rigidity.
Suspension - The car will need a fresh laser alignment doing as i've had bits off and on the car over the last year so the tracking/ camber/ toe will be way out and require setting up.
Engine/ transmission: The engine and gearbox are spot on but there is a slight coolant leak from the system and I'm pretty sure it's just a seal that has perished since the car has been stored for so long.
Wiring: The speedo healer needs setting up properly as i've only recently installed it. This is used so that the R1 digi dash shows the correct speed in mph, as the mini is running on 12 inch wheels. I also had an issue with the battery draining quickly when the car was not being used and a local auto electrician thinks it is a faulty starter relay, but this will need to be sorted properly and it's currently set up to be hot wired for starting so that we could try and isolate the draining issue.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, I am based on the Isle of Man so you would need to bring a trailer to collect the mini, if coming from the mainland UK or beyond.
Price: £6385. 00 (no offers)This mini was my first ever car at 17 years of age and I enjoyed many years of driving and looking after what was then an original 1990 Mini Cooper. The car today is a complete transformation of the original (my project was branded as "sacrilege" by a local mini club member) and certainly no longer looks like the original Mini powered by its 'A' series engine, but the chassis is still that very car that I have cherished for over 20 years!
So why I am selling the 'R1 Manx'? The mini has been in dry storage now for several years as I have been undertaking a 6 year restoration on a Lancia Delta that has gone way over budget, as these things so often do, so I simply can't afford to fix the mini and get it back on the road. I feel that with £2-3k of a skilled engineer's time and resources, the issues with the drivetrain can be rectified and it can be made into a reliable and fun track weapon.
It's a great looking car and attracts a lot of attention as you can imagine and it's a real buzz to drive when it works and the bike engine sounds wonderful at the top end! If you're looking for a truly unique looking classic mini, where the majority of the work has already been done, then this is the one for you.
* I have an extensive folder of receipts that will come with the car that detail all aspects of the 'R1 Manx' build.
