Description
The following is the description of the car when I purchased it in May 2023. "Classic Austin Mini historic rally car. First registered 3rd May 1968. Taxation class is historic vehicle, road tax and MOT exempt. Last recorded MOT expired 24 February 2012. V5C present. Originally rally prepared then modified for sprint and speed hill climbs. Believe re-shelled or altered with Clubman front at some point. The car was a class winner in the 2004 Paul Matty Classic Hillclimb Championship and came fourth in class in the 2005 series. Unused until 2007 when it was purchased by the previous owner. Converted back to rally specification and entered in historic rallies until around 2011. Some online documentation from that period includes on-stage YouTube video competing on 2011 Stockton and District MC Rallye177. Purchased by current owner in 2011 and laid-up in dry storage since then.
All steel shell with fibreglass boot lid. Fuel and brake lines inside. Six point Safety Devices cage with fixed diagonal. Group 5 type arches. 'Scottish' type sump guard. Foam filled alloy fuel tank. Cobra Monaco FIA seats (not in date and driver's seat fabric is ripped) Sabelt 4 point 3" harnesses (not in date) Smiths 8000 rpm rev counter, mechanical oil pressure and water temperature gauges. Brantz 2 trip-meter. Fully plumbed-in 3 litre fire extinguisher. (requires service) 7. 5" S front discs/ shafts. Adjustable reinforced tie bars. Negative camber bottom arms. Rear drums fitted with alloy spacers. Modified rear subframe with coilover suspension units and adjustable camber tracking plates. Fly-off handbrake. 165/ 70/ 10 Yokohama A008 tyres on 5"x10" Minilite alloys including spare.
MED 1380 A+ block, cross-drilled and wedged crankshaft. S rods lightened and balanced. Omega pistons, Kent 286 camshaft, duplex timing gear, competition oil pump. 12G940 rally spec cylinder head with ARP bolts. Titan 1. 5 roller rockers, electronic ignition. Engine no. MED 848AA. (receipts for MED rebuilds October 2004 and June 2006) Twin SU HS4 carburettors, Maniflow LCB and RC40 exhaust. Jack Knight close ratio dog box with straight cut drop gears. Quaife 3. 9 LSD with Hardy Spicer output shafts. Grey diaphragm clutch with AP Racing road rally plate."
The car also had a heated front screen, Hi-Lo's on the front with adjustable dampers, the rear coilovers were Spax adjustables with adjustable spring platforms, an electric rad fan, Maniflow steel inlet manifold and K & N air filters.
I recommissioned the car with new oil and filter, an ali rad and Filter King and completely rebuilt the carbs. Then I asked Oselli to check it over on their rolling road and it gave 99. 83 bhp at 3838 rpm and 215 nm of torque at 2625 rpm. The chassis plate shows this to have been a Mark 2 Austin Mini Cooper, not a very early Clubman, and was registered as OAD 10F. Obviously, it has had a shell change at some point in its long competition life.
With lots of low down power, a dog box and a "slipper", it is ideal for tight, twisty stages or autotests, sprints or targa rallies. It is certainly not ideal for going down to the shops.
My original intention was to see if my wife and I could still be competitive but, unfortunately, she died of cancer at the start of last year so it has only been used for one trackday. Loads of fun but no match for modern supercars.
