Minis and Imps

[105angria]

spent some time trying to find this car last story was it rolled at Sandown and was tipped ,Ihave an email from one of the builders he said this produced more horsepower and had more torque than Moffs Mustang,

[Ellis]

Hume Weir
pic by Mark Bishop of Wodonga Vic

[Murray Maunder]

As I recall the PDL Minis (were there one each for Clyde and Robert?) rarely ventured north. I seem to vaguely remember Robert racing at Baypark on at least one occasion and like all the PDL cars was pretty nicely turned out. I particularly loved the Watson 103 car and Collingwood's AMCO car.

Thanks to Steve and Mike Feisst for refreshing my memory of yellow peril, my favourite underdog.

[Steve Holmes]

I just took a look through the Shell Racing Annual for the '68 season, and Robert Stewart actually finished runner-up spot in the 1001cc - 1300cc class behind championship winner Angus Hyslop, and he did seem to race at every round. He won four races, and dnf'd just once. Collins raced his PDL Mini in the 0-1000cc class, finishing 3rd, but he seems to have suffered a bit from unreliability in the latter half of the season.

[Murray Maunder]

Ah, the Shell Racing Annuals. My pocket money never extended that far, Motorman was my bible of the time. Shots of exotic locations like Waimate were a glint in my eye and 40 years later got to go there when the NZ Motocross finals were there in 2008, echoes from the past with those lovely old buildings in main street.

Your idea of books on this site is a good one. I have a collection of Automobile Year (inferior I know to Autocourse for racing) from 1957 - 74 which is a treasure trove for following the fortunes of McLaren, Hulme, Amon and Ganley in that incredible era of Gps, Sports Prototypes, CanAm and Indy. But I digress. Thanks for the background on the PDL Cooper Minis Steve.

[105angria]

sorry about the quality ,like to see this recreated

[pallmall]

The Mini raced everywhere, and often extremely modified. Here is the Dave Gilbertson version on the dirt at Palmerston North Speedway.


And a few of my photos that were published in NZ Hot Rod.

[Graeme Farr]

Gee what great photos. There was an interesting comment back a page or two about the PDL Mini gearboxes. I am fairly sure they had Colotti boxes from Italy. Also had Colotti pawl type LSD's which were a copy of the Jack Knight one I think. Robertson Stewart Snr reputedly picked up the gear when he was picking a Ferrari (275GT?) from the factory. Enzo was a friend of Colotti.

The gearboxes were a disaster - more problematic that the Jack Knight 5 speed used in Barry Phillips, Mary Carney and Peter Sharps 1000cc cars. PDL changed back to 4 speeds but kept the diffs which worked well. In fact when the Robert Stewart car was sold (in parts but with a new shell) the owner whos name escapes me, converted it to a road car and still used the diff.

If you look at the photos you can see the car was sometimes LHD. It had special rack with two pinions - and master cyl sets. It could be changed quite quickly for rh or lh tracks. Presumably the photo here is Bay Park as it is LHD. The Stewart car went south (Queenstown?) but seems to be lost now.

The Collins car (1000cc - Stewarts was 1300) survived a bit longer. Went to Palmerston North and maybe Wanganui then was sold to someone who rolled it at Bay Park. It was possibly reshelled but its after that it seems to have got lost too. Shame as they were great looking cars.

I also see some photos of Aussie Minis which came across - Brian Foley beat the PDL car so Stewart Snr bought his engine!

[Steve Holmes]

sorry about the quality ,like to see this recreated

Thanks Angria, thats a great article. Graham Howard always produces a top quality read.

[Steve Holmes]

The Mini raced everywhere, and often extremely modified. Here is the Dave Gilbertson version on the dirt at Palmerston North Speedway.


And a few of my photos that were published in NZ Hot Rod.

Gavin, the Dave Gilbertson Mini speedway car was restored a few years ago wasn't it? Amazing that it survived.

[Steve Holmes]

Gee what great photos. There was an interesting comment back a page or two about the PDL Mini gearboxes. I am fairly sure they had Colotti boxes from Italy. Also had Colotti pawl type LSD's which were a copy of the Jack Knight one I think. Robertson Stewart Snr reputedly picked up the gear when he was picking a Ferrari (275GT?) from the factory. Enzo was a friend of Colotti.

The gearboxes were a disaster - more problematic that the Jack Knight 5 speed used in Barry Phillips, Mary Carney and Peter Sharps 1000cc cars. PDL changed back to 4 speeds but kept the diffs which worked well. In fact when the Robert Stewart car was sold (in parts but with a new shell) the owner whos name escapes me, converted it to a road car and still used the diff.

If you look at the photos you can see the car was sometimes LHD. It had special rack with two pinions - and master cyl sets. It could be changed quite quickly for rh or lh tracks. Presumably the photo here is Bay Park as it is LHD. The Stewart car went south (Queenstown?) but seems to be lost now.

The Collins car (1000cc - Stewarts was 1300) survived a bit longer. Went to Palmerston North and maybe Wanganui then was sold to someone who rolled it at Bay Park. It was possibly reshelled but its after that it seems to have got lost too. Shame as they were great looking cars.

I also see some photos of Aussie Minis which came across - Brian Foley beat the PDL car so Stewart Snr bought his engine!

Graeme, excellent first post, some brilliant info in there. And interesting to know what happened to these cars after their PDL duties.

[pallmall]

The Gilbertson Mini, as restored, on display at the Palmerston North Speedway 75th Anniversary.

[Steve Holmes]

That was a fast car Gavin, used to smoke the V8s, especially on a mushy surface.

[timbo61]

While you won't be able to beat Harry LeFoe's IMP, Ted Rakowski ran a very neat car in sports sedans for a few years. By memory, it was rotary powered.


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The only Imp's you see these days are in Historic Touring Car racing.


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[Steve Holmes]

Hey Timbo, those are great, especially the Ted Rakowski version. What a little ripper! The Imp just looks sensational with fat little wheels and flared arches.

[105angria]

Guy in South Australia has an old rotary imp sports sedan wants a bit for it $20k plus

[Steve Holmes]

Is that the one posted above Angria?

[105angria]

Will do some research a slotcar friend of bri3500 knows the guy

[Lee Tracey]

Combining both themes
HD 2010

Cheers
Lee

[Lee Tracey]

Seeing as someone opened it up to Speedway minis

From the 1971 Australian Saloon car Team that toured. Can no longer remember who this was.
Pic bought from Forest Lake Track photographer at the time.

Before there were Limited saloons in speedway Waikaraka rana class specifically for Minis.

The #12 Riley was my favourite at the time, Fred Someone (Gavin can you remember?)
Though not always successfully


Cheers
Lee