early mini7 restoration, looking for history.

[Oldfart]

Isn't the "mishap at the hairpin" photo also at Puke hairpin?

[seaqnmac27]

Yeah mate. Realised after I had posted them. But hafn't had a chance to modify the post

[Paul Wilkinson]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/austin-rover/auction-457395157.htm
Any history attached to this old beast with a roof-chop on trademe?

[Steve Holmes]

Wow! Thats cool.

[Paul Wilkinson]

Looks like a pretty solid start to a cool project for only $500!

[minihaha]

Just giving this another bump to see if there is any new interest.

[minihaha]

Just letting you know that the original 850 engine is machined and waiting for assembly once the body is done. All the original bits will be pieced back together. We are still hoping for pics or info on who ran it and the colour schemes that were used. This will dictate how it finally ends up. Thanks for the info so far.

[Powder]

The car was last raced by Mark probably around 78/79 and sold to a new owner who dismantled it to this state and it's been in dry storage ever since.

It looks like the car was entered at Manfeild, 28 Oct 1979. Possibly its last race?

[minihaha]

WOW, thats awesome info!! We didn't know when it was last raced. This will help fill a small gap. Lots of familiar names on there!

[Steve Holmes]

Any luck with this yet? At the NZFMR this year I was chatting with Colin Warrington who was racing in NZ with the Australian Trans-Am cars in the Historic Muscle Cars/U3 races. Colin is an ex-pat Kiwi who has lived in Queensland for several years. But back in the late '60s and early '70s when he was a young bloke he raced a Mini in the 1,000cc class against Barrie Phillips, Rod Collingwood, Jim Richards etc. He visits this site regularly in the hope some old photos might appear on here of him in the Mini.

Anyway, I asked Colin what colour his car was, and if it had any special features that made it stand out from the other cars of the era. He said the car was painted white, then had the hood and boot lid painted orange. But, he said because he was a young bloke racing on a tight budget, he couldn't afford to buy bolt-on flares, so instead welded on steel ones! His was a bit special in this respect, as most of the other cars had the bolt-ons. He also said because he couldn't afford disc brakes, he raced with drums.

It could be a long shot, but this could be Colins old Mini. He will be making his way back home after the NZFMR and will take a few days to settle, but I'll flick him an email and see if maybe this is his old car. He usually raced as #21.

There are pics of Colin at this years NZFMR racing his '69 Camaro, which by coincidence, is also painted white and orange, on the HMC thread.

[minihaha]

Thanks, Steve. If he has a look at the photos on page one, hopefully he may recognise some details in the car.
The owner has started to make contact with some of the people on the entry list above as he already knows quite a few of them. These things take time though. Fingers crossed the trail continues!

[minihaha]

Just giving this another bump to see if there are any fresh leads or pics for this car. The current paint scheme is from AC Delco sponsorship. Original colour for the car is similar to the Austin Horizon Blue colour. Then lime green. Then Orange. the car must have run with the large flares in both orange and white. The car is still running the original brass door hinges. After looking at the cage today it is obvious that the car had a rear roll hoop and stays fabricated out of tube and bends. This actually looks gas welded. The front legs, bar across the top of the windscreen and side intrusion bar (missing) are roughly bent out of a slightly larger diameter tube and are attached to the main hoop via a D clamp arrangement. The rear bins and door bins are still there. The cage feet are bolted in.

[rf84]

Have you checked with Reg Cook yet? I remember Reg well when he, John Provo and I were all students at Massey University in Palmerston North in the late 60's. He had an orange Mini in those days. It was a road going car but he used it for the odd Massey University Car Club and Manawatu CC event. It was orange BUT was a "matte" orange-not a shiny enamel. I suspect he had painted it with what was known as "Seachrome primer" a paint that was commonly used those days as an anti-rust primer paint. Also seem to recollect he had a blue/green coloured Mini-what some would describe as "duck egg blue" or tourquoise colour. Maybe they were one and the same cars repainted. It was always hard to keep track of Reg's cars and engines. It was rumored on campus that Reg went through 8 motors in one year!

[Steve Holmes]

Time to resurrect this old thread. Here is a period photo of the car in the opening posts. Love those flares!

[Jemini]

what a coincidence, I saw this car just last Saturday, and was speaking to the person who built the flares just yesterday!

The flares were done by Les Green of Palmerston Nth and the shell is sitting in the loft at PD Automotive in Wellington.