autoscene

Mini Mayhem

Owner: Jeff childhood inspiration: The Italian Job
The Mini
1961 Mini Cooper, S Brakes, Minilites, deseamed, plexiglass windows, rollbar - seen at right as purchased.
Supposedly it had been raced in England, and had the bondo to prove it.... Reg# MNR61P
After its "restoration / rebuild - it became the autocross car- following the MGB.	Still on 10" wheels and primarily on the street
Key Features: Drippy weber carb, Comptech motor, Konis, no passenger seat (Ask Serg about the mini with four wheels in the air on Castlewood and no seat - minor headache for flying passenger)
It later got 13" wheels, and became the full blown autocross car driven occasionally on the steet with slicks....
Mini Sue - 1963 Cooper
After making the 61 car less of a street car and more of a dedicated auto-x car, I felt I needed a mini for the street.
Key Features - 1100cc, SU carbs, LHD bought Jon Becker, a well known guy in the weird Mini Mania circle.... He had a shop in Concord and raced an ex- Fortech mini....
Key Episodes - Jeff &Serg explore golf cart roads at night and find that minis with bald tires don't do so well in sand traps. Episode 2 - No brakes on Calevaras road - no problem - slow the car by pitching it sideways.
Trimble Mini 1961 Cooper S sort of ....
This car had a lot of really scary features. Including its acquisition. I traded Jeff trimble my white auto -x mini (with a spun bearing courtesy of a 110+ mph freeway run) for a white bugeye with a bad tranny and the mini at right with a bad crank.
Key Features: Fiberglass front end, more wiring and gauges than the space shuttle, the rear seat had been removed - making the car a giant open space in the rear, and so flexible that it was difficult to close the doors, more than three quarters of the floor (this is a unibody car mind you) had rusted out and was replaced with fiberglass, rear window defroster.......
Red Mini - 1963 Shell
This one was going to be the monte carlo rallye car, but never got completed. It was a non rusty shell picked up from Chris Frank, who had sawed the front end off of the car. I was going to combine the Trimble mini and this one - but got busy racing and both of them were sold together to Don Racine of Mini Mania.
Key Features: I built the motor myself, converted the car to rhd, and shot the inside, and got the body work done. It left in primer, ready for paint...