Mini Sprint

[UHR850]

Found the "other side" picture from this well known picture.
Maybe you have seen it but if you don't here it is.

Kees.

[mk1]

That back door looks HORRENDOUS!

[mk1]

On a Mini Sprint theme, I went over to see Neville while I was recently in France & I have to say that his Sprinting technique has REALLY come on since he did mine nearly 10 years ago. He now has almost 30 under his belt!

In that time he has really refined his technique & the Sprints he is producing now are the VERY BEST he has ever done. Tricky areas like the Front Panel, C Posts & Doors which on mine were a little "rough & ready" are now slick & superb. With full door skins being cut along the bottom edge & refolded, C Posts being manufactured with about 1/3 the amount of cutting, & a front panel that even has the original join line visible. All the joins are matched to perfection & are simply excellent.

Nev "Cuts & Tacks" most of his sprints now, leaving the buyer or his body shop to do the donkey work welding, but the sprint the customer receives is simply SUPERB!

I was so impressed I really wanted to order another one, the availability of good MK1 shells at a sensible price is the only thing that stopped me.

[swifty]

Mark we all know your a great fan of Neville so this is not meant to have a go at the old gentleman but it seems strange that he's in he's late seventies now and all of a sudden there's a improvement in the quality . Neville was great at getting the shape of the car looking correct , but welding and panel beating were not his strong points . Makes you wonder if this improvement is because he is over seeing someone else doing the work .... nothing wrong with that if that's what's happening . There was a fella I met at the 2015 mcr day . He took a near mint shell to Neville to be sprinted and was deavastated with what he described as horrendous welding and hammering in of the panels ..... ken

[Jono]

...Peter Henry is the man!

[mk1]

Swifty,

TBH, I do find your comments totally unnecessary & ill informed. As far as I am aware, you don't know Nev & have never paid him a visit or seen any of his work yourself. Not only am I a fan, but a personal friend of Neville's so I'm sure you will claim I'm biased.

However, In all the posts & comments I have ever made about him & his Sprints over the years I have NEVER suggested anything other than them needing a lot of work once you get them back. I have always made it clear that Neville is NOT a panel beater or sheet metal fabricator & that once the shell is returned the real work commences.

I know there are a few customers of Neville's who have been "less than happy" about the Sprinted shell they receive back, but to be honest when Neville is offering to do a Sprint for as little as £2,500 and others are charging upward of £10,000 for the same thing what the hell do you expect for your money? !!

I made the post above because I was over there in person, a stayed with Neville (again) and we had time to discuss many aspects of the Sprints he did. I can assure you 100% that he is still doing them all himself, that they are better now than they ever have been & as I said above if it wasn't for the difficulty in finding decent MK1 shells at a sensible price I'd have another of these MUCH better ones.

The lovely cars that Neville has chopped & are about demonstrate that there are many happy customers out there, some of which have already ordered more than one, one of which already has 2 & has a traveller in the pipeline. As it is, I believe that his order book is full for the next couple of years so ill informed gossip doesn't seem to have had too much effect on his enterprise.

Swifty, please remember that there are 2 sides to every story. Just because some people decided that the work involved in finishing a Sprint that they got from Neville was beyond them & they find it easier to blame him than their own over optimism & lack of mechanical / body skills doesn't necessarily make them 100% right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoxdVNJ ... freload=10

[nick@dunsdale]

Agreed that back door is defintely orrible
reminds me of something that you would see on a kit car back in the day
car looks so right at the front then there is that at the back......still love a sprint though

[nick@dunsdale]

...Peter Henry is the man!

Did he not get a best car award for his sprint last year ?

[mk1]

Pete did win car of the show in 2016 for his home made Sprint.

Very nice car it is too, but I'm sure some people would slag it off if they saw it before it was finished

[mk1]

Just a few of the "terrible" Mini sprints that Neville has done recently.











More to follow.

[surfblue63]

That's not the only Sprint wagon to have that rear door. This is the car that was at the 1967 Brands Mini Festival.

Sprint Wagon Brands 2.jpg

[mk1]

Well spotted Stu, So Neville used an after market GRP door on the Sprint Traveller.

[mk1]

For anyone who's interested in this thread the forum thread below gives the best blow by blow account of getting a Sprint cut & welded by Neville & what effort has to go into getting it finished.

Not a job for the faint hearted, but as many of us have proven, it's not impossible either. certainly nothing to cry about

http://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/forum/garage ... int-168313

[surfblue63]

Here's a shot of the dash of the Brands car. Sshh, don't tell Rich about the door cards!

Sprint Wagon Interior 2.jpg

And here's another Sprint dash, interesting style of ventilation at the front. Must have borrowed them of someones bathroom window?

La Louvre.jpg

[Jono]

I watched Peter's sprint being built and his skill and obsessive attention to detail was simply gob smacking. I like the fact he kept the seams and think it's a beatifully judged conversion.

Not intending to take anything away from NT as the originator, nor to make any comparison.

My 16 year old son (totally anal about all things Mini) is lucky enough to have had his Mk 1 shell finished by Peter and it's currently in for soda blasting, the lucky boy!!

[UHR850]

Picture

[tintoptom]

Love the airbrushing on the photo of GMR 4D - the photoshopping of it's day!

[mab01uk]

Minispares still do a standard size aftermarket one piece rear door to special order:-
http://www.minispares.com/product/classic/MS109.aspx

[mini63]

Here's a shot of the dash of the Brands car. Sshh, don't tell Rich about the door cards!

Sprint Wagon Interior 2.jpg

And here's another Sprint dash, interesting style of ventilation at the front. Must have borrowed them of someones bathroom window?

La Louvre.jpg

that second picture isnt a sprint but of John Rhodes' 69 season grass track racer.
the louvres according Peter F were John's idea.
ref: Peter Flanagan pic

[mk1coopers]

I think Neville's work has stood the test of time, they are well proportioned, the final finish is up to the owner, you get a little piece of history, mine was done by Neville 47 years ago, in exaxctly the same way, cut and tack welded for the original customer, then finished by them it's still not fallen apart !

I've the utmost respect for everyone that's actually taken a cutting blade to a car and converted it, however I personally think what's below applies

Neville / GT Equipment / S&A = Minisprint

All the rest = Sprinted Mini