Minisprint TGF800F
Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 6:48 pm
I was continuing my 22 year search for a pair of 'oblong' headlamps and their chrome surrounds for a S&A Minisprint when I came across this picture which was initially posted back in June 2013.
Well, I can confirm that TGF800F is indeed still with us. It has been in my garage since purchased in 1992.
The car was obtained minus its log book and it took 12 years of trying to eventually persuade DVLA to issue a V5 with the original registration plate. The car was accident damaged in the front way back in December 1975 and the registration number didn't make it on to the computer system.
With help from the Mini Cooper Register (Donald Farr in particular), I have now got a V5 with the TGF800F registration number.
I would have refurbished the car years ago but I am still missing a pair of headlamps and the chrome bezels are both damaged hence the constant search for replacements. The damaged grille and indicators etc. are all readily available.
If replacement Cibie lights can't be found then a pair of the early Rover Metro lamps will have to be an accepted substitute. They appear to be of the correct dimensions but obviously don't have the concave lenses or the Cibie name.
The original glazing was also missing. I did obtain a complete glazing set from a 1959 car and would be prepared to trade that for glazing of the correct year.
According to the MCR the car left the production line on the 12th October 1966 painted grey with an old English white roof and with a two tone grey interior. It was delivered to Stewart and Ardern on the 5th December 1966.
The car was then delivered to it's only other owner on 14th February 1968 and the vehicle owners handbook and the bill of sale show its colour as 'Brass'. The car was partially repaired after it's accident and has been sprayed Ford Daytona yellow, although the interior is metallic blue. This picture is the one and only I have seen which shows the car in it's original S&A colour.
The original owner at the time of delivery from Stewart and Ardern was Viscount Lord Emlyn (a title bestowed on the Thanes of Cawdor in 1827), of Golden Grove House, Broad Oak, Carmarthenshire. Lord Emlyn, (Hugh John Vaughan Campbell), was to become the 6th Earl of Cawdor.
Having sold off the land and properties in Wales, (Stackpole Estate), to pay his fathers death duties the sixth Earl Cawdor took residency in Cawdor Castle. He was a renown ‘petrol head’ and owned several vehicles including a Ferrari and a Porsche which sat in a heated garage at the castle alongside a Model T Ford, a Range Rover, a Daimler and the remains of an E-type Jaguar in which he had miraculously survived after a major accident in Wales. I have been told by local residents that various personalities such as Jackie Stewart, Innes Ireland and Prince Charles would regularly visit Cawdor Castle and on a Sunday morning, when it was quiet, they, along with Lord Cawdor could be seen driving the cars hard around the single track road which circumnavigates Lochindorb.
In 1992 my wife was secretary to Lord Cawdor as he was addressed. At the time Annabelle and I were involved in road navigation rallies and used a Mini 1275GT on events. Lord Cawdor was the Honorary President of the Nairn and District Car Club and he would often discuss the results of the club events with her over a cup of coffee. It was during one of these conversations he asked her whether we would be interested in owning the Mini. I made an appointment and went up to the Estate Office to see him. I explained to him that, although I had never seen the Mini, I had heard a lot about it and, despite it having being damaged it was still worth quite a lot of money. At this point Lord Cawdor said that many folk had approached him with a view to buying the car but all had tried to obtain it for next to nothing. He was pleased that I had actually told him that the car was still valuable. He named a very reasonable price and offered me the car provided that it was not to be sold on at a profit or stripped for parts and that the car would be eventually be restored and used. I have kept to my promise and hopefully with assistance from other forum members I can at last completely restore this vehicle and get it on the road and to shows and meetings. It deserves better than to sit on a pair of trestles in the corner of a garage.
Having retired from the RAF in 1997 after 23 years service, my wife and I have built up a reasonably successful garage and motorsport business so restoration of this car compared to the Lancia Deltas, Audi Quattros and Subaru Imprezas we have built from bare bodyshells will be a relative 'doddle' once I have the right components.
Please, if you know where I can get a pair of headlamps and chrome surrounds I would be eternally grateful.
Well, I can confirm that TGF800F is indeed still with us. It has been in my garage since purchased in 1992.
The car was obtained minus its log book and it took 12 years of trying to eventually persuade DVLA to issue a V5 with the original registration plate. The car was accident damaged in the front way back in December 1975 and the registration number didn't make it on to the computer system.
With help from the Mini Cooper Register (Donald Farr in particular), I have now got a V5 with the TGF800F registration number.
I would have refurbished the car years ago but I am still missing a pair of headlamps and the chrome bezels are both damaged hence the constant search for replacements. The damaged grille and indicators etc. are all readily available.
If replacement Cibie lights can't be found then a pair of the early Rover Metro lamps will have to be an accepted substitute. They appear to be of the correct dimensions but obviously don't have the concave lenses or the Cibie name.
The original glazing was also missing. I did obtain a complete glazing set from a 1959 car and would be prepared to trade that for glazing of the correct year.
According to the MCR the car left the production line on the 12th October 1966 painted grey with an old English white roof and with a two tone grey interior. It was delivered to Stewart and Ardern on the 5th December 1966.
The car was then delivered to it's only other owner on 14th February 1968 and the vehicle owners handbook and the bill of sale show its colour as 'Brass'. The car was partially repaired after it's accident and has been sprayed Ford Daytona yellow, although the interior is metallic blue. This picture is the one and only I have seen which shows the car in it's original S&A colour.
The original owner at the time of delivery from Stewart and Ardern was Viscount Lord Emlyn (a title bestowed on the Thanes of Cawdor in 1827), of Golden Grove House, Broad Oak, Carmarthenshire. Lord Emlyn, (Hugh John Vaughan Campbell), was to become the 6th Earl of Cawdor.
Having sold off the land and properties in Wales, (Stackpole Estate), to pay his fathers death duties the sixth Earl Cawdor took residency in Cawdor Castle. He was a renown ‘petrol head’ and owned several vehicles including a Ferrari and a Porsche which sat in a heated garage at the castle alongside a Model T Ford, a Range Rover, a Daimler and the remains of an E-type Jaguar in which he had miraculously survived after a major accident in Wales. I have been told by local residents that various personalities such as Jackie Stewart, Innes Ireland and Prince Charles would regularly visit Cawdor Castle and on a Sunday morning, when it was quiet, they, along with Lord Cawdor could be seen driving the cars hard around the single track road which circumnavigates Lochindorb.
In 1992 my wife was secretary to Lord Cawdor as he was addressed. At the time Annabelle and I were involved in road navigation rallies and used a Mini 1275GT on events. Lord Cawdor was the Honorary President of the Nairn and District Car Club and he would often discuss the results of the club events with her over a cup of coffee. It was during one of these conversations he asked her whether we would be interested in owning the Mini. I made an appointment and went up to the Estate Office to see him. I explained to him that, although I had never seen the Mini, I had heard a lot about it and, despite it having being damaged it was still worth quite a lot of money. At this point Lord Cawdor said that many folk had approached him with a view to buying the car but all had tried to obtain it for next to nothing. He was pleased that I had actually told him that the car was still valuable. He named a very reasonable price and offered me the car provided that it was not to be sold on at a profit or stripped for parts and that the car would be eventually be restored and used. I have kept to my promise and hopefully with assistance from other forum members I can at last completely restore this vehicle and get it on the road and to shows and meetings. It deserves better than to sit on a pair of trestles in the corner of a garage.
Having retired from the RAF in 1997 after 23 years service, my wife and I have built up a reasonably successful garage and motorsport business so restoration of this car compared to the Lancia Deltas, Audi Quattros and Subaru Imprezas we have built from bare bodyshells will be a relative 'doddle' once I have the right components.
Please, if you know where I can get a pair of headlamps and chrome surrounds I would be eternally grateful.
Glad you eventually got the registration back. There's a few forum members restoring both sprints and Wood & Pickett Minis who may well be able to help you with the lights hopefully. We've got some great Minisprints coming to the Mk1 Action Day at Blyton in May, why not bring the car ? 
