The last four Works Minis

[winabbey]

For those interested in the history of the Works cars Craig Watson has penned an excellent article in the recent issue of The BMC Experience magazine.

http://bmcexperience.com.au/bmce-issue1 ... ncore.html

[davidnutland]

Surely one of the last 4 was a mk3 S? YMO881J

[ymo881j.jpg[/attachment][/img]

[Simon776]

There was another YMO Mini Clubman as well which never gets a mention

[winabbey]

There was another YMO Mini Clubman as well which never gets a mention

Can you provide some details?

[spoon.450]

This sounds interesting......looking forward to the information that will be submitted..

[VKA305H]

I have applied for the online copy but I have not received it yet.

My twopenneth is that the last four works minis were YMO 885J YMO 886J YMO 881H and SOH 878H so we will see if the author agrees. We know that RJB 327F was the last works mini to compete and that 885 and 886 never competed as works cars. Post to correct me if I am wrong!

What I do not agree is that 885 and 886 were Mini Clubmen or Mini 1275 GT. They were in fact Clubman fronted Cooper S Mark 2 as the badge on the back of 886 clearly shows. I don't know about SOH perhaps someone could enlighten me.

Cheers

Brian

[Supersonic]

I agree these were change over period cars. The last Works cars were the best developed cars without question.

[smithyrc30]

What I do not agree is that 885 and 886 were Mini Clubmen or Mini 1275 GT. They were in fact Clubman fronted Cooper S Mark 2 as the badge on the back of 886 clearly shows. I don't know about SOH perhaps someone could enlighten me.

Cheers

Brian

Not sure I agree with that statement. The body shells of both are clearly mark 3 (concealed hinge doors, tall rear quarter windows etc. This would have been a considerable modification to a mark 2 shell. While they might have been registered as Cooper S models and have Cooper S VINs (not sure about this, never seen them) the body shell is not a mark 2 with a clubman front.

[mzmini]

I looked to buy one of these in 1999 and view to buying it and as Guy said the log book has Cooper S on it but clearly the shells are Clubmans

[Simon776]

I think they were fitted with Mk 2 alloy bootlids hence the Mk 2 badging.

[VKA305H]

Gents

I am only being controversial! The way I see it is if they have log books saying they were Cooper S then that's what they are. They have sliding Windows and Mark 2 boot lids and Mark 2 badges. Of course I can see that they have Mark 3/Clubman shells. Maybe it was something to do with homologation. I can also recall an article written not too long ago calling them "Clubman fronted Cooper S".

I just like talking about them. Anyone know how SOH was badged?

XJB had a Mark 2 boot lid but no badge. Also how was OBL 46F badged?

Cheers

Brian

[spoon.450]

Gents

I am only being controversial! The way I see it is if they have log books saying they were Cooper S then that's what they are. They have sliding Windows and Mark 2 boot lids and Mark 2 badges. Of course I can see that they have Mark 3/Clubman shells. Maybe it was something to do with homologation. I can also recall an article written not too long ago calling them "Clubman fronted Cooper S".

I just like talking about them. Anyone know how SOH was badged?

XJB had a Mark 2 boot lid but no badge. Also how was OBL 46F badged?

Cheers

Brian

Good questions Brian...you shouldn't feel ' wrong ' to ask them. We are all passionate about these famous cars and fascinated by their history. I wish that information regarding them was more openly shared by the people in the know.

[SMOKE GREY]

Gents

I am only being controversial! The way I see it is if they have log books saying they were Cooper S then that's what they are. They have sliding Windows and Mark 2 boot lids and Mark 2 badges. Of course I can see that they have Mark 3/Clubman shells. Maybe it was something to do with homologation. I can also recall an article written not too long ago calling them "Clubman fronted Cooper S".

I just like talking about them. Anyone know how SOH was badged?

XJB had a Mark 2 boot lid but no badge. Also how was OBL 46F badged?

Cheers

Brian

OBL46F started off as Mk1 'S'

[VKA305H]

I did mean the Antelope coloured Clubman fronted car built as a recce car for The World Cup Rally - OBL 46F

[wattomoke]

Thanks Winabbey for the plug for the magazine.

Brian, if you have ordered it on-line and not received it can you please PM me or email me at watto@pipeline.com.au so we can find out what has happened and sort it for you.

As to the cars, I have two features in the current issue of The BMC Experience - the first is on RJB 327F and takes a detailed look at its history.

This was a Mk2 Cooper S that had started out as a race car, Spa 24-hour, then rebuilt as rally car and sold to BLMC Australia. It was registered in NSW as BLA 532, crashed in Australia and repaired, then crashed again in Noumea and rebodied into an Australian Mini K bodyshell. It rallied fairly successfully in Australia and New Zealand, then sold and used in rallycross in Australia, then taken to New Zealand, when the owner moved there, and eventually sold and then restored with another period-correct Mk2 bodyshell, before being sold to Paul Sulma and returned to the UK.


RJB 327F - aka BLA 532 after first crash


This photo shows BLA 532 at the start of the 1970 Southern Cross Rally. This was after the first crash and repair.


1971 KLG Rally of the Hills. This was after the second crash and rebody and repainted in Leyland Australia colours.

The other Works Mini that came out to Australia at the same time was YMO881H, which was originally a Mk3 Cooper S - as I understand, the only Mk3 Cooper S built by the Comps Dept at Abingdon. This was registered in NSW as BLA 523. It rallied through 1970 but some time in 1971 the registration appeared on an Australian Clubman GT. It is not known what became of the Mk3 shell or whether the registration was just changed to the Clubman GT or if the Mk3 was destroyed. If anyone has any information in that regard I would love to hear from them.


This photo shows BLA 523 at start of the 1970 Southern Cross Rally. Note the Mk3 body shell.


1971 Heatway Rally in NZ still the Mk3 body but repainted in Leyland Australia team colours. BLA 532 is in background.


Team cars for 1971 Southern Cross Rally - BLA 523 is now on an Australian Clubman GT.

These were the last two Abingdon-built Minis to actually compete as Works entries. (not including the two 1275GTs that were built by Special Tuning for NZMC and entered in the 1972 Heatway Rally in NZ, finishing first and fifth - but that's another story).

The second feature is all about YMO 886J. At the start of the story I mentioned that there were four Abingdon-built 1275 GT Minis. Two of these were used in competition - SOH 878H in the World Cup Rally and Scottish Rally of 1970; URX 560G in the 84-hour Marathon de la Route on the Nurburgring in 1970 according to Bill Price and Peter Browning.

The other two were YMO 886J and one other. I was not aware of the other registration, but Brian mentioned above it was YMO885J so I would like to get more details about that. Anyway, neither of these competed under the Comps Dept, but YMO 886J did compete privately and it is the featured car in the magazine, now owned by Andrew Bond.

Cheers, Watto.
Craig Watson
The BMC Experience magazine
http://www.bmcexperience.com.au

[VKA305H]

Hi Watto

Quick response. I will pm you after the weekend. I would say though you have your numbers mixed up. SOH was the Nurburgring marathon car XJB 308H was the Scottish/World Cup car and OBL 46F was built as a recce car for the World Cup.

The last but one car was indeed YMO 885J a lot about which was recently in Cooperworld.

Keep it coming!

Cheers

Brian

[big-un1967]

Gents

I am only being controversial! The way I see it is if they have log books saying they were Cooper S then that's what they are. They have sliding Windows and Mark 2 boot lids and Mark 2 badges. Of course I can see that they have Mark 3/Clubman shells. Maybe it was something to do with homologation. I can also recall an article written not too long ago calling them "Clubman fronted Cooper S".

I just like talking about them. Anyone know how SOH was badged?

XJB had a Mark 2 boot lid but no badge. Also how was OBL 46F badged?

Cheers

Brian

Brian,

Also how was OBL 46F badged?

The same. Both had ally boot lids cut away inside for lightening, as per ally doors.

OBL 46F started life as a MK1 rally car, then MK2 race car, then world cup recce car.

Regards

Paul...........

[Pete]

RJB 327F - aka BLA 532 after first crash


This photo shows BLA 532 at the start of the 1970 Southern Cross Rally. This was after the first crash and repair.

Quite hard to believe the car in that first shot was repairable!

[spoon.450]

RJB 327F - aka BLA 532 after first crash


This photo shows BLA 532 at the start of the 1970 Southern Cross Rally. This was after the first crash and repair.

Quite hard to believe the car in that first shot was repairable!

Yes..a lot of damage there !

[Simon776]

Finally found my album of rare works Mini shots, so, in answer to the question

Also how was OBL 46F badged?

The answer is "Like this"

OBL46F 70WCR (3)r.jpg