French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper s

Images & stories about our current projects, cars, engines & all sorts of other stuff.
meb
Basic 850
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2013 3:36 am
Location: Maryland, USA
Has thanked: 3 times

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by meb »

meb wrote:
Nevsmini wrote:Meb you have a great memory, here is a pic of one of the receipts of the work done by Mountjoy's Autoshop. You didn't take any photos by any chance?

I have no photos of the car, but I’m working on a lead. I know someone who worked at Mountjoys at the time and he painted his Mini in the same Green and Gold scheme. He may have taken a photo of the Radford when it was in the shop.
Nev,

Had given up on hearing from the prior owner of your Radford then today I got this message “Hi Mike. That Mini was owned by the actress Jane Mansfield”. I don’t recall hearing of Jayne Mansfield owning a Mini but you never know. Don’t know what evidence he has to support that, but I’ve asked him if it’s ok to forward his contact info.
User avatar
Peter Laidler
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 6141
Joined: Sat Jul 15, 2017 5:35 pm
Location: Abingdon Oxfordshire
Has thanked: 28 times
Been thanked: 30 times

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by Peter Laidler »

Jayne Mansfield - in a mini........ How on earth did she squeeze them both in I'm bound to ask
User avatar
Pete
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 11080
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:47 pm
Has thanked: 15 times
Been thanked: 38 times

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by Pete »

So what was her connection with Switzerland would be the reserch route I suppose, didn't she have a German boyfriend?
Nevsmini
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1346
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:03 pm
Location: ☀️ Dublin

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by Nevsmini »

meb wrote:
meb wrote:
Nevsmini wrote:Meb you have a great memory, here is a pic of one of the receipts of the work done by Mountjoy's Autoshop. You didn't take any photos by any chance?

I have no photos of the car, but I’m working on a lead. I know someone who worked at Mountjoys at the time and he painted his Mini in the same Green and Gold scheme. He may have taken a photo of the Radford when it was in the shop.
Nev,

Had given up on hearing from the prior owner of your Radford then today I got this message “Hi Mike. That Mini was owned by the actress Jane Mansfield”. I don’t recall hearing of Jayne Mansfield owning a Mini but you never know. Don’t know what evidence he has to support that, but I’ve asked him if it’s ok to forward his contact info.
Wow that incredible news. No wonder there is a lovely smell of perfume off the drivers seats lol. Mike it would be great if you could put me in touch with your contact. I would very much appreciate it.
Nevsmini
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1346
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:03 pm
Location: ☀️ Dublin

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by Nevsmini »

Peter Laidler wrote:Jayne Mansfield - in a mini........ How on earth did she squeeze them both in I'm bound to ask
No wonder there wasn’t the optional Radford Air bags fitted as she came with them herself :lol:
Nevsmini
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1346
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:03 pm
Location: ☀️ Dublin

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by Nevsmini »

Pete wrote:So what was her connection with Switzerland would be the reserch route I suppose, didn't she have a German boyfriend?
No Pete your mixing up the 2 Radford HB’s the Black Radford HB is the one that went to Switzerland and was originally owned by Prince Amyn Aga Khan. meb is talking about my Radford HB (Hedgehatch), the one Steve Berkinshaw imported back from the USA in 95.
User avatar
Pete
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 11080
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:47 pm
Has thanked: 15 times
Been thanked: 38 times

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by Pete »

Ohhhh! :oops:

Sadly her airbags did her no good in the end. Her fatal crash was the main reason goods vehicles got fitted with under-run bars on the back.
meb
Basic 850
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2013 3:36 am
Location: Maryland, USA
Has thanked: 3 times

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by meb »

Nev,

I’ve sent you an email on contacting the previous owner.
Good luck

meb
Nevsmini
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1346
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:03 pm
Location: ☀️ Dublin

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by Nevsmini »

Thanks meb,
I’ve sent him a message and some photos. Let hope he comes back to me quicker then he did with you.
Cheers
Nev
Charlynsane
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1175
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:50 am
Location: France

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by Charlynsane »

Do you know who was the original of your car?
TRP
Basic 850
Posts: 83
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2018 7:21 pm

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by TRP »

Wow!

What a fantastic project. Best of luck with it.

Image

Regarding the blue hatch in the image above, what color blue is that?

Thank you and good luck with the project!

Ted
paulmk1
850 Super
Posts: 188
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:25 pm
Location: East Sussex

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by paulmk1 »

That’s brain Harding’s and I think it’s Rolls Royce midnight blue, I will get him to confirm this.

Paul
Last edited by paulmk1 on Sun Jan 13, 2019 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
TRP
Basic 850
Posts: 83
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2018 7:21 pm

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by TRP »

paulmk1 wrote:That’s brain Harding’s and I think it’s Rose Royce midnight blue, I will get him to confirm this.

Paul
Rose Royce? or Rolls Royce?

Thanks for looking into this for me!

Ted
User avatar
UHR850
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 6209
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 3:26 pm
Location: Huizen the Netherlands
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by UHR850 »

;) Ringo Star's Radford :arrow:

Kees.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
DOWNTON Mini is what I like a lot.
Collecting 60th wooden steeringwheels.
User avatar
Pete
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 11080
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:47 pm
Has thanked: 15 times
Been thanked: 38 times

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper

Post by Pete »

Nevsmini wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:53 pm Yep that's about it Carabus(Fred's), Ekland's and Graham's , cliff's then the std steel HB's, Ali HB and lastly the Fibreglass HB. Calling the first few prototypes might be the wrong wording, I suppose because of such a short run it's more of an evolution to make the design better in all areas and most likely in the end cheaper as demand slowed down.
Had quite an interesting chat with Britt Ekland on Facebook recently, she was very clear about the fact that she never owned the Radford hatch that she’s famously pictured with and driven out of the big cake by Sellers in the Radford King Street showroom in October 1965. In fact she was non too complementary about Sellers at all and stated he’d never bought her a single car, she paid him full whack for any car she ever bought off him! So another myth dispelled.

On a much more somber note I was very sad to hear that Paul-Marie Jamet, the owner of this French hatchback featured in this topic passed away in January at the age of 28. :(

I hope this car, and his other Minis brought as much pleasure to his life as they do ours. RIP Paul-Marie Jamet
Nevsmini
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1346
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:03 pm
Location: ☀️ Dublin

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper s

Post by Nevsmini »

That’s very sad and only 28 year old!
Charlynsane
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 1175
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:50 am
Location: France

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper s

Post by Charlynsane »

He also owned several car as a super rare 997 Taka hira (like Peter sellers)

He committed suicide a few months ago
User avatar
mab01uk
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 8234
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 7:08 pm
Location: S.E. England
Has thanked: 86 times
Been thanked: 63 times

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper s

Post by mab01uk »

France's coachbuilt Mini expert passes away:-
https://maximummini.blogspot.com/2020/0 ... arned.html
JC T ONE
1275 Cooper S
Posts: 3180
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 5:25 am
Location: Denmark

Re: French Radford mini De Ville GT Hatchback Austin Cooper s

Post by JC T ONE »

Sorry to read this - rest in peace.
Post Reply