Minty - 1964 Aurora Gears Racing /Newtune 1071 Cooper S

[goff]

I was having a very interesting chat with Steve Myers round at Nick Wardley’s place a couple of weeks back and he remembers not only both Aurora team cars in the showroom window at the Taylor’s garage but says he also remembers Dave Mathews bought the Trevor Taylor car and it was prepared with a 970 engine at some point at Coldwell Engineering where he was working.
This entry list for the 1964 Boxing Day race at Brands Hatch lists Mathews in what could be the car, entrant was Anita! I’m trying to get in touch with Mathews to see what happened to it.

Pete good luck getting intouch with Dave Mathews , he is in the BIG league , i don't think Dave Mathews worked for Coldwell Eng , his dad had the Garage at Thurcroft , Kingsforth Garage and his dad was also partner in M&H Tunnelling & Mining , so the family was not short of a bob or two , he was probably working on the engine at Coldwell Eng with Bill , M&H tunnelling was Mathews & Houghton , owned by the fathers of Dave Mathews & John Houghton of Biota fame , I was talking with a guy this summer at a classic car show , he asked me were i lived , then said he used to work for Kingsforth Garage and told me how Dave Mathews made is fortune !!!!!! , very interesting story !!!!!!

[Pete]

You’ll have to tell me that one Goff, but yes plenty of money in mining back then! I meant that Steve Myers worked at Coldwell and Mathews’ car was being prepared there. Yes I very much doubt I’ll get hold of Mathews but will try.

[ORB58]

will we be seeing Minty at Blyton next year?

[Pete]

Good question, not entirely sure yet!

[Pete]

Minty turned 60 this week. Rolled off the production line in Tartan Red / Black, option extra fuel tank, close ratio gears. Delivered to HA Saunders in North Finchley the very next day.

Found a couple of more races Minty did in 1965, Snetterton (2nd) and Silverstone (?). This was with Robbie Gordon at the wheel, even though David Wansborough and Gerry Marshall raced it in 1965 it was Robbie that actually owned the car until he sold it to Newtune (who ran it) later in the year. Robbie did tell me he did a few hilliclimbs and a few races whilst Minty was in his ownership . I need to go down and see him really!
Been invited to take part in a film that MSV are making in March to commemorate 70 years of the Oulton Park Gold Cup alongside the Jack Sears Galaxie and Jim Clark Cortina which is quite flattering and should be interesting, sadly Anita can’t make it as she’s not really up to it. 80 years young now though and doing ok really.

[Pete]

Microcell seat subframes going in shortly, thanks to Gordon for these.

[Pete]

Yet another new photo. The film of Ed Lewis rolling his racer at Crystal Palace in 1964 has become pretty famous, part of Ford’s footage following Jim Clark throughout that season which did feature Minty a couple of times but not at Crystal Palace. This is a new photo to me of Lewis’s car back in the paddock, spot Minty in the background! There must be so many more images out there of these cars and I suspect LAT do have many more than they’ve found.

Film clip, also featuring Liz Jones in 572 BCR : https://youtu.be/HUempOlSlM4?si=vpoLY-cqFaPn5V4g

[Pete]

This is the drivers’ briefing for the Snetterton 500 race in 1965 , spot Gerry Marshall in the white polo shirt (behind John Whitmore in the shades) who won the class in Minty. The sermon is being delivered by Minty’s fourth owner John Aley himself.

[Pete]

Been a while since I did an update so here goes..

Took the car over to Aintree back in May for their 60th anniversary since the final race meeting in 1964 which Minty took part in. Mike Ashcroft of Aintree Circuit Club had arranged for the invited cars to be able to drive the entire Grand Prix circuit, only half of which you can only normally drive on a sprint as the rest of the old circuit makes up the Grand National grandstand section and other unused and disused sections of the track which Mike had cleared especially for the event.
Waterway corner is the worst section of the original circuit and full of potholes which triggered my bonnet release when I went over it, luckily my bungee strap came into its own!!

The GP circuit crosses a busy main road (Melling Road) in two places , the first is the entry to the sprint course paddock (which itself is a section of the old circuit) and the traffic had to be stopped each time we all went over it. It was quite a funny sight to see the surprised reaction of the golfers who were playing the course on the infield as we all flew past at speed!

I managed to keep up with the Hamilton C Type and Jack Sears Galaxie ok. The track runs followed a lunch and presentation in one of the racecourse sweets which was very well attended. A grand day out!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cxr ... 00z3vpi7Ra

[Pete]

Forgot about Blyton where Minty was reunited with 572 BCR which Liz Jones raced against Anita a couple times in ‘64.

[Pete]

Also got invited to take part in a video being made by MSV all about the Oulton Park Gold Cup which features Minty quite a lot along with the Jack Sears Galaxie…

https://youtu.be/zeWUbHbwvuI?si=DIvsDRDYPl87RUHJ

[Pete]

Also got invited to the Cheshire Concoursat the Oulton Park Gold Cup itself which was a lovely sunny event. Again with the Galaxie, an ex works Lotus Cortina and Bernie’s works Mini amongst some very exotic company

[Pete]

Noticed a strange grinding noise on the passenger side front last time out which I investigated last weekend whilst swapping the adjustable bottom arms out for fixed 1.5s, doing a couple of ball joints, and a few other little jobs that needed doing. The odd noise on the front which was intermittent and usually during slow speed braking. Turned out the split pin had dropped out the (loose) hub nut which had bounced off the inside of the wheel and got itself wedged between the caliper and disc body. So when I applied the brake at slow speed I got ‘the noise’. At least I spotted it!

Changed a steering rack boot aswell. when did the narrower bodied rack change to the thicker one? The boots I’d ordered were too wide for my rack, luckily I found a narrower boot in the spares stash.

I’ve entered the car into the Bonhams auction at Goodwood which I know has surprised a few but I really do think I’ve done pretty much all that I set out to do with the car and I’m always abit itchy for a new project. If it sells for the right money I definitely do have plans but if not I’m really happy to keep the car and with a few subtle changes I’ll get to carry on enjoying it. We’ll know by the 7th!

[Pete]

Auction listing : https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/29334/ ... 05/#photos

Bonhams also managed to find a photo I’d not seen before (LAT’s searches are very hit and miss!) Anita’s penultimate race in the car at Brands Hatch in August 1964, a month after her appearance there at the British GP and not unusually locked in combat with Peter Clarke’s Don Moore prepared Surf Blue car ‘899 GAC’ as was often the case.

[Pete]

Interesting chat with Stuart Ballinger at Aintree yesterday about how he came across Minty in the village of Blaby in Leicester in the 1990s. The car was dismantled and up for sale by its elderly owner who I think was Terence Cole who bought the car in January 1967 and finally parked it up in the late 70s in his wooden garage at the back of his house. Quite a few people had been to see it and it sold to Mark Lane I think in 2001 who sold it to Steve Hughes. John Kelly had the shell blasted and restored it for Steve but it sold (after I was offered it) prior to being completed to James Palmer and the rest is history.
Explains why I’ve not been able yet to trace the 70s history (yet!) because I think Terrence Cole passed away in 2012.